Today, Varese Sarabande announced our recording of Bernard Herrmann's brilliant and classic score for the film North By Northwest. I've been sitting on this since July. Couldn't breath a word of it. Happy to be released from the bonds of prerelease silence!
I'm really excited about this recording. We went to Bratislava to work with the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra. (Until currency exchange rates simmer down, our days in Glasgow with the RSNO will remain a memory.) An enormous amount of work went into this recording. Christopher Husted painstakingly reconstructed many cues and recopied ALL of the parts (a Herculean task.) Robert Townson set up the recordings to be right after my Lyon concert and before he had to go to Ubeda for the festival there. We had TWO days to record the whole thing, over 65 minutes! I spent a huge amount of time immersed in the original recording and while it is simply impossible to reproduce over an hour of music perfectly from a tempi standpoint, that was at least the goal.
This is a fantastic, fun, rollicking and unconventional score. A Spanish fandango written in 3/8 is the basis for most of the action sequences. In this (and most) cases, a bar of 3/8 is conducted as one beat, so imagine trying to keep your place as the bars one beat long are literally FLYING by. Not for the faint of heart. Herrmann was a gutsy guy, no question. Jonathan Allen from Abbey Road did a wonderful job recording the orchestra and I remixed the record here at my studio with help from my colleague and friend Rich Breen.
The result is a record made with an enormous amount of care and energy, made with the respectful intention of preserving and promoting this great composer's work. Robert Townson deserves a world of credit in his devotion to the great masters of film music and creating recordings that will well represent the music for generations to come. And hopefully this recording is one worthy of the music and one you will all enjoy!
Comments (8)
Outstanding news, Joel. One of my all-time-favorite scores, and one desperately in need of a new recording. I can't wait to hear your interpretation of this classic. Amazing!
Jim
Posted by Jim | November 19, 2007 5:34 PM
Posted on November 19, 2007 17:34
The Return of Joel McNeely & Bernard Herrmann. I cant tell you how excited Iam about this release. Ive been long wishing that Varese Sarabande would get together with you to finish one most important recording of Herrmann Hitchcock collaboration.I certainly hope more re-recordings are in order. If one more Herrmann is on the menue then it should be Herrmann's penultimate score: OBESSESSION
best regards
Amer Zahid
Pakistan
Posted by Amer Zahid | November 19, 2007 9:23 PM
Posted on November 19, 2007 21:23
Nice to hear from you Amer! Wow, this blog thing continues to amaze me for its ability to bring people together. It is so great to hear that all the way from Pakistan someone is excited about our record!
I hope that all the terrible troubles in your country end peacefully and soon.
Best,
Joel McNeely
Posted by Joel McNeely | November 20, 2007 3:35 PM
Posted on November 20, 2007 15:35
Hi Joel and hello Amer, funny meeting you here lol. I grinned so wide when I saw this announced...Joel for me you have nailed Herrmann...I'm not alone in saying that your Vertigo is THE interpretation of the score. It's been awhile since we've had a new re-recording from you and Varese, let's hope for many many more!
And Amer...right after you signed out of MSN today, the postman brought ALIEN !!
Posted by MikeP | November 20, 2007 6:15 PM
Posted on November 20, 2007 18:15
Dear Joel,
Thank you for the kind words. I have film music to comfort me during such trying times.
Mike: Enjoy your A L I E N cd ;)
Regards,
Amer
Posted by Amer Zahid | November 20, 2007 9:43 PM
Posted on November 20, 2007 21:43
Hello Joel
This new recording of a Bernard Herrmann masterpiece was one of two best kept secrets this year ! The other one being the official Alien 2CD of course
it's a beautiful early Christmas for music lovers !
Endless congratulations to you, Mr Townson and the whole music crew for (still) recreating for us such beautiful music in such difficult conditions, one couldn't dream of a better complement to the unforgettable concert in Lyon
David
Posted by David from France | November 21, 2007 1:05 AM
Posted on November 21, 2007 01:05
Joel,
fantastic news!
Just a question is the
"Slovak National Symphony Orchestra" the same outfit as the "Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra" (as used by Intrada, Naxos/Marco Polo and MMM)?
Guenther
Posted by Guenther Koegebehn | November 22, 2007 3:04 PM
Posted on November 22, 2007 15:04
Yes. I don't know why they chose to use a different name for this project.
Joel
Posted by Joel McNeely | November 23, 2007 12:40 PM
Posted on November 23, 2007 12:40