DRACULA/THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN.

 

TADLOW MUSIC. NOTES BY DAVID HUCKVALE.

TADLOW MUSIC NOTES BY DAVID HUCKVALE.

 

I thought before writing the review for the new recording of DRACULA and THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN by Tadlow records, I would have a look at Horror scores or at least soundtracks from them. When you think about it, music from horror films has come a long way. By this I mean the actual release of the musical score from a horror movie has come on leaps and bounds. Music in horror movies is in most cases an important and integral part of the film making process, the music tells the audience that something unspeakable could be about to happen and it also underlines the something when it does happen. Cast your mind back if you will to the late 1950’s, the decade was coming to an end and a bright new decade was about to dawn. Ah yes the 1960’s, but let us not forget the 1950’s because if it were not for studios such as Universal in Hollywood producing a plethora of what we now call B monster movies then the horror movie as we know it probably would not have come into being or evolved in the way that it has. So, the 1950’s was a fruitful time for movie makers, as they enticed audiences into theatres with tales of both horror and sci-fi. Many now classic films were released during that decade and in the following years movie makers and writers dipped into this rich heritage of mad scientists, creatures from black lagoons and giant ants on the rampage to create even more terrifying abominations. However, the music for these productions and many that followed although being very good and working as a wonderful background and support to the monster/horror flicks was largely overlooked and albeit ignored. A few soundtrack collectors had noticed the scores for these movies but alas were to be denied hearing them unless they went to the cinema or maybe caught a movie late on TV.

There was an LP record released on Coral records in 1959 by Dick Jacobs and his orchestra, which at the time was welcomed by fans of horror film music, this was a compilation with a handful of themes and pieces of music from various movies, one being THE HORROR OF DRACULA by James Bernard. Hammer films in the UK had been making movies for several years before they decided to turn their attention to the Gothic Horror market, and what better way to begin in this genre than with a classic tale FRANKENSTEIN. The studio based their THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN loosely on the writings of Mary Shelley, and wanted to make the picture something that was removed stylistically and appearance wise from the Universal Boris Karloff films of the 1930’s. It was not only a ground-breaking move by Hammer but also a brave one. Hammer decided to place the film in the more than capable hands of film maker Terence Fisher, who brought to fruition a tale of terror and fear and in full colour too.

Released on May 2nd, 1957, the films screenplay was fashioned by Jimmy Sangster and starred Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein with a powerful performance by a heavily made up Christopher Lee as the Monster. NO ONE WHO SAW IT LIVED TO DESCRIBE IT, was one of the films taglines, IT WILL HAUNT YOU FOREVER being the other.
This first foray into the realms of horror needed a strong musical score, and Hammer’s musical director John Hollingsworth turned to composer James Bernard to create a score that matched the horror and the fearsome action. Bernard had worked on two films previously for Hammer THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT (1955) and X THE UNKNOWN (1957). Which he recalled when I spoke to him in the late 1980’s after he had returned to England because Silva Screen were planning a recording of Hammer film music, the majority of which would be his. “It was through conductor John Hollingsworth that I received my first film scoring assignment, John had conducted a number of my works for radio, he was also at this time musical director and supervisor for Hammer films. The film company had just produced a picture called THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT, a composer had already been signed, but unfortunately John Hotchkiss had been taken ill and was unable to provide the score. John Hollingsworth played a tape of my music from The Duchess of Malfi to the director of QUATERMASS, Anthony Hinds, and he agreed to let me write the score. This was my first project for Hammer and more importantly I think my first film score”. For the first three projects that Bernard worked on for Hammer, the composer was only given the use of the percussion and string sections of the orchestra. “I think that John Hollingsworth had decided to see how I got along with just strings and percussion, before letting me loose with a full orchestra.” recalled Bernard. It was not until THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957) that the composer progressed to using more than just those two sections of orchestra. Hammer scores always gave the impression of being large scale, and being performed by a huge symphony orchestra, this was in fact not the case. The orchestras assembled for a Hammer film score often numbered a mere 34 musicians, the music budgets on these movies were quite low and did not allow for an orchestra any larger, but the orchestra was often made up of some of the best musicians around at the time, James Bernard said. “I was really rather spoilt, because of the very talented people that the orchestra was made up of – these were highly respected and very distinguished musicians, and some of the most talented at their particular trade, and I was very fortunate to have them perform my music. Hugh Bean was usually leader, and then there was Jack Brymer on first clarinet with Leon Goossens on first oboe.
This was the standard of the musicians throughout the orchestra that had been assembled; all of them were first class performers. “

Bernard

But even with the movie being popular and attracting much attention at the box office the music was largely ignored and not released on a recording. Was the composer suprised an LP was not issued?
“No, not at all. At the time of the film’s release, not many people were aware that there was such a thing as film music. Even some of the producers and directors were not that interested, the sight of a soundtrack album was very rare. The only soundtracks that one did see were of the Hollywood musicals, and big films such as BEN-HUR. Back in the fifties I doubt very much if anyone in England thought about soundtrack albums.”
Less than a year later James returned to the Hammer recording stage to score the studios version of DRACULA or THE HORROR OF DRACULA as it was titled in the United States. Released in June 1958, the movie was again helmed by director Terrance Fisher, and re-united actors Lee and Cushing, this colourful and terrifying movie was soon packing audiences into the theatres and was a re-sounding success for the studio and the British film industry. James Bernard is without a doubt the composer who is mostly associated with Hammer, with his absorbing and vibrant music for the DRACULA cycle being most prominent. Actor Christopher Lee made many an entrance as the Prince of darkness accompanied and heralded by James Bernard’s vibrantly chilling chords. The Dracula theme as it is now widely known is a simple three chord phrase that musically actually spells out DRA-CU-LA. The three chords conjure up perfectly the atmosphere of dark foreboding, and a tense and urgent sense of impending doom. The music composed by Bernard is fearful, and the theme is as familiar to collectors of film music and cinema goers as Rosza’s ‘Paranoia’ from SPELLBOUND and almost as famous as Bernard Herrmann’s shrieking and manic strings from PSYCHO. I can recall when first discovering the DRACULA story as retold by Hammer being far more anxious by the music playing on the soundtrack, as opposed to the film itself. The sight of Christopher Lee as the infamous and evil Count standing at the top of a flight of stairs with piercing, blood-shot eyes and bloody lips was frightening on its own, but with the music of James Bernard punctuating and enhancing the scene it reached another level, that literally scared the life out of you. James Bernard was to Hammer what John Barry was to James Bond and what Ennio Morricone was to the movies of Sergio Leone. The DRA-CU-LA three-note motif is a genius way to introduce the dark and gaunt figure standing in the shadows wearing the black cloak and it works in a similar way to the John Williams JAWS theme. As soon as you hear the beginnings of it, you know instinctively something is not quite right and that something sinister is going to happen.

I am pleased that at last both the scores for these two Hammer classics will now be heard in their full glory, and Tadlow music should be congratulated for persevering on this project to breathe life back into the chilling and virulent music for the infamous Vampire Count and the lumbering and tormented creature created by Baron Frankenstein. It was announced sometime ago, but then things went a little quiet because the label were busy with other re-recordings. However, let us not forget the sterling work that was done by Silva Screen when they re-constructed at least part of the DRACULA score for their MUSIC FROM THE HAMMER FILMS collection, which was first released on a beautifully done gatefold LP then also onto compact disc. If it were not for Silva Screen, fans would not have heard the striking tones of James Bernard without having to watch the movie.

Originally released back in 1989 by Silva, MUSIC FROM THE HAMMER FILMS was indeed a ground breaking release, the compilation which was firstly released on long playing record in a gatefold cover later received a compact disc issue and has remained an iconic and popular release amongst collectors of fine movie music. Remember this was in the days before any of Hammers film music had been released in full soundtrack editions by GDI/BSX records and I think I am correct when I say that the only music that had been released was in the form of background music to story version from Hammer movies such as THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES and The HAMMER presents DRACULA album on EMI, which did have four tracks on its flip side that were promoted as THE FOUR FACES OF EVIL, these being the romantic and haunting SHE by James Bernard, the sensual and malevolent sounding THE VAMPIRE LOVERS by Harry Robinson, the gloriously dramatic and romantic DR JECKLE AND SISTER HYDE by David Whittaker and the jagged and chilling FEAR IN THE NIGHT by John McCabe all of which were conducted by Philip Martell. The compact disc opens with THE DRACULA SUITE, which is such a fitting way to start any compilation of Hammer film music, James Bernard’s foreboding, dark and evil sounding DRA-CU-LA three-note motif setting the scene for the Prince of chaos. The compact disc opens with THE DRACULA SUITE, which is such a fitting way to start any compilation of Hammer film music, James Bernard’s foreboding, dark and evil sounding DRA-CU-LA three-note motif setting the scene for the Prince of chaos.

The suite which is in five sections is made up from music that is taken from the original 1958 DRACULA and also DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS from 1966, the opening is instantly recognisable and still strikes a little terror into the hearts of anyone who hears it, Bernard’s simple but highly effective musical motif. After the familiar and dramatic opening the suite segues into the music that Bernard used to accompany Jonathan Harker on his investigation of the lofty hallway of castle Dracula, where he encounters a young woman, unbeknown to him she is one of the undead and attempts to turn Harker into one of her kind, this is interrupted by the appearance of Count Dracula who ferociously attacks the girl and also lashes out at Harker.
Part three of the suite THE KISS OF THE LIVING DEATH is a piece of masterful scoring by Bernard his music acting as a hypnotic and alluring background to Dracula’s attempt to seduce his victims. Part four of the suite is FUNERAL IN CARPATHIA, which is a slow but menacing piece for strings woodwind and subdued brass that are all punctuated by a slow and deliberate sounding drumbeat. Part five is the finale sequence music from DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS, which takes place on a frozen river, where the infamous Count is dispatched by Father Shandor (Andrew Keir) with a single gun-shot into the ice that releases pure running water, the vampire lord falls into the icy depths and is destroyed, but I think we all realise at this point that he will return. Bernard’s music is dramatic and feverish in places, supporting and underlining wonderfully the confrontation between good and evil and the Counts demise. So yes, we have been treated to the Counts music before, but not in a complete form, there have also been excerpts released on GDI when they released a number of scores and compilations of music from the Hammer studio, again It’s a mystery why the original DRACULA score was not on their list. Maybe the tapes were damaged, or there was some copyright problem at the time, who knows?

