Search - Jerry Goldsmith :: Jerry Goldsmith: 40 Years of Film Music

Excellent release from Silva

tjguitar | 08/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As with most recent Silva America releases, this combines newly recorded tracks with music already in the Silva Screen back catalogue. This is the most comprehensive collection of music by Jerry Goldsmith ever released. In addition, it includes all the tracks from "Goldsmith conducts Goldsmith" and most of the tracks from "Omen: Essential Goldsmith". It more or less makes those CDs obsolete. Just skip those and get this one. If you already have those, this cD does have some newly recorded tracks just for this release. They are: QBVII, The Wind and the Lion, Airforce One, LA Confidential and The Sum of All Fears



Also the liner notes are excellent and informative. The City of Prague Philharmonic conducted by Nic Raine, James Fitzpatrick and Paul Bateman as well the Philharmonia and National Philharmonic conducted by Mr. Goldsmith himself bring one of the best compilations ever produced. period. I only wish they had included some music from Planet of the Apes and Supergirl."

"Wind & the Lion with other film score favorites of 40 Years

J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 08/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Much like the John Barry, Dimitri Tiomkin and John Williams Collection, this latest release from Silva America " Jerry Goldsmith: 40 Years of Film Music", a four compact disc collection is a film collectors dream...Goldsmith creates visual moods for each film he scores...unmistakable arrangements overlay each cue in his distinctive style...Goldsmith's musical movements fit the story and must resolve rather quickly as each cue of the film passes quickly, as in "THE BLUE MAX"..."CHINATOWN"..."FIRST BLOOD"..."FIRST KNIGHT"..."THE HAUNTING"..."L.A. CONFIDENTIAL"..."MACARTHUR"..."MEDICINE MAN"..."THE MUMMY"..."THE OMEN"..."PATTON"..."POLTERGEIST"..."RUSSIA HOUSE"..."SANDPEBBLES"..."THE SHADOW"..."STAR TREK: MOTION PICTURE"..."TORA, TORA, TORA"..."TOTAL RECALL"..."UNDER FIRE"..."WILD ROVERS" and who could forget the magnificent themes from "THE WIND AND THE LION", which is one of my favorite all time Goldsmith scores featuring Sean Connery and Candice Bergen...Jerry has the ability to place emphasis with his music in a similar fashion as the late masters and composers of the classical genre...Goldsmith's use of strings, brass and percussion sets the mood and has the ability to make the whole scene come together...can't recall any other composer who had such complete control and the pulse of a scene and storyline as Jerry Goldsmith.



This Silva America compilation traces 40 years of Jerry Goldsmith film music, featuring selections by The Philharmonia Orchestra and The Philharmonia Orchestra with Goldsmith himself conducting...The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra with Paul Bateman, James Fitzpatrick and Nic Raine conducting...The Daniel Caine Orchestra (original sound recordings)...Crouch End Festival Chorus conducted by Nic Raine...wonderful and complete 57 symphonic suites on a collectible 4-CD-Set for all "movie music fans" to soak up and savor.



Most complete collection of Goldsmith compositions ever assembled...over four hours of themes and variations with full orchestra all individually wrapped-up into one neat package...Silva's collection covers all his major works and some lesser known but memorable cues...just the way "film-score-buffs" like 'em!



Take a bow Silva America, James Fitzpatrick (producer), Reynold da Silva (executive producer), David Stoner (release co-ordinator), Damien Doherty (artwork & design) and of course the one and only legendary composer of the millennium ~ Maestro Jerry Goldsmith (born in Pasadena, California on February 1929 and left us on July 2004 in Beverly Hills, Hollywood) studied under Hungarian composer Miklos Rozsa...we will miss you but your music lives on, thank you good friend Jerry Goldsmith.



Total Time: 4-CD-Set ~ Silva America 1183 ~ (8/09/2005)"

Overall a strong Goldsmith sampler

Media Mike | Georgia, U.S. | 04/11/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, this is a CD review, so the focus is on music, but I've got to say this first: this has got to be a contender for the ugliest cover art ever. I mean, come on...instead of a tribute to the composer, the cover looks like someone spilled a glass of merlot over a NASA photo.



Fortunately, bad cover art will not ruin good music. And I'd say about 75 percent of the music is good....which means this 4 cd set combines quality and quantity. Like other Silva compilations, the strength of this compilation is the variety. There are selections from the big releases (Star Trek, Omen, Rambo), but there is also a healthy dose of tracks from the smaller releases(Under Fire, Lionheart, The Swarm).



Two examples come to mind. Capricorn One and The Great Train Robbery are two movies that are not exactly household names today, but are dominated by two of Goldmith's finest main themes. The City of Prague Philharmonic come through with terrific renditions. And there are plenty of other strong performances...a few being concert versions conducted by Goldsmith himself. Suprisingly, "The Wind and the Lion" works, which is no small accomplishment given the ferentic original performance of "Raisuli Attacks".



It's not a complete success. A few of the performances fall flat, particularly some of the more inventive scores. Total Recall is just bad, mangling the performance with poor percussion and synthesizer choices to boot. Also a letdown is the Klingon Attack from the first Star Trek movie. The Prague Philhamonic attempt doesn't sound bad--it's just that once you've heard the original soundtrack's "blaster beam" with enough bass to rattle your teeth...well let's just say Silva's version is a little tinny in comparison.



But I shouldn't dwell on the negative. Overall, this is a strong sampler of Goldsmith's variety. There are plenty of quality performances here, and despite a few omissions (noticeably Planet of the Apes)this is a very good release from Silva."