Evil Dead

Evil Dead

The days of music in horror films being crashes, bangs and other things that go bump in the night are most definitely over. In recent years the Horror film score has I suppose come into its own, with intelligent, sophisticated and even melodic scores being composed for movies that deal with the macabre and the sinister. We are a long way from the music of Hammer gothic horrors now and although the music for those classics were of a high standard and remain so to this day. I suppose as horror films have evolved and become more involved and also far more gruesome then it is only fitting that the music for them also has had to evolve and in effect become more complex,meticulously precise and in many ways more frightening, I for one cannot ever forget the now famous theme for Dracula by British composer James Bernard and on seeing the movie for the first time

The Film Music of Stanley Black

The Film Music of Stanley Black

Another excellent release from the ever industrious Chandos Records, who have over the past decade or so have been responsible for re-recording many British film scores and themes in their THE FILM MUSIC of series,which has also been responsible for raising awareness among soundtrack collectors old and new and brought the movie music of many composers who wrote for British cinema to the attention of many enthusiasts. Stanley Black is certainly a name we all know, or at least should. His contributions to the world of music were many and varied and his music for the cinema, although maybe not that well known, is full of originality and vibrant quality. This compilation contains music from seven movies as scored by Black and all of these selections are premiere recordings, so this is not just an entertaining release but an important one for British film music. I for one remember seeing Stanley Black’s name

The Film Music of Clifton Parker

The Film Music of Clifton Parker

This is yet another superb release in the FILM MUSIC OF series by Chandos Records. Clifton Parker was one of the driving forces behind British film music during the 1940s through to the late 1960s. Like fellow composer/conductor Muir Mathieson, Parker was involved in many projects and was responsible for being an innovator in the style of music that was to be utilized in British movies for decades to come. This recording is a testimony to his work, and also a reminder of just how talented he was as a composer and arranger. The CD contains a mere handful of examples of his movie music, but hopefully Chandos will at some point release a volume two, or even a further two volumes, as there is certainly enough material written by Parker to make this a practical project. The disc opens with a suite of music from the Walt Disney 1949 version of TREASURE ISLAND. The music from the movie has been arranged