A combined CD of Max Steiner's DODGE CITY/THE OKLAHOMA KID that should appear mid-December.

Hugo Friedhofer's THE BISHOP'S WIFE is scheduled for a February 2002 release.

And MAX STEINER AT RKO, a 3-CD set with tracks from BIRD OF PARADISE, MORNING GLORY, THE LOST PATROL, THE INFORMER and THE LITTLE MINISTER will hopefully appear around April 2002.

THE BISHOP'S WIFE will have notes by Bill Rosar and "plenty of photographs and poster art."

More good news: BYU/FMA is in the process of building a website. Unsure, though, exactly when it will be up and running.

D'Arc points out that all of the revenue from CD sales goes back into the preservation of film music elements and toward the production of additional CD titles, which is a VERY good thing.

It's clear that these upcoming releases will continue the very high quality standards BYU/FMA has established with their previous film score CDs.

As for the quality...based on the BYU/FMA CDs I have [all of them] I'm confident their sound guys will extract the highest quality sound possible from these admittedly ancient scores, especially Steiner's RKO music.

I think the incredible effort D'Arc and BYU/FMA put forth to produce Tiomkin's LOST HORIZON is the norm, not the exception.

Best,
Craig

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Originally posted by cawriter:
A combined CD of Max Steiner's DODGE CITY/THE OKLAHOMA KID that should appear mid-December.

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Originally posted by Lou Goldberg:
The big news here is The Bishop's Wife, a great score by Friedhofer.

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Can you tell me anything about it, Lou? I've never heard of Friedhofer, nor "The Bishop's Wife." But I'm always open to new things (and appreciate most everything).

His first original score was for Samuel Goldyn's THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO in 1937, after which WB, the studio for which he toiled as perhaps the best orchestrator in the business, put him back to work orchestrating for WB composers.

In 1946 Friedhofer won the Academy Award for his brilliant Americana score for William Wyler's THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, which is, IMHO, one of the greatest scores ever written.

Among Friedhofer's scores are BROKEN ARROW, THE RAINS OF RANCHIPUR, THE YOUNG LIONS, THIS EARTH IS MINE, BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL, THE ONE EYED JACKS, and SOLDIER OF FORTUNE, all of which are currently available on CD.

Some of his other films are THE LODGER; LIFEBOAT; GILDA; BODY AND SOUL; CAPTAIN CAREY, USA;ABOVE AND BEYOND; ISLAND IN THE SKY [with others]; HONDO; VERA CRUZ; THE HARDER THEY FALL; AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER; THE SUN ALSO RISES; THE BRAVADOS [with Alfred Newman]; and NEVER SO FEW.

THE BISHOP'S WIFE starred Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young and is usually shown as a Christmas flick during the holiday season, so you'll probably have a chance to see it and hear Friedhofer's score.

In his superb book "Music for the Movies" the late Tony Thomas has this to say about TBW: "Friedhofer's misc is humorous and delightful. He uses a classical concerto grosso form for the opening and sparks it with the cheeky, earthly sounds of a saxophone for Dudley [Grant}, the handsome, celestial visitor."

From the book "Hugo Friedhofer: The Best Years of His Life" Friedhofer comments: "'Bishop's Wife' was fun. It remains to this day one of my favorite pictures. It's a very warm and very charming picture..." As is the score.

THE BISHOP'S WIFE is a score that has been at the top of many collectors Most Wanted lists for years.

Friedhofer is what I'd call an eclectic composer who fit his music to the needs of the film; he's sometimes harsh, sometimes melodic, sometimes very transparent but always interesting and often spectacular.

And he may be an acquired taste for some. As for me, I put Friedhofer among the very best who ever composed music for films.

This is probably more than you wanted to know and I'm sure Lou will have a few hundred things to say about HF, too, so you'll have some background on Friedhofer.