A BETTER PLACE.

Composer Jerome Leroy may not be that familiar to you, but I am confident that at some point you have heard some of his compositions via his work on numerous projects as additional music composer or even as an arranger and orchestrator, he has worked on THE HUNGER GAMES, THE LIBERATOR, 50 TO 1, TOUCHBACK, IL VOLO:WE ARE LOVE and THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX to mention but a few. One of his latest projects as a composer in his own right is A BETTER PLACE (2014) which is the directorial debut of Dennis Ho. Leroy’s score is a fusion of both symphonic and synthetic, the composer mixing, intertwining and intermingling all of the elements of both the orchestra and synths etc and creating a score that is haunting, dramatic, upbeat, dark, unsettling and also delicately beautiful and touching. It is also a brooding and at times quite ominous and anxious sounding work which contains its fair share of harsh and jagged stabs and passages which although could be described as atonal still manage to posses some musicality and hints of melody In many ways the style and also the sound that the composer has achieved for this score reminded me very much of some of the early scores that were penned by James Newton Howard, THE MAN IN THE MOON for example, it has a certain intimacy and warmth to it, there is also a presence and polished aura that at times shines through that is reminiscent to the style of Thomas Newman, in particular his music for AMERICAN BEAUTY, again an intimacy gleams through and via a reoccurring piano performance hints to the listener that things maybe not as black as they look. There is at the works foundation a core theme, this or at least hints of it open the score but it is but a fleeting few notes that we hear at the beginning as it is not fully developed, however as the work progresses so does the theme begin to become more developed becoming more prevalent and opening out into what will be the central thematic material of the score. The composer makes excellent use of electronics within the soundtrack but never overdoes the synthetics or at least one does not really notice which is synthetic or orchestral because of the way in which they compliment and embellish each other throughout which is I think down to the way in which the score is written and also skilfully orchestrated. For me personally the highlight of the score is track number 10, THE FINAL BEATING, which seems to include most of the scores key thematic properties, there is drama here, but also melancholy and maybe an atmosphere of hope that is being purveyed by strings and plaintive woodwind, the quieter parts soon give way to a stirring passage that is underlined by percussion which gives depth and also power to the string section. A BETTER PLACE is a compelling work and a quality soundtrack which I am sure will be followed by much more of the same from this composer. Check this out you will not be disappointed.

Momentum records(USA).

PHILIP MARTELL.

The name of Philip Martell is now synonymous with the Hammer horror movies of the 1960,s through to the early 1980’s. Martell was Hammer films musical supervisor from 1963 after the untimely death of John Hollingsworth. Martell was born in the east end of London in 1915, he came from a very poor family but because he was attracted to the sounds of the violin coming from a neighbouring house where a music teacher lived the young Martell set his heart of being able to play violin. His Father managed to get together enough money to buy a violin for his son and at the age of five Martell began to practise. As he grew and became more proficient Martell was advised to go to the Guildhall school of music and sit the entrance exam, he did this and passed. He began to study at the school under the tutorship of Benoit Hollander who more or less immediately saw the potential in the young Martell, after a while under the guidance of Benoit, Martell aged just 11 years got a scholarship at the Guildhall this would run for three years and at the age of 14 he was awarded another scholarship which again gave him another three years of study. He continued under the watchful gaze of Hollander until he was 15 when to earn some money Martell began to play in orchestras that were in cinema’s accompanying silent movies. This was something that Hollander was not keen on as it meant that his star student was wasting time performing when he could be practising to become what Hollander had envisaged for him a top concert violinist. Martell began to have a change of direction at this time and started to work in music more as a job and a way of earning money rather than having aspirations of being great performer. He remained at the Guildhall at this time also, taking lessons in piano and studying composition and harmony. Martell managed to get a job in a west end theatre as violinist and soon established himself as a talent and was given the position of lead n the orchestra. It was whilst at the theatre that the conductor was taken ill and the theatre manager asked Martell to step in and conduct the orchestra which he did. It was at this time that Martell first met Val Guest, who then began to ask Martell to act as musical director on films that he directed such as MISS PILGRIMS PROGRESS in 1950 and also MISTER DRAKES DUCK in 1951. Martell took to film scoring with relative ease because of his experience in performing for silent movies and also because of his time in the theatre. Two years after Mr Drakes Duck Martell moved to Angel Productions and it was here that he worked on COSH BOY amongst others, Val Guest still wanted Martell to be involved with the music for his movies so in 1954 he asked Martell to work on THE RUNAWAY BUS and later THE LYONS IN PARIS. In 1963 Martell was asked to be the musical supervisor for Hammer and began by taking up where John Hollingsworth had left off on the Don Banks score THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN. Martell returned to Hammer in 1964 to supervise and conduct HYSTERIA and that is where he remained until 1978 finishing his time with Hammer on the companies final movie THE LADY VANISHES. But he did return to the podium as it were for Hammers television productions HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR in 1980 and then worked on two episodes of HAMMER HOUSE OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE IN 1983. Martell did not confine himself to working on hammer productions however and during the 1960,s through to 1985 he acted as supervisor on movies such as, DR BLOODS COFFIN, DIE MONSTER DIE, THE HORROR OF IT ALL, BRIDES OF FU MAN CHU, THE FROZEN DEAD, DR TERRORS HOUSE OF HORRORS, THE SKULL, THE GHOUL, THE LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF,MASKS OF DEATH and THE TRRORNAUTS to name but a few. He worked with Amicus films and Tyburn pictures, one of his last supervisory assignments was to be present at the recording of the milestone release from Silva Screen MUSIC FROM THE HAMMER FILMS, the label had hoped that Martell would conduct the sessions but due to ill health he was unable to do so and Neil Richardson took his place. Philip Martell passed away in 1993 he had suffered a stroke in 1988 and never really recovered from that. Martell was a musical giant an immense talent and without his contributions I feel that British film music would have sounded very different.

MURDER AT THE WINDMILL USA POSTER.

IVOR SLANEY.

Composer Ivor Slaney was born in West Bromwich in the Midlands of the United Kingdom on May 27th 1921, his father Ernst Slaney had a big influence upon his leanings towards embarking on a career in music. Ernst was the principal cellist in a number of orchestras including The Scottish national Orchestra, The Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra and also held positions in the south African broadcasting Corporations Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic. Ivor became a member of the choir at St Stephens church in Bournemouth as a child and it was from here that his love of music began to develop. The young musician began to play the oboe and also took an interest in the saxophone. Slaney went into the British army and was a member of the band whilst in service which gave him a good basic knowledge of music, this knowledge was increased when he began to be given tuition at Kneller hall and later when he entered the Royal College of music was given music lessons by Leon Goossens. It was at this time that Slaney met Malcolm Arnold, and the pair of aspiring musicians would often be seen together busking on the streets of London mainly in the area of Kensington. Both Arnold and Slaney would join the London Philharmonic but Slaney would not stay in a position with the orchestra unlike Arnold who would become one of its principal players. After the second world war Slaney became an oboist in the Covent garden Opera house orchestra and at times would play in the Boyd Neel orchestra Slaney being able to change styles and genres of musical styles and on occasion performing jazz and acting as an accompanist for pianist George Shearing. As the 1950,s progressed and the 1960,s dawned Slaney became in demand as a conductor at times for the BBC on the popular programme MORNING MUSIC, he also would conduct the 101 strings on a number of their recordings of popular songs and tunes. It was also during this period that Slaney began to become involved with the writing of music for films, at first he was musical assistant to Herbert Wilcox and would conduct and also do arrangements and orchestrations for Anthony Collins who scored THE LADY WITH THE LAMP. In 1952 Slaney worked for Hammer films for the first time, this was for THE LADY IN THE FOG and it was probably his old friend Malcolm Arnold that suggested Slaney as a possible choice for this assignment as Arnold had worked on two productions for the company the previous year after their musical director Frank Spencer had parted company with them.

Slaney continued to score Hammer productions and decided to do something different on the movie SPACEWAYS when he employed a big band sound rather than the more conventional use of a symphony orchestra. He also worked on FACE THE MUSIC for Michael Carreras in which jazz giant Kenny Baker featured. With the advent of commercial television the composer became even more in demand writing pieces of music to accompany numerous advertisements, and also began to write music for the De Wolfe library which was utilised in radio shows and TV productions of the period, in fact Slaney’s music is still being used today and was featured in more recent productions such as THE SIMPSONS and THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. The composer also worked on a number of Children’s film Foundation productions and was responsible for the music and songs for HERE COME THE DOUBLE DECKERS which was a very successful and popular TV series in 1970. Slaney also scored two non Hammer horror movies PREY and TERROR in 1978 for filmmaker Norman J Warren.

Ivor Slaney passed away in Milford on Sea on March 20th 1998, he contributed much to the world of film music and also made great contributions to the world of music in general.

SANGRAAL LA SPADA DI FUOCO/SWORD OF THE BARBARIANS.

Released for the first time on any recording, Kronos records bring us as part of its GOLD COLLECTION, SANGRAAL LA SPADA DI FUOCO (THE SWORD OF THE BARBARIANS), the musical score is penned by Italian composer Franco Campanino, who worked on other scores for films such as IGUANA, AMAZONIA and A MAN CALLED MAGNUM, IN FACT Campanino was quite busy between 1974 and 1988 scoring approx 23 movies. the film was released in 1982, and was obviously one the many flicks that was being produced at the time because of the success of CONAN and that movies various imitations. The score for THE SWORD OF THE BARBARIANS is in fact quite an accomplished and interesting one, the composer making effective use of choir for much of the work, the Maestro supports and embellishes the choral parts of his score with percussion and also the use of the brass section of the orchestra which in turn is enhanced by strings. The choral sections of the score are I think directly influenced by the work of Carl Orff within CARMINA BURANA or maybe the composer took his cue from Basil Poledouris’s CONAN or Jerry Goldsmith’s OMEN soundtracks either way the effect is quite stunning and is also a rewarding listen away from the savagery and images of the movie. In many ways Campanino evokes the sound and also the atmosphere of Italian sword and sandal epics from way back by composers such as De Masi, Lavagnino, Rustichelli and Savina, but as this a rather more recent movie in this a progression or sub genre of those films it also contains themes and quirks of orchestration that are related to the late 1970,s and early 1980,s. I am not a fan of this type of film, yes I did like films such as CONAN and BEASTMASTER but I was never overwhelmed by the original sword and sandal epics, they always seemed rather slow and deliberate to me. The plot of THE SWORD OF THE BARBARIANS is not really anything original, in fact it has so many affiliations with CONAN it is a wonder that the filmmakers were not sued.

Maestro Campanino.

The central character Sangraal vows vengeance after his wife is killed by followers of the evil Goddess Rani, Sangraal makes his way to ark of the Templar’s to obtain an enchanted crossbow that will help him in his fight against the cult. So I suppose it could be seen as Indiana Jones meets Conan, it’s a fun romp with lots of action and some blood spilling and scenes of heads being lopped off etc and the composer produced an effective score to accompany all of that action. Good sound quality and impressive cover art and notes. Worth checking out.

DON GIOVANNI IN SICILIA.

Another great release from the ever industrious Godwin Borg at Kronos records. DON GIOVANNI IN SICILIA is the score from the RAI TV series that was aired in three episodes in 1977, Nicolai provided the series with a haunting and accomplished soundtrack, penning a simple but infectious central theme that featured the whistling talents of Alessandro Alessandroni. The music is I suppose a mix of both dramatic and folk sounding colours with the composer fusing both of these styles seamlessly and perfectly. The score is filled to overflowing with affecting and uplifting themes, Nicolai utilising mandolin, harpsichord, accordion, guitar and subtle strings and woodwind. It is a score that is in no way grandiose or overpowering, in fact it is rather low key in places but because it is delicate and somewhat fragile in its sound and style the music works so well within the context of the series and is also a rewarding and pleasant listening experience away from the images on screen. In may ways similar to a handful of other Nicolai scores simply because of its orchestration DON GIOVANNI IN SICILIA I think will be a popular release with collectors and also fans of the composer, in my humble opinion Nicolai was unfairly neglected during the 1960,s and also the 1970,s when he was at his busiest as a composer, conductor and arranger. He contributed so much to world of Italian film music and on many occasions was not given credit for his involvement. He was a gifted conductor but let us not also forget he was a great composer, a music smith of incredible originality who sadly was on so many occasions overshadowed by the success of his peers. This is a welcome addition to the at last growing catalogue of Nicolai soundtracks that are being released, let us hope it is not the last. Well worth investing in.