LP ARL1 1669 (1976) STEREO
ARD1 1669 QUADRAPHONIC
1. Lost Horizon (1937) – Symphonic Suite (Tiomkin) JAC
Prelude – Foreword Card – Riot in Baskul – Mob Scene at
the Refuelling Station – Morning After the Plane Crash –
Arrival of the Caravan – The Journey Over the Mountains –
Entrance into Shangri-La – Nocturne – Riding Sequence –
The Waterfall – Chinese Children’s Scherzo – Bell Sequence –
Funeral Cortège of the High Lama – Escape from Shangri-La –
Return to Shangri-La
2. The Guns of Navarone – Prelude (Tiomkin; Webster)
3. The Big Sky – Suite (Tiomkin)
Prelude – The Forest at Night (Nocturne) –
The Wide Missouri (Epilogue)
4. The Fourposter – Overture (Tiomkin)
5. Friendly Persuasion – Love Scene in the Barn (Tiomkin; Webster)
6. Search for Paradise – Choral Finale (Tiomkin; Washington; Thomas) JAC
BONUS TRACK
7. The Thing from Another World – Suite (Tiomkin)*
Prelude – The Flying Saucer under the Ice – Melting Sequence –
The Hand – Plasma I – Plasma II – The Growing Plants –
The Thing on the Walkway – Electrocution
National Philharmonic Orchestra
JAC The John Alldis Choir
Charles Gerhardt (conductor)
Recorded: Kingsway Hall, London, December 1975
*Previously unreleased
in quadraphonic sound
Multi-ch Stereo
All tracks available
in stereo and multi-channel
SA-CD
This hybrid CD can be played on
any standard CD players
Lost Horizon: The Classic Film Scores of Dimitri Tiomkin / The Thing from Another World Suite (CDLK 4608) is another of Vocalion’s very welcome SACD releases. The CD features Charles Gerhardt conducting The National Philharmonic Orchestra - a quite fabulous recording which took place at Kingsway Hall, London in December 1975. Although Tiomkin’s work in film had begun in 1931 it was director Frank Capra who provided the composer with the opportunity to score Lost Horizon (1937). The immediate success of Lost Horizon resulted in Tiomkin never looking back. Vocalion’s beautifully produced CD may be headed by a generous 23 minute symphonic suite from Lost Horizon, but there’s so much more to be enjoyed. Several of Tiomkin’s other major film achievements are also celebrated, including The Guns of Navarone (1961) and it’s triumphant prelude, the Howard Hawks western The Big Sky (1952) and the love theme from William Wyler’s Civil War melodrama Friendly Persuasion (1956). Another significant inclusion comes in the way of a bonus track and Tiomkin’s The Thing from Another World (1951). The Suite (10.41) consisting of Prelude, The Flying Saucer Under the Ice, Melting Sequence, The Hand, Plasma I, Plasma II, The Growing Plants, The Thing on the Walkway and Electrocution is a fine example of Tiomkin’s rare excursion into the Sci-Fi / Horror genre.
The 12 page booklet contains the original (and extensive) liner notes from the original 1976 album, but it’s a shame, however, that they were not extended to include a little on Tiomkin’s The Thing from Another World – not only is it an integral part of this wonderful compilation, but it just feels like an entire page has gone missing. On the audio side of things, Vocalion’s mastering by Michael J. Dutton (from the original master tapes) is quite superb – but in all honesty, I was never in any doubt. (Disc total 56.59)
Overall, Vocalion have once again delivered where it counts, a collection of reliable, high quality and in many ways, essential re-release albums - long may they continue to do so.
BY DARREN ALLISON
(Cinema Retro Soundtrack Editor)
CDLK4608