Amazon.co.uk Review
Music for the Movies follows on from the re-recording of Benjamin Frankel's complete score for
The Battle of the Bulge (1965) with selections from a further six features. Centrepiece is the first recording of Frankel's complete music to Tennessee Williams'
Night of the Iguana (1964). The 25-minute score is filled with shimmering atmospheric textures, introspective lyricism and an exotic orchestration appropriate to the Mexican setting. As British as they come is the long suite from
Trottie True (1949), a light-hearted drama set in the world of Victorian music hall. The score is a playful, charming companion to the opening suite, an infectious, irresistible selection from the 1952 version of Oscar Wilde's
The Importance of Being Ernest. Two short pieces are a string arrangement of delicately haunting "Lullaby" from
The Years Go By (1946) and a beautiful "Pastoral" from
The Curse of The Werewolf (1960), while the collection is completed by a return to Victorian times for the psychological thriller
Footsteps in the Fog (1955). Shrouded in romance and mystery, this fine score suggests Frankel might have worked well with Hitchcock. Conductor Werner Andreas Albert and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra already have numerous recordings of Frankel's concert music in the catalogue and their musicianship and production values are first-rate. The scores have been reconstructed and documented with great distinction by the composer's stepson, Dimitri Kennaway; a very desirable addition to any film music collection. --
Gary S Dalkin
