This is a very passionate score, which is a bit surprising as the liner notes (by Steven Smith) state that this score was written as Herrmann was divorcing his first(?) wife. There are a few great highlights on the album, most notably the "Spring Sea" track, which has a beautiful swell in the orchestra, similar to that in Vertigo's "Scene D'Amour."

Another great track is "The Passing Years," which starts out quite stormy and then Herrmann bends the orchestra into the more intimate music heard throughout the score. He really achieved a very interesting effect here. It sounds like he put a "pitch knob" on the orchestra and just wound it up.

The optical 1947 tracks sound pretty good, and most of the tracks have been remixed into stereo. I think this is the oldest recording in my collection, but it's still quite enjoyable to listen to. The performance is great, with the orchestra applying the appropriate amount of tenderness throughout. The only disappointment is the finale track, which fades out very abruptly on the last fermata. I used some digital tools to extend this note to be 50% longer, but the ending of this disc still annoys me.

All in all, the final track is a minor thing that I guess I can [try to] overlook, since the rest of the music on the album is so good. The film was recently released on DVD, both of which I have not seen yet. I think I might pick it up since it contains a commentary with Christopher Husted, the manager of Herrmann's estate. I've also read on the Talking Herrmann board that the finale doesn't fade out as it does on the album, so I could buy it and blend the final bit of music from the DVD with the album version (assuming there is no dialog here.)

I, too, regret the mastering error in the last track. I've wondered if this was a foulup in preparing the cd, or maybe was present in the source they used.

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Originally posted by jonathan_little:
This is a very passionate score, which is a bit surprising as the liner notes (by Steven Smith) state that this score was written as Herrmann was divorcing his first(?) wife.

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True, but he had fallen in love with her cousin, who was also named Lucy. They married soon after.

Any fan of film music should really run out and get this right away. Truly a masterpiece.

Hm. Sounds like a Star Trek episode... "The Dropout at the Edge of Forever."

This score is one of my favorites, and the two CDs of it are both worth getting. The Bernstein recording is a very good one, both in sound quality and performance. Both CDs are very warm, however, and both are recommended.

For those who have not seen the film, it is worthwhile as well. The performances are all excellent, with Rex Harrison in particular being riveting as the ghost of the title. His farewell scene is a perfect fusion of performance, photography and music. Misplace one element, and it would fall to pieces.

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Originally posted by Swashbuckler:
The Bernstein recording is a very good one...

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'Andante Cantabile' is the highlight for me, re-recorded as 'Nocturne' for Silva's THE ESSENTIAL BERNARD HERRMANN collection. Such a passionate piece, developing an almost fugue-like idea for the first half, before resolving into a gorgeous variation on Lucy's theme.

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Originally posted by John Morgan:
I know it is one of my very favorite scores. And I know it is one of Bill's too. And I bet it is one of Anna's favorites also. So, saying that, I would love for Tribute Film Classics to do a new, and complete, recording of this score and it certainly is a real possibility.

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