A milestone in American film music, Jerry Goldsmith’s Planet of the Apes score (1968) is truly extraordinary and the best of the four works on offer here. Goldsmith uses a traditional orchestra, albeit heavily augmented by exotic percussion (including, notoriously, stainless-steel mixing bowls) to fashion a work that is both primitive and futuristic; an exhilarating combination of Bartok and Stravinsky-influenced textures and grittily relentless action writing typical of the composer from this period. Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), the third film in the five-part series, has a much lighter tone which is reflected in the pop-based score, and the 16-minute suite neatly encapsulates all the elements of the music. Although Planet of the Apes has been previously available (Intrada, 5/93 – nla), this disc contains an extra 20 minutes of music, and with Escape making its debut, this is a truly excellent release.
The Mephisto Waltz (1971) and The Other (1972) also make their CD debut and present a remarkable contrast of styles. The former is a tale of witchcraft wherein an ageing concert pianist seeks to indulge in a little soul-transference with a younger protege. Liszt’s piano work of the same name is played on screen by both characters and provides the bedrock upon which Goldsmith builds his nightmarish score, a bleak, uncompromising work that affords no comfort for the unwary listener. The Other is concerned with 11-year-old twins; one good, one evil, and the death and destruction that they cause within their family and small town community. Here, the composer writes against the horror and produces a charming, wistful theme representing childhood innocence, which, in a series of variations collected in a 22-minute suite, begins with sunny Americana before descending gradually, inevitably into the end of innocence and the grim realization of the truth behind the tragedy. Not as rewarding as the Apes disc, perhaps, these two scores are valuable additions to the composer’s discography nevertheless.
As with all the music in this new series from the archives of 20th Century-Fox, these scores have been remixed from the original 35mm film elements, and both discs come with informative notes and striking packaging. DS