For the utterly charming fantasy-romance The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1947) Herrmann supplied one of his most appealing scores, full of lyrical warmth, tingling atmosphere and affectionate nostalgia. Right from the opening “Prelude”, with its sea music as effortlessly evocative as anything in Peter Grimes (one suspects that Herrmann – devoted Anglophile that he was – had already managed to hear Britten’s recently completed masterpiece), one is completely gripped by the sheer quality of Herrmann’s supremely eloquent inspiration, its poignancy and cumulative power; certainly, the last four cues (“The passing years”, “Andante cantabile”, “The late sea” and “Forever”) bring with them an unforgettable emotional pungency and sense of release – small wonder that Herrmann always thought of this as his very best film score. As annotator Steve C. Smith reminds us, the score dates from a period of great personal upheaval for the composer (Herrmann was in the throes of leaving his wife and two children; two years later, in 1949, he married his wife’s cousin, Lucy Anderson) and music of similar pain and longing can be found in the opera Wuthering Heights (on which Herrmann was also working at the time and which features several ideas common to both projects). Considering its vintage, this restoration from the original optical materials sounds extremely well. The ugly fade-down at the very end continues to grate, however.
In his sleeve-notes for the famous 1974 Decca Phase Four compilation entitled “The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann”, the composer described his thinking behind the startlingly imaginative instrumentation for his music to Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959): “I decided to evoke the mood and feeling of inner Earth by using only instruments played in low registers. Eliminating all strings, I utilized an orchestra of woodwinds and brass, with a large percussion section and many harps. But the truly unique feature of this score is the inclusion of five organs, one large Cathedral and four electronic. These organs were used in many adroit ways to suggest ascent and descent, as well as the mystery of Atlantis.” Perhaps the greatest masterstroke of all was Herrmann’s inspired resuscitation of the serpent (a long-deceased member of the old cornet family), whose monstrously eerie tones can be heard during the course of the climactic fight sequence (track 18). Lovingly restored from the archival 35mm film elements, this Fox Classics release marks the first appearance of Herrmann’s original soundtrack in stereo and also includes two Van Heusen/Cahn numbers sung by the film’s co-star Pat Boone (Twice as tall and The faithful heart) which never made it to the final print. For Herrmann fans everywhere both these CDs will be self-recommending.AA