Chandos
The Film Music Of Brian Easdale
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Details
- Composer
- EASDALE, BRIAN
- Artist
- Gamba
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Chandos
- Released
- Feb 22, 2011
- Catalog #
- CHAN 10636
- UPC
- 095115163627
About
Also featuring the BBC National Chorus of Wales is several selections.
Brian Easdale was a prolific composer whose extensive output covered most genres, from orchestral pieces, concertos, and choral works, including a mass for the new Coventry Cathedral, to chamber compositions. However Easdale is today most well-known for his film scores, particularly The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus
Part of Chandos’ film music series with Rumon Gamba, the works on this release showcase Easdale’s career in film with music from, among others, The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, and The Battle of the River Plate.
In his youth, Easdale attended the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition with such prominent figures as Cecil Armstrong Gibbs and Gordon Jacob, conducting with Malcolm Sargent, and organ with Arnold Goldsborough. As a jobbing musician he undertook arranging projects, working most notably on such scores by Benjamin Britten as the Soirées musicales and the Piano Concerto. He also orchestrated Britten’s On the Frontier for a production at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge in 1939, before spending much of the war in Ceylon and India working on documentaries for their governments’ film units. Returning to Britain in 1946, he was invited by the masterful film making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers, to write an exotic dance for Jean Simmons to perform in their forthcoming film, Black Narcissus, and ended up composing the whole score. The film is a veritable masterpiece of melodrama with highly dramatic music to match.
The involvement of Easdale in Black Narcissus effectively launched his career in film music and led him to other projects, most notably The Red Shoes (1948) for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score. This is one of the most iconoclastic films in the Pantheon of British Cinema. Given a highly atmospheric score, the film concerns a traveling ballet company and tells the story of a young hopeful ballerina, catapulted into stardom and wrestling with her love for a composer and the pull of her career. In the end it becomes too much of a fight and while on tour with the company in Monte Carlo, she leaps to her death.
The Battle of the River Plate (1956) is also worth a separate mention. A semi-documentary account of the trapping of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in Montevideo harbour, and her subsequent scuttling, the film was commercially very successful. The two movements recorded here are the Prelude (heard over the main titles and opening scene with narration) and a March, the concert version of which was created by Easdale after the film’s release.
Brian Easdale was a prolific composer whose extensive output covered most genres, from orchestral pieces, concertos, and choral works, including a mass for the new Coventry Cathedral, to chamber compositions. However Easdale is today most well-known for his film scores, particularly The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus
Part of Chandos’ film music series with Rumon Gamba, the works on this release showcase Easdale’s career in film with music from, among others, The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, and The Battle of the River Plate.
In his youth, Easdale attended the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition with such prominent figures as Cecil Armstrong Gibbs and Gordon Jacob, conducting with Malcolm Sargent, and organ with Arnold Goldsborough. As a jobbing musician he undertook arranging projects, working most notably on such scores by Benjamin Britten as the Soirées musicales and the Piano Concerto. He also orchestrated Britten’s On the Frontier for a production at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge in 1939, before spending much of the war in Ceylon and India working on documentaries for their governments’ film units. Returning to Britain in 1946, he was invited by the masterful film making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers, to write an exotic dance for Jean Simmons to perform in their forthcoming film, Black Narcissus, and ended up composing the whole score. The film is a veritable masterpiece of melodrama with highly dramatic music to match.
The involvement of Easdale in Black Narcissus effectively launched his career in film music and led him to other projects, most notably The Red Shoes (1948) for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score. This is one of the most iconoclastic films in the Pantheon of British Cinema. Given a highly atmospheric score, the film concerns a traveling ballet company and tells the story of a young hopeful ballerina, catapulted into stardom and wrestling with her love for a composer and the pull of her career. In the end it becomes too much of a fight and while on tour with the company in Monte Carlo, she leaps to her death.
The Battle of the River Plate (1956) is also worth a separate mention. A semi-documentary account of the trapping of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in Montevideo harbour, and her subsequent scuttling, the film was commercially very successful. The two movements recorded here are the Prelude (heard over the main titles and opening scene with narration) and a March, the concert version of which was created by Easdale after the film’s release.
Tracklist 31 tracks
-
1 I. Allegro vivace 02:37
- Track
- 1
- Title
- I. Allegro vivace
- Duration
- 02:37
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Performer
- Cynthia Millar
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
2 II. Allegro moderato e molto ritmico 01:22
- Track
- 2
- Title
- II. Allegro moderato e molto ritmico
- Duration
- 01:22
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Performer
- Cynthia Millar
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
3 III. Poco più mosso 01:35
- Track
- 3
- Title
- III. Poco più mosso
- Duration
- 01:35
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Performer
- Cynthia Millar
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
4 IV. Lento tranquillo 00:53
- Track
- 4
- Title
- IV. Lento tranquillo
- Duration
- 00:53
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Performer
- Cynthia Millar
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
5 V. Largo 01:49
- Track
- 5
- Title
- V. Largo
- Duration
- 01:49
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Performer
- Cynthia Millar
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
6 VI. Presto, quasi cadenza 02:31
- Track
- 6
- Title
- VI. Presto, quasi cadenza
- Duration
- 02:31
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Performer
- Cynthia Millar
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
7 VII. Allegro assai 02:24
- Track
- 7
- Title
- VII. Allegro assai
- Duration
- 02:24
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Performer
- Cynