Varese has been showing a pattern for re-releasing old score never before heard on CD. . .but conducted and rearranged or orchestrated by John Debney, or someone else.

Should Varese, or any other company for that matter, be doing this? Why not have the original composer and conductors come back? I understand the legal issues; (getting permission and buying the rights to material, et al), plus getting the original people to free up their busy schedules for this rare treat.

Or rather, why not just release the original material as recorded for the film?

We've been through this before, such as for the re-release of Superman.

Let me try this NP thing...

"In a score, the conductor just does what the composer tells him to do and gets the job done as effectively as possible."

That's all John Debney is doing for John Barry in the re-recording of Somewhere in Time or what Joel McNeely does for Bernard Herrman in the re-recording of Psycho.

Yes, sometimes it is a bit interpretive, but I think that's why they hire these guys to re-record these classics. They interpret the original recordings authentically. I'm VERY happy with the re-recordings I have.

I've got Psycho, Somewhere in Time, Out of Africa, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Patton!/Tora! Tora! Tora!, Frontiers (scifi comp by Goldsmith) and The Sand Pebbles... which are all very good.

I haven't heard Back to the Future or Superman (the re-recordings), so I can't comment on those.

I dunno... I'm not trying to play the devil's advocate here - I can relate to both sides. For example, take Jerry Goldsmith's score to "Island in the Stream." I have both recordings: the original and also Intrada's re-recording (conducted by Goldsmith). For nostalgic purposes, the original recording really hits the spot for me. It's muffled and definitely an old recording, but it's good and still extremely listenable. But then there is the re-recording, which in some ways is just as good - and the clarity makes it a completely different listening experience. I do tend to lean toward the old recording, simply because I'm big on nostalgia... it just gives you a different feeling, the sound of it.

I hope I'm making sense...

~Jeron

~Jeron

I can see why you are confused.
Let me give you an example:

The Varere re-recording of Bernard Herrmann´s Vertigo, conducted by Joel McNeely, is not precisely as the original score. McNeely used some of Herrmann´s old conducting-notations, together with his own interpretatin of how he though Herrmann really wanted the music to sound like (as you know, Herrmann was´nt too pleased with the job Muir did). As a result of this, the tempo is a bit altered in some of the cues.

You see, the difference between re-recording John Barry´s work and re-recording Herrmann´s work is, that Herrmann is dead (!) That is why McNeely can´t do exactly what Herrmann want´s him to do. But the music is still Herrmann´s music...NOT McNeely´s.

SFT

1. Bad/Missing Elements - Sometimes, especially with older films, the sound elements that contain the score alone are missing or have decayed beyond usability. An example of this is the Poseidon Adventure from FSM. It was all recorded in stereo originally, but has decayed to the point where only two of the tracks are in stereo. The Original soundtrack for Casablanca has dialog because there are no elements that contain score alone. In this case, re-recording is the only option that will give us the score. Sometimes, the original score elements are stolen (after all, boots come from somewhere)and this is nothing to record from.

2. Re-Use Fees. This applies to any film score recorded in the LA area (possibly others as well). The original players of the score have to be paid again for their services. This happens in 15 minute chunks. Depending how many players there are this can run into the thousands. This is one of the reasons that Varese releases so many 30 minute score releases. This is why Marco Polo records in Moscow and John Debney records in Scotland. Much cheaper than paying re-use fees.

3. Contractual/Legal Reasons - Sometimes original recordings get trapped in a legal limbo because of disputes over who has the rights to release them. When this happens a score release is probably doomed because they don't make enough to cover re-use fees and legal fees. (The Caine Mutiny is a good example of this.)

4. Sound Issues - Sometimes the sound that was laid down for the movie is just plain lame and a composer does not want a release of any kind. Believe me, if a composer opposes a release and fights it, studios just don't care enough to protest. An example of this is Battle Beyond the Stars. Reportedly, James Horner hates and feels embarrassed by this score. A re-recording is the only legitimate release that this score will ever see.

Thanks MW Ruger.