By now, everyone is familiar with the 1959 epic spectacle "Ben-Hur," which won a record-setting 11 Academy Awards, and while that film version remains the most well-known, there's the first version which MGM made in 1925 that has gotten little recognition. The soundtrack to the 1925 silent film version of "Ben-Hur" is magnificent, bombastic and energetic, particularly in the tracks "Roman March And Diaster," "Galley Slave," "Pirate Battle," and "The Chariot Race." Quieter melodies are heard in "Opening Titles," "The Nativity," "Esther And The Young Prince," "Iras The Egyptian" "Ben-Hur's Return" (though there is some energy mixed in here as well) and "Earthquake And A New Dawn." This soundtrack was recorded by Carl Davis in 1990 for the Thames Restoration of the previously-lost film. Fortunately, the movie has been found, and it's the fore-runner of the even more famous 1959 version. But the 1925 version is also very much a classic in its own right, and just like the 1959 movie AND soundtrack, the 1925 movie AND soundtrack are equally impressive and deserve to be treasured forever.
