What We Are Listening To – Summer 2022 Edition

“It is heartening to see John Williams, the dean of film composers, recognized in his old age by invitations to lead the grand European orchestras, first the Vienna Philharmonic and then, here, the Berlin Philharmonic, in a concert recorded in October of 2021, just a few months in advance of Williams’ 90^th birthday. Williams fans will probably want both albums, for the contents do not overlap much. This is possible because he has written such an abundance of great music, and any hearer of these albums cannot help but reflect on how deeply his music is woven into the contemporary cinematic consciousness. One will also notice how much Williams owes to the grand tradition of Austrian-American film music, growing out of Wagner and Strauss. The Berlin Philharmonic does not have to master the tricky acquisition of American vernacular idioms, for Williams rarely uses these. When he departs from his central language, as in the score to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, it is in a modernist direction. One center of his music is the march, which is present in many pieces that are not explicitly designated as marches, and it is here that The Berlin Concert takes Williams to a new level. Are there American brass sections that could add the same level of snap to the Olympic Fanfare and Theme (written for the 1984 Olympic Games) or the “Raiders March” (from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark)? Possibly a few. Would they necessarily be available for a high-profile survey of Williams’ work like this one? Probably not. The album has been billed as a meeting between the greatest film composed in the world and the greatest orchestra in the world. Certainly, neither characterization is far off, and the combination results in a very special release indeed.

© James Manheim /TiVo

“The night has never ceased to inspire artists, whether in literature, painting, or music. And for good reason: is it not the place of intimacy, introspection, and – above all – of the imagination? When the mystery of the night is expressed in music, and in particular on the harp, it touches us all and evokes very concrete images in each of us. In her album Nightscapes, Magdalena Hoffmann has set herself the task of capturing the magic of the night: “My instrument is the ideal vehicle for this intimate, but also the magical and fantastic atmosphere. It’s not for nothing that the harp often corresponds to celestial or underworld moments in the orchestra.

© Lena Germann/Qobuz

But, he composed a lot of other music as well, some with unusual names, such as Africa and Wedding Cake, both of which are contained in this excellent album which is a good introduction to this wonderful composer.

The recording is on Qobuz at 24/96 sampling. The piano concertos are particularly marvelous, and Alexandre Kantorow renders them superbly on piano.

This album of Ballades and Impromptus are performed by pianist François Dumont and presented on Qobuz streaming at 24/88.2 sampling. I am finding that more and more albums are being released in high res PCM (rather than the outdated 16/44.1) than there used to be. This is good because there are fewer quantization errors and the low-pass frequency is farther above the limits of hearing. Whether we can hear the improvements is debatable, but I am pleased regardless.

The music illustrates that, like the golden days of Hollywood movies in the 1940s, the sound of jazz has changed tremendously over the decades. In the old days, there was a lot more melody to the songs than there is now. These days, musicians play more notes, but it is sometimes hard to detect the melody itself. Not necessarily better or worse, just different.

The sound is excellent, not just for an album recorded more than half a century ago, but in general. Stereo had only been around for a few years, and so, recordings had instruments in just the left or right channel.

As to the album’s content, it’s comprised of 12 tracks of notable jazz compositions, some more well known than others, from the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, you get the picture. The potential pitfalls with these sorts of musical projects that combine an exceptional talent like Pepper with a big band and a powerhouse arranger to interpret someone else’s music are many, and yet none of them seem to materialize here. As a whole, the band never overwhelms Pepper and the two entities seem to play off each other fluidly and lyrically. A perfect example is “Bernie’s Tune” which sounds like the tightest and most playful jam session committed to record. “Walkin’ Shoes” is a super-tasteful big band number that casually swings. Pepper’s solos are warm and clear, perfectly centered in the soundstage. But he also has no problem deferring to a dynamite trumpet solo midway through the piece. Art Pepper switches between alto and tenor sax along with clarinet on this album, his smooth clarinet solo featuring prominently in Dizzy Gillespie’s and Charlie Parker’s “Anthropology.” The classic “Round Midnight” is handled with an emotional sincerity and a deft touch that puts to shame several overly contrived takes of this song that I’ve heard over the years. This whole album demands to be savored at a slightly above-average volume for prime immersion and elevated enjoyment. It swings, grooves, and soothes in equal parts and just makes exceptional listening.

On the technical side, this release is billed as an “all-analog mastering from the original master tapes.” Mastering was done under the watchful eye of Bernie Grundman and the LP was pressed on 180gm vinyl at QRP pressing. The album itself has an extremely quiet noise floor, with no unwelcome clicks or pops appearing on either side. The music itself has a nicely sized soundstage with a great sense of presence. It definitely is a standout re-issue for a standout album. If you are an Art Pepper fan or just dig some tasty big band sounds, this album is worth picking up.

This newly-released 2LP set is pressed on translucent orange vinyl and just sounds wonderfully recorded. The vinyl mastering sounds excellent with all the players presented clearly with a great sense of spaciousness and there’s a great punch and warmth to the sound of McBride’s bass, whether it’s being plucked or bowed. The pressing on both discs is very clean without a hint of pops or surface noise. For me, this set is a winner on all counts! Pick it up if you come across it at your local shop.

The LP pressing itself is nicely done with a minimum of surface noise and no extraneous pops or clicks. Another keeper that should be sought out by fans of Jazz guitar.

Not being much of a Jazz historian myself, I tend to gravitate to music with more of a melody to it than some of the later free-form stuff. That being said, to my untrained sensibilities, these two albums maintain plenty of melodic structure and groove in all the tracks, with Coleman and his sidemen creatively painting inside and outside the lines. It makes for something different than the norm of the day, but still instantly appealing to listen to. Yes, I’m somewhat musically Monday Morning Quarterbacking here in 2022, because I’m sure back in 1958 and 59 plenty of jazz fans were more likely saying, WTF is this?! What it was (is) is the growth, evolution, and exploration of new musical possibilities in Jazz. Very much in line with the album titles.

Technically, these are as flawless a vinyl reissue as I have ever heard. Completely black backgrounds for the music to leap off of. No clicks, pops or surface noise to speak of. Instruments are mixed very much hard-left and hard-right but that’s how it was done then. Doesn’t matter in the slightest though. These are both fantastic sounding remasters and pressings of phenomenal albums. Frank Zappa once quipped “Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.” That would happen many years later, but right now listening to this set, very little else sounds or smells sweeter.

Having not played a live set (normally in a stadium at this point) for a good while, these two shows were a bit of a re-calibration and re-boot for the band proper. I stumbled upon this release while looking at the Qobuz home page one morning and boy it’s a dandy. The sound quality of this recording is outstanding for a live show. A vivid, immediate, and powerful account of a band still very much with something to prove in front of just a 300-person crowd. I always thought the Stones were at their best doing old-school blues and “Worried Life Blues” completely confirms that sentiment here. I could hear every little breath Mick Jagger took before belting out the lyrics of “Little Red Rooster” into that microphone. Keith Richard’s and Ronnie Wood’s double slide guitar action on this track came through with exacting detail. Charlie Watts’s kick drum was punchy and solid and Bill Wyman’s thick, loping bass lines were easily felt as well as heard. It’s all very up close and personal, slithering, raunchy, distorted, and fun. You don’t need a decent stereo set to really enjoy this music, but if you’ve got one, it’s transformative!

Before now, only 4 tracks of this material appeared on an official Stones album, Love You Live. Various iterations of this show have been available on bootleg releases so, after all these years, I am very happy this entire performance finally has seen the official light of day and given a proper mix and mastering job. This album brought back a ton of memories for me. Kind of like The Rolling Stones themselves who have become much bigger and slicker over the years, Toronto (my hometown) has done much the same. I despair sometimes at the thought of it. Everything changes whether you like it or not and you have to live with that, I suppose. Live at the El Mocambo reminds me of a city and a band that was a good bit rawer, unpretentious, and more fun to be around. This one is a must if you are a Stones fan.

His Ives 2^nd Symphony, also on Decca, on the other hand, is considered definitive. Herrmann knew Ives and gave the first British performance. More LPs of that on eBay than the CD although that was released in the US. It’s on my top 100 must-have recordings.

Herrmann recorded almost all of his concert music in 1967-68, 1974, and 1976 for Unicorn. Most of those were paid for by Herrmann himself. CDs followed in the early 90s and some were released again by Unicorn a few years ago. I discussed the CD of his Symphony in the first What We Are Listening To installment. You had better hurry only 4 of the series are still for sale although some discontinued ones are on Amazon or eBay at OK prices used.

His opera Wuthering Heights is $60 on Amazon at the moment (3 CDs) but it has been at $300 before the Unicorn reissues. The opera needs large cuts, it runs 3 hours 30 minutes but he refused to do it when he was alive. As his biographer pointed out it made no sense. His film scores were sliced and diced to fit the edited film. Whole chunks of music could be on the floor when a part of the action was removed.

Wuthering Heights has been performed since his death. Stokowski asked for a concert suite and he said no but an hour length one for soprano and baritone was given on May 13 by the Singapore Symphony and Chandos is to record it later says the program notes. Looking at the movements it looks like much of the orchestral bridges may be gone from this but it shows the desire to bring this 70-year-old work into the repertoire, what Herrmann called his greatest work is still burning with the current generation of musicians.

The other Decca recordings of Herrmann doing standard repertoire are considered less important these days. I do not think they made it to CD at all but without those recordings in the boxed set, it is impossible to know how they would be viewed today. No question he would be angry that these recordings were missing. Herrmann most wanted to be a well-known conductor and had some success. His uncontrolled temper prevented him from becoming a music director of an orchestra.

For Decca, he did original concert suites of the films like the two works on Unicorn. He said that full film score recordings were not good for listening with so many cues being very sort or of less interest. This follows a long tradition of composers making concert suites of ballet music or incidental music for plays. It is thus strange that Herrmann was back at Unicorn in 1975 to record the complete Psycho. He had done his concert suite on the first Decca in 1968. You’ll want to get that Unicorn release now since it is still in print, but who knows how long that will be true. Most Herrmann Unicorn recordings did not get reissued and are long out of print.

OK, why are you getting the complete list of Bernard Herrmann recordings, most of which are close to, if not fully out of print, and as far as I know none are available to stream. It is because seven of the Decca recordings of his and others’ film music are back in new remastering to celebrate the 110^th anniversary of his birth. Some may recall on his 100^th anniversary the Classic Movie Channel played every one of the films he scored. This is not the only 110^th anniversary release. I have an original DVD on Herrmann produced by musicologist Joseph Horowitz, listed on top. It’s part of a large series of DVDs on key composers of American classical (not film) music. I do not have that one in my hands yet.

Four of these are high-resolution downloads available on Presto Music in the UK. All of the reissues are on the boxed Decca 7CD set. It’s a UK release but Amazon has it. Make sure you order from Amazon direct to get free shipping. Four of the CDs are Herrmann’s concert suites, two are of other composers’ film music, mostly British, but also the first western recording of the suite the Shostakovich’s Hamlet which has grown legs and is at the edge of works performed by him. Also the Prelude of Walton’s Richard III and a small suite from the Rozsa Julius Caesar. The 2^nd CD is of British film by classical composers who are mostly footnotes but Herrmann knew and admired their work.

The last CD is the complete score to Obsession with only Taxi Driver to follow. Both are from the last year of his life. Obsession was released on Unicorn. I do not know why Decca has issued it in this box set. This might have made a good concert suite but 40 minutes of it is more than most people will want. I would have rather had his take on Holst’s Planets than this.

This brings us to the four famous Decca recordings of the Herrmann concert suites. Hermann was working on more suites but his death prevented them from making it to tape. These are in the Decca Phase 4 recording technique. Close miking of all the instruments with 24 channels being put all together on the mixing board. On these remasters you can hear the volume sliders moving in and out at times. For classical music, the technique was a bomb that exploded not just at Decca but also at CBS. For Herrmann’s film music it worked. The LPs became audiophile favorites making it to Mobile Fidelity remasters. CDs appeared then reappeared. Between the LPs and CDs, I must have four copies not counting this new one.

The Great Movie Thrillers, was the first CD and is all Hitchcock. He gives the suite for The Trouble with Harry the title a Portrait of Hitch. It’s the only one of the suites on the 4 CDs that is not simply the film title. Other suites on CD are of more famous Hitchcock films. See here for a complete list of all the works on the seven CDs. The 2nd CD is Great Film Classics, these are works from the early 40s when he was scoring his first film. Jane Eyre is in a single movement lasting 13 minutes; the longest single movement on the 4 CDs although some multi-movement suites come in longer. Much audiophile fun including the too close-miked bass clarinet. It’s one of the tracks I used to take to CES to dust off the demo speakers.

CD 2 also includes 4 movements of Citizen Kane that are not on the Gerhardt RCA recording (Herrmann attended that recording). On the Decca recording, it is an incomplete version of the concert work Wells Raises Kane, which appeared on the earlier Unicorn, although it’s only a 2-minute movement that is missing. Only two of the five sections of the Devil and Daniel Webster are here from the Unicorn. The 1970 remake of Wells Raises Kane is significantly slower than the 1967 Unicorn.

Herrmann’s tempos become progressively slower until his death from heart disease in 1975. Where a musician sets tempo is a mystery but some say the clock is the heart and conductors with heart issues in later life may show slowing of tempo but an equal number of conductors speed up. Slow tempos are characteristic of the whole Decca series compared to earlier Herrmann recordings in both the concert works and film scores. The 1970 recording of the Holst Planets comes in at close to an hour which is the slowest performance I know of about 8 – 10 minutes slower than typical although it somehow works as an alternative view.

The 3rd CD is called Fantasy Film World which contains films from the early 60s. For The Day the Earth Stood Still he brings in two Theremins and an electric violin. Journey to the Center of the Earth has five organs. The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and Fahrenheit 451 have a more familiar Herrmann style but the themes never repeat and his style does evolve.

The final CD of Herrmann Film music is called Mysterious Film World. These box sets typically reproduce how the album looked but the cover art of this one is different than the LP version I have seen. This cover is monochromatic photos of Hermann conducting and a page with a score in the center. I assume it’s the cover of a reissue after his death. The album was recorded in his last year. Mysterious Island is great audiophile fun with the Giant Carb, Bee, and Bird tracks heard at audio shows when the companies were less concerned about emptying a room with interesting music. The 3 Worlds of Gulliver is in the style of the 18^th century. It’s a fitting ending to the compositional range of Herrmann in the four Decca CDs covering his music.

The complete original liner notes are on the back of each CD jacket. Like all these large boxes from classical labels shrinking it down requires a magnifying glass to read even if you are in your 20s.

Yes, you can stream it but please download the high res tracks on Presto or purchase the CD set from Amazon. If we do not purchase new releases the recording companies have no incentive to keep issuing them. MAKE NO ASSUMPTION THAT WHEN THIS GOES OUT OF PRINT IT WILL STREAM. MOST LARGE BOX SETS DISAPPEAR FROM STREAMING WHEN THEY ARE DISCONTINUED.

Now $44 on Amazon but will soon run out, as all these boxed sets do, and the price will skyrocket.

For additional interest nn Bernard Herrmann please view:

Beyond Psycho – The Musical Genius of Bernard Herrmann (Dvořák’s Prophecy – A New Narrative for American Classical Music) (Film 5, 2021) (NTSC), PostClassical Ensemble Written and produced by Joseph Horowitz