 

 

TADLOW RELEASE.
The Tadlow re-recordings conducted by Nic Raine and performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra are probably the most anticipated and talked about by film music collectors, and finally we have them.(well I do). I am of the opinion that James Bernard would have been very pleased with the performance on this recording, to be honest it is a fairly faithful re-creation of the glory days of Hammer film music, and once again I am experiencing chills down my spine as I hear that formidable DRA-CU-LA theme, however, is it really a faithful recreation of the music?

 

Well I will let you judge for yourself, maybe prior to listening to the recording you might want to sit and watch the movie, and then compare it to the re-recording. It would be unfair of me to say that this re-recording is marvellous or wonderful, yes it is great to hear the Dracula theme again and in stereo with a crisp sound to it, but is it the ultimate re-recording, again I leave that up to you my friends, as a reviewer it is obviously my own personal opinion that I am giving to you here, so please go ahead and listen for yourself. In recent years we have been given so many new recordings and releases of scores that maybe have never seen the light of day, some I think probably were better off staying in the dusty archives in which they were stored. Re-recordings we have had a few and maybe then again too few good ones to mention, so when one is announced the hype is obviously heightened by each collector who hears about it,(Chinese whispers) the consequence is often that when said re-recording finally arrives everyone is so hyped with it that when they actually listen to it, it is somewhat disappointing, maybe that’s my problem I expect too much, or I anticipate too much? Well again, I have to say take a listen and arrive at your own decision. There is I suppose the argument or opinion that if you are a James Bernard fan you will love anything that is released which was written by him, but and there is always a but isn’t there, if you are not that keen on James Bernard then this is probably going to be another mediocre score that maybe should not have been re-recorded. I like the music of Bernard, there is just an atmosphere and a sound and style to it that resonates with me personally, it always has. I can remember hearing his music for the first time on an 8mm film of the end sequence to DRACULA where Van Helsing and Dracula fight to the bitter end, with the Vampire being dispatched via sunlight and a pair of candlesticks making the sign of the cross. The print I had was in black and white, and I used to show it on a hand cranked projector onto the white door of my bedroom, the music and sound effects were on a floppy single record and it was very difficult to get the music and sounds lined up in sequence with the images, it was at times like a badly dubbed foreign movie, or a film that had gone horribly wrong, but the music I was hearing was urgent, and racing, exciting and powerful and I was attracted to it straight away, it had an enticing aura to it. I never knew this was James Bernard, and in those early days I did not realise that our paths would cross and we would become friends. So, my connection with James went back a long way, I think this was in around 1967 when I was 12 years of age. My obsession with his music and the music of Hammer films grew from there and has endured many years as I am still in awe of it now.

So to the Tadlow release, how do you review a classic, if you pick up on anything or think you hear something out of place you will be damned by fans who will not have anything negative said, and if you don’t mention any imperfections then you again will be damned by those who have noticed them.

Therefore, I am on a sticky wicket from all sides I suppose. Is the tempo slower, is it too fast, was that really in the score when I saw the movie, is that an oboe? These are all questions that one asks oneself when listening to any re-recording and at times finds oneself re-visiting the original film to try and listen to that specific musical passage. But then invariably I start to become engrossed in the film and forget to listen out for the music. The album is titled DRACULA/THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN but it is music from the latter title that appears first on the compact disc, in many way I personally do prefer the score for THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, I always felt that the music was more aggressive when it needed to be and maybe slightly more developed and in places definitely more melodic. Bernard’s fearsome sounding opening theme is a combination of percussion, brass and strings, the opening of the track is announced by a crash from a gong and a single percussive beat played in unison with sombre and dark sounding piano being added for effect. This is an atmospheric and instantly harrowing sounding statement, and I think it is the opening few notes that set the scene perfectly for what is to follow, it is a visceral and edgy sounding piece, in which the composer was allowed to utilise more than just the strings he had made such good use of in his first two assignments for Hammer and it certainly sounds as if he is making up for lost time in this cue. Track number two, A BRILLIANT INTELLECT/ITS ALIVE, is a more down beat piece and takes the form of a lilting composition that sounds in my opinion very English and a little Regal, strings perform the piece which is pleasantly soothing in its style, but alters towards the end of the cue with the strings becoming more agitated and sinister, but remaining strangely melodious. In track number three THE GIBBET we begin to hear the more sinister side of Bernard and his trademark style starts to shine through, a style which would further establish itself in his scores for DRACULA, PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES and KISS OF THE VAMPIRE to list but a few. The strings create a sound that is filled with anguish and foreboding, they are threatening, tense and virulent and are enhanced via brass and percussion to elevate the more unsettling aspects of Bernard’s score. THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN is without a doubt the more romantic sounding work on the compact disc, or at least it has a calming and lighter musical persona within it.

 

But, of course it also has to it its fair share of shocking and startling moments, that at times just jump out of nowhere, or gradually build with tantalising strings that lead to jagged crescendos and harsh sounding stabs which when listening to them bring to mind fragments of the DRACULA theme. I think the attraction of James Bernard’s music for film, is that it is for the most part exciting and dark, but then we are treated to a gorgeous sounding melody or a subtle and mesmeric musical passage that is affecting and haunting, which the composer integrated into the proceedings with a consummate ease.

The composer told me he always wanted to write something that was romantic, which he did in SHE and in later Dracula movies such as TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA in his Romance; THE YOUNG LOVERS composition and THE LOVE THEME from THE SCARS OF DRACULA, but also let us not forget the achingly beautiful central theme for FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN which acted as the theme for Christina the central character. In fact, one can draw comparisons between FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN and THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, in its quieter moments, although obviously not identical but I would say there are certain similarities, which makes one ask the question did Bernard base his FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN on certain themes he utilised for THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Which brings us to the music for DRACULA, this is an iconic score, a landmark work for both the composer and Hammer films, foreboding, fearsome, frightening and threatening, this is evil purveyed and personified in music. It is surprising that the quite simple three note motif that spells out DRA-CU-LA has endured for so long and has also become a part of cinema and film music history. I go back to the FINAL BATTLE between good and evil, Van Helsing and Dracula, which takes place at the end of the movie, this is thrilling and powerful scoring, swirling strings underlined with percussion and rattling timpani which is further supported by rasping brass, it is a relentless onslaught of sounds and musical textures and colours, and also a desperate and pulsating composition, which underlines punctuates and gives greater impact to the now famous sequence. A sequence that ends with good being triumphant, and evil being defeated and the body of Dracula decomposing in front of our eyes whilst Bernard scores his destruction with music that is tinged with a religious persona. Again, I say, it is now up to you to listen, to savour and to appreciate, or to listen and be unimpressed, James Bernard fans will be in raptures, others will I suspect be unaffected and indifferent. His music was after all often ignored and overlooked.

JOHN HOLLINGSWORTH ; UNSUNG HERO OF THE SILVER SCREEN.

 

 

The name of John Hollingsworth is synonyms with Hammer films, why? Because Hollingsworth was the studios musical director, he was responsible for scoring, conducting and supervising the music department at Hammer, it was Hollingsworth that gave composers such as James Bernard, Richard Rodney Bennet, Malcom Williamson, Don Banks and Gary Hughes. Hollingsworth began his duties at Hammer in 1954, his first assignment being THE STRANGER CAME HOME. Hollingsworth had worked for Hammer previously in 1951, when he acted as musical director on NEVER LOOK BACK. But, it was when he took over from Ivor Slaney full time in 1954, that Hollingsworth began to make his mark upon the high quality of the scores that were utilised by the studio. Hollingsworth had conducted for James Bernard before Hammer, and they collaborated on the music for two radio plays, THE DEATH OF HECTOR and THE DUCHESS OF MALFI, and it was the latter score that made Hollingsworth think of Bernard when it came to assigning a composer on THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, the score had originally been given to John Hotchkiss, but because the composer fell ill during writing the score, Hammer needed a composer quickly, Hollingsworth asked Bernard who accepted and the rest they say is History as far as Bernard is concerned.

 

Hollingsworth was born in Enfield Middlesex on March 20th, 1916, he was educated at Bradfield college and then went onto to study music at the Guildhall School of Music. As early as 1937, Hollingsworth had become an accomplished conductor, and found himself conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. During the second world war, he joined the RAF, and in 1943, became the first RAF sergeant to conduct The National Symphony Orchestra, he toured with the NSO and gave concerts in both the UK and the USA. He conducted concerts in front of many dignitaries and world leaders, which included, Stalin, Truman and Churchill. After the war Hollingsworth became much in demand and became assistant to Muir Matheson and worked on films such as BRIEF ENCOUNTER. After three years Hollingsworth became musical director at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. This was an association that would endure some ten years, he also became principal conductor for The Tunbridge Wells Symphony Orchestra during this time and was assistant conductor to Sir Malcolm Sargent at the Proms.

 

 

Hollingsworth, stayed at Hammer until 1963, his last scoring assignment being THE DEVIL SHIP PIRATES, he was working on THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN which was composed by Don Banks when he passed away at his home in London. He died of T.B. on December 29th, 1969.

THE HAMMER VAMPIRE FILM MUSIC COLLECTION.

Notes for the Hammer Vampire film music collection, released on GDI records in 2001 © John Mansell and Marcus Hearne

KISS OF THE VAMPIRE.

Bavaria 1910,honeymooning couple Gerald and Mirianne Harcourt are stranded when their motor car runs out of petrol. The Harcourts finding lodging as the only guests in a run down hotel, and accept a dinner invitation from Dr. Ravna, the owner of a nearby chateau. That evening Ravna’s son plays a bewitching piano rhapsody that has a profound effect upon Mirianne. The following day the Harcourt’s return to the chateau to attend a masked ball, but Gerald is drugged. He awakens to find that his wife has vanished and that all her possessions have disappeared from their hotel room. The mysterious stranger Professor Zimmer presents Gerald with the uncomfortable truth: Dr Ravna is the head of an obscene vampiric cult, and he has claimed Mirianne as his latest victim. James Bernards score for THE KISS OF THE VAMPIRE is arguably more impressive than the ground breaking work that the composer carried out when scoring DRACULA for Hammer, this was after all the film that initiated the publics love affair with the various blood suckers that the house of horror would introduce during the years that followed. The score for THE KISS OF THE VAMPIRE combines both virulent and romantic styles, one of the undoubted highlights of the score being the piano piece that is seen to be performed by Ravna’s son, Carl. In later years the composer arranged the popular piece into a concert work entitled VAMPIRE RHAPSODY, and performed a section of it in the closing moments of the 1987 BBC documentary HAMMER THE STUDIO THAT DRIPPED BLOOD.

“ I decided to give (Carl’s) music a sort of perverted Lisztian flavour” remarked Bernard. John Hollingsworth, Hammer’s musical director at the time, called the piece ‘THE TOOTH CONCERTO’. John was always fun to work with but sadly KISS OF THE VAMPIRE was the last score of mine that he conducted. On KISS OF THE VAMPIRE I was asked to write a sequence of waltzes which wee to be used in the scenes of the masked ball, these had to be in the Viennese style, and also had to be composed in advance of the main score so they could be played whilst filming of the scenes took place. My deadline was tight, so I asked John to get somebody else to work on the orchestration of these. He engaged Douglas Gamley, who not only did a marvellous job on the orchestrations but also performed piano on the score.

LUST FOR A VAMPIRE.

Reincarnated vampire Carmilla Karnstein poses as a debutante called Mircalla and is enrolled at Countess Herritzens exclusive girls’ boarding school. Researching legends associated with the nearby Karnstein Castle gothic storyteller Richard Lestrange falls under Mircalla’a mesmeric spell and tricks his way into a teaching post at the school. Fellow schoolmaster Giles Barton becomes similarly fascinated by the girl, and covers for her when she satisfies her bloodlust by murdering a student. Barton’s research into the occult leads him to believe that Mircalla is Carmilla Karnstein, and when he confronts her about her true identity his suspicions are horribly confirmed.

Composer Harry Robinson gained a reputation at Hammer for being able to score films quickly and efficiently. Robinson had already worked on the 1968 television anthology JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN and scored THE VAMPIRE LOVERS IN 1970 by the time Hammer turned to him to work on LUST FOR A VAMPIRE. “ Lets just say that this was not exactly a great movie” recalled the composer. “ Certainly the other two movies within the Karnstein trilogy were for the most part very good, but LUST was the weakest of the three. I regard LUST FOR A VAMPIRE as one of Hammer’s ‘tits and bums’ productions-it relied more upon the uncovering of flesh than the unfolding of the story! Basically worked the same sort of formula on LUST as I had done on THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, although I did attempt to make LUST sound slightly more romantic. I hope I succeeded”. A sense of continuity with THE VAMPIRE LOVERS was further strengthened by the inclusion of music within LUST from its predecessor. “The music budgets were quite minimal at Hammer during this period”. said Robinson. “But we adapted things to suit each individual film. A score could be made to sound grand, even if we were only using , say 30 musicians. I think on LUST I used approximately 50 players, and reduced the numbers as we progressed”. Robinson went onto score the third and final instalment of the Karnstein trilogy, TWINS OF EVIL., and his work on this collection of movies is among the most requested by soundtrack collectors to be released.

VAMPIRE CIRCUS.

Schettel, mittel-Europe; Anna Mueller leads a young girl to the castle of her lover, Count Mitterhaus. The girl is then murdered by the vampire Count, and professor Mueller gathers together a horde of angry villagers to help him take revenge. Mitterhaus is eventually impaled upon a sharpened stake and curses his assailants; “Your children will die to give me back my life!” Fifteen years later the disease ridden village is in quarantine. A mysterious gypsy woman crosses the blockade, bringing with her the convoy of vehicles that comprise the Circus of Night. While the circus prepares to entertain the local children the gypsy woman who is in reality Anna uncovers the castle crypt, Mitterhaus’s bloody vow is about to be fulfilled. Composer David Whitaker, studied at the Guildhall of Music between 1947 and 1949,and began his career in film music in 1966 when he scored the Jerry Lewis comedy DON’T RAISE THE BRIDGE, LOWER THE RIVER. Although his arranging work has included commissions from such diverse artists as THE ROLLING STONES and LISA STANSFIELD, it is probably true to say that Whitaker is best remembered for his two Hammer horror scores DR JECKYLL AND SISTER HYDE and VAMPIRE CIRCUS. “ After seeing VAMPIRE CIRCUS I decided it needed a big score,” said the composer. “At that time the Hammer formula for an orchestra line up comprised around 120 musicians, and it was really up to the composer how these were utilised. With the guidance from Hammer’s musical director Philip Martell I spread them as I saw fit. I think we used around 60 musicians per session. Phil was quite serious, and although we hit it off very well there weren’t many light moments with him. I do remember however, being rather amused that the vampire at the start of the movie seemed so camp”. Whitaker subsequently scored Hammer’s comedy from 1973 THAT’S YOUR FUNERAL.

THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES.

Transylvania 1804,Count Dracula rises from his tomb and assumes the physical form of his Chinese disciple Kah. A century later Professor van Helsing lectures a class of cynical students about the legend of Ping Kuei, a remote village plagued by marauding vampires in golden masks. One of the professors students His Ching takes the story seriously and begs his tutors help in the vanquishing of the creatures. Van Helsing joins his son, Leyland, wealthy widow Vanessa Buren and His Ching on an expedition to the village. They travel with His Ching’s five brothers and his sister, Mai Kwei, all martial arts experts. Following an arduous journey the party arrive at the besieged village, and Vanessa and His Ching die in the ensuing battle. The last remaining vampire kidnaps Mai Kwai and takes her to their temple, where their foul overlord awaits……..

For James Bernard’s final feature film score for Hammer he fused his recognisable style with traditional Chinese music. The epic results made for a suitably impressive accompaniment to the company’s last vampire movie, and appropriately incorporated cues from Bernard’s score from the 1970 movie TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA. Bernard’s work on this project did not however end with the film score, as the composer recalls. “ I Was asked to compose music for a LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES ALBUM that would contain dialogue from the movie with a narration spoken by Peter Cushing, similar in style to the DRACULA album that had been recorded with Christopher Lee. Phil Martell thought it would be a good idea to include a new theme that would act as the opening section of music, similar to an overture, so I composed some music especially which was used to open and close the record. I chose a Chinese sounding march with lots of crashing cymbals, percussion and brass. Philip Martell conducted the sessions and although the LP was called the original soundtrack recording it actually contained very little of the score from the film”.

THE HAMMER FRANKENSTEIN FILM MUSIC COLLECTION.

Music info Notes from the liner of the GDI compact disc release, issued in 2000.(c) John Mansell.

Between 1956 and 1972, Hammer films produced seven Frankenstein films, four of which were scored by the companies more or less resident composer James Bernard. Bernard was a protégé of the great composer Benjamin Britten, Bernard began his musical career in motion pictures when Hammer signed him to provide the soundtrack to THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT in 1955. A year later THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN introduced the composer to the gothic horror, although he had already had an encounter of sorts with this type of story when he scored Webster’s THE DUCHESS OF MALFI for BBC radio. Bernard went on to score numerous films for the Hammer studio among them was a trio of further Frankenstein’s: FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN (1966) FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1969) and FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1973). Selections from all three of these and also the original THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN are included on this album. Hammers other FRANKENSTEIN movies were scored by three well respected composers who were also called upon regularly by the studio to work on their productions.

For the 1958 release of THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN Hammer turned to Leonard Salzedo to compose the music. Salzedo was born in London on September 24th 1921, his interest in music began at the age of just seven and he started to experiment with composition at the age of twelve. On leaving school the young Salzedo began to study piano as well as continuing his violin lesson which he had started whilst attending school. He later took lessons in harmony with William Lloyd-Webber and finally enrolled at the Royal college of music in 1940. Whilst there his violin tuition was provided by Isolde Menges, plus he was tutored by Herbert Howells in composition, Sir George Dyson in conducting, Dr Gordon Jacob in orchestration and finally received lesson in Chamber Music from Ivor James. Salzedo remained at the college throughout the second world war and completed his studies in 1944. Between 1950 and 1966 Salzedo composed a number of works for concert hall performances well as performing as a violinist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It was also during this period of his career that Salzedo acted as musical assistant to Sir Thomas Beecham, and it was Beecham who conducted Salzedo’s first symphony in 1956. Two years before this, however Salzedo had completed his first film score for the Hammer studios, which was THE STRANGER CAME HOME which was directed by Terence Fisher. “I got THE STRANGER CAME HOME because of Malcolm Arnold” Salzedo explained.

“ I had told him I was very keen to write music for the cinema so Malcolm spoke with John Hollingsworth who was Hammer’s musical director at the time”. Salzedo continued his association with Hammer for several years but THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN proved to be his final Hammer credit for over two decades. “ I was asked to score the Frankenstein movie because James Bernard was not available at the time. It was John Hollingsworth who approached me to work on the movie and he would direct the music, but during the scoring process john became very ill and was unable to work he had been told to rest by his Doctors, so it was Muir Mathieson who conducted my score of course he was another great talent in the film music arena”. Although Salzedo wrote the music for six Hammer movies and one episode of Hammer House of Horror for television the composers music does appear in THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1960), which contained an original score by Benjamin Frankel, for some reason a short sequence of the movie contained music by Salzedo for which he was not credited. “ I am not quite sure how this happened” said Salzedo. “ I think maybe the producers wanted a particular sequence scored and it was easier to just track my music to the movie rather than got back to Ben Frankel and ask him to provide more music”.

For their second Frankenstein sequel THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN (1964) Hammer hired composer Don Banks to write the score, Banks who was Australian had previously worked with John Hollingsworth on CAPTAIN CLEGG and NIGHTMARE, but his foray into Frankenstein territory was his first encounter with Hammer’s new musical director Phil Martell who would conduct a further five of Banks scores for Hammer up until 1966. Born in Melbourne in 1923 Banks began to study piano in 1928. During the second world war he served in the Australian medical corps, but found time to continue his piano studies along with harmony and counterpoint. After being demobbed in 1946 banks went to study at the music conservatory at the university of Melbourne. He remained there for two years and studied under Dorian Le Gallienne and Wademar Seidel. During the early 1950,s banks visited England to receive further tutelage in composition from Matyas Seiber. He also went to Florence in Italy to study further under the watchful gaze of Luigi Dallapiccola and then finally to Salzburg where he was schooled by Milton Babbit. Banks got into scoring movies in 1957 his first assignment being for a documentary entitled ALPINE ROUNDABOUT, scoring his first feature MURDER AT THE SITE directed by Francis Searle in 1958.

His Frankenstein music is probably some of the most melodic in the Hammer series and led to his involvement in the movie HYSTERIA for which the composer provided a jazz score and also to the more conventional music for REPTILE, RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK and THE MUMMYS SHROUD. Banks was also reportedly responsible for arranging much of Mike Vickers music for the movie DRACULA AD 1972 for which he received no credit. He also worked on the Amicus production THE TORTURE GARDEN in 1967 the other half of the score being composed by James Bernard. In 1972 banks returned to his native Australia, and remained there till his death in 1980. According to Phil Martell Banks worked on films to live, the revenue providing a much needed supplement to the meagre income that the composer received from composing music for the concert hall or serious music.

Hammer’s penultimate Frankenstein movie was released in 1970. THE HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN contained a score by Malcolm Williamson who had previously worked on THE BRIDES OF DRACULA and CRESCENDO for Hammer. Phil Martell had always wanted to utilise Williamson more on Hammer productions but the composers other commitments made this impossible. Another Australian, Williamson began his studies in 1942 at the age of eleven. He attended the Sydney Conservatory where he studied piano, violin and French horn. His tutor for composition was Sir Eugene Goosens. In 1950, Williamson visited England where he continued to concentrate on composition, this time under Elizabeth Lutyens and Erwin Stein. He decided to settle permanently in the United Kingdom in 1951, Williamson had his first two works for concert hall performance published under the guidance of Benjamin Britten and Sir Adrian Boult. In 1960 Williamson was asked to score Hammer’s THE BRIDES OF DRACULA, “ I remember after I was initially asked to score the Dracula move being sent along to see a handful of movies that had been scored by Jimmy Bernard, I feel that he is faultless, really polished. I would love to be able to compose in the way he does for horror films. I also went on set and watched David Peel in action and I was very privileged to meet Peter Cushing, a very dedicated man, loved and respected by all who knew him”. After BRIDES, Williamson became involved in writing music for many films and documentaries as well as symphonic music for ballets, culminating in 1975 with his appointment as Master of the Queens music. His second Hammer assignment was for CRESCENDO (1970), after which Phil Martell asked him to write the score for THE HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN.

“ I have to say that working on the Frankenstein movie was not enjoyable at all, it was a feeble attempt to re-create the original Hammer Frankenstein but it sadly lacked the presence of the original film. It was criticised by most people who saw it and at the time I felt that I had not provided the film with an adequate musical score. I used a tuba to represent the lumbering of the monster, but it just seemed to make the monster more clumsy and awkward; in fact, I would say that it was a ridiculous and ludicrous combination. It made the horror element somewhat farcical. But having said that I have recently watched the movie on television and it seems to have improved with age, the music and the film both, It doesn’t seem quite so awful now“.

MUSIC FROM THE HAMMER FILMS.

Originally released back in 1989 by Silva Screen Records, MUSIC FROM THE HAMMER FILMS was indeed a groundbreaking release, the compilation which was firstly released on long playing record in a gatefold cover later received a compact disc issue and has remained an iconic and popular release amongst collectors of fine movie music. Remember this was in the days before any of Hammers film music had been released in full soundtrack editions by GDI/BSX records and I think I am correct when I say that the only music that had been released was in the form of background music to story version from Hammer movies such as THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES and CHRISTOPHER LEE,S DRACULA album on EMI, which did have four tracks on its flip side that were promoted as THE FOUR FACES OF EVIL, these being the romantic and haunting SHE by James Bernard, the sensual and malevolent sounding THE VAMPIRE LOVERS by Harry Robinson, the gloriously dramatic and romantic DR JECKLE AND SISTER HYDE by David Whittaker and the jagged and chilling FEAR IN THE NIGHT by John McCabe all of which were conducted by Philip Martell.

Hammer films from the 1950,s through to the late 1970,s always boasted strong musical scores and it was something of a surprise to many when the scores were not issued onto any recording format whatsoever. James Bernard’s iconic and fearsome sounding DRACULA theme surely deserved an entire release to its self, alas not. So when SILVA SCREEN announced this re-recording fans of Hammer went into raptures. The compilation features mainly the music of Hammer’s almost composer in residence Bernard and also boasted David Whittaker’s powerful music for VAMPIRE CIRCUS and Christopher Gunning’s beautiful but at the same time unsettling music for THE HANDS OF THE RIPPER. The music was performed by the world renowned Philharmonia orchestra under the baton of Neil Richardson, the whole thing being supervised by Hammer films MD Philip Martell. Silva Screen had obviously put a lot of time thought and effort into bringing the re recording to fruition and presented the release with glowing art work and informative liner notes, giving collectors a chance to see James Bernard, at the recording sessions with engineer Mike Ross Trevor and producer Eric Tomlinson at the mixing desk, the booklet also featured pictures of David Whittaker listening intently to the playback of VAMPIRE CIRCUS and Neil Richardson conducting the orchestra. The compact disc opens with THE DRACULA SUITE, which is such a fitting way to start any compilation of Hammer film music, James Bernard’s foreboding, dark and evil sounding DRA-CU-LA three note motif setting the scene for the Prince of chaos.

The suite which is in five sections is made up from music that is taken from the original 1958 DRACULA and also DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS from 1966, the opening is instantly recognisable and still strikes a little terror into the hearts of anyone who hears it, Bernard’s simple but highly effective musical motif is as recognisable as Monty Normans, JAMES BOND THEME, as terrifying as Herrmann’s PSYCHO and as menacing as the JAWS theme by John Williams. After the familiar and dramatic opening the suite segues into the music that Bernard used to accompany Jonathan Harker on his investigation of the lofty hallway of castle Dracula, where he encounters a young woman, unbeknown to him she is one of the undead and attempts to turn Harker into one of her kind, this is interrupted by the appearance of Count Dracula who ferociously attacks the girl and also lashes out at Harker. Part three of the suite THE KISS OF THE LIVING DEATH is a piece of masterful scoring by Bernard his music acting as a hypnotic and alluring background to Dracula’s attempt to seduce his victims. Part four of the suite is FUNERAL IN CARPATHIA, which is a slow but menacing piece for strings woodwind and subdued brass that are all punctuated by a slow and deliberate sounding drumbeat. Part five is the finale sequence music from DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS, which takes place on a frozen river, where the infamous Count is dispatched by Father Shandor (Andrew Keir) with a single gun shot into the ice that releases pure running water, the vampire lord falls into the icy depths and is destroyed, but I think we all realise at this point that he will return. Bernard’s music is dramatic and feverish in places, supporting and underlining wonderfully the confrontation between good and evil and the Counts demise. The next section is from the 1971 Hammer production HANDS OF THE RIPPER, this starred Eric Porter and also Dora Bryan, with Anghard Rees as the beautiful but deadly Anna, who is supposedly the daughter of Jack the Ripper and is from time to time possessed by his spirit and goes on a killing spree, the movie was actually very entertaining and the score by British composer Christopher Gunning had within its make up a kind of James Bernard sound, but also had at its core a mesmerising and haunting theme for the films central character Anna that is luxurious and affecting. In my humble opinion this is probably one of Hammer’s best non James Bernard scores, Gunning unfortunately did not return to work on any other horrors for the studio, which is a great pity. For the next section we return to the music of Bernard and also to DRACULA. DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE was the third in the Christopher Lee DRACULA cycle of movies, and for this outing the Count becomes locked in a battle of wills and also stamina with a Monsignor played by the excellent Rupert Davies.

The glamour in the movie was provided by Veronica Carlson who took the role of the Monsignors Daughter who was a prime target for the Count. Bernard’ s music was just as dramatic as his two previous works for Dracula but on this occasion the Dracula theme did not seem to be used as much the composer opting for an arrangement of the theme on which he based the remainder of his score.

VAMPIRE CIRCUS comes next in the running order a vampire movie with a difference and one that took the traditional vampire tale and twisted it slightly to come up with an ingenious and also an entertaining movie. The opening pre credit scene is one that must go down in Hammer history as being one of the most exciting and dramatic. Helped along by the powerful, sensual and mesmerising music of composer David Whittaker. The music for this compilation and re recording is represented by a near 10 minute suite that is just glorious. Whittaker’s darkly rich and evil sounding waltz like theme weaving its way through the suite and acting as the basis of the work, effective use of cimbalom that is strategically placed adding an authenticity and giving the music a greater depth and increasing the atmospheric effects of it within the film, bombastic sounding brass that is supported by thundering percussion and punctuated by strings making this a candidate for the best Hammer vampire soundtrack ever penned. I hope that one day the entire score will be released as only sections have since made it onto compact disc, within the excellent GDI series. For the final section on the compilation we return to the master of the Counts music James Bernard, for TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA the composer was asked by producer Aida Young to provide a more romantic sounding score, I remember Bernard telling me in interview that initially he was a little cross at the request, but then could see that the movie did need a love theme for the two young central characters in the story, thus was born the beautiful and quintessentially English sounding pastoral piece THE YOUNG LOVERS, which has endured over the years as one of the scores most haunting themes. In fact it ranks along side the composers romantic and mysterious theme for SHE, which was his own personal favourite. Of course Bernard utilised his DRA-CU-LA theme within the score and because of the presence of the love theme this already familiar and fearful sounding theme seemed even more threatening and ominous. The suite of music contained in this re-recording runs for just over 17 minutes, with ROMANCE AT DUSK being the highlight cue, beautiful and subdued woodwinds open the track that are underlined by a light strings, the central theme is then taken on by the string section who give it a more sustained working, the theme gradually builds and emerges into a poignant and attractive composition.

The final cue THE VICTORY OF LOVE is a triumphant sounding version of the love theme the composer adding brass and percussion to the proceedings, telling the audience that evil has once again been defeated and love and good has prevailed. This is a collection that you as a Hammer fan should not be without, and yes I know these are not the original recordings, but they were arranged by the composers and also supervised by Hammers own Phil Martell, the compilation which was deleted was soon after resurrected with alternative art work the only difference being that the suite from HANDS OF THE RIPPER was a shorter version on the re release, if you can find a copy of the original release it would be far better, but if not settle for the re-issue an essential purchase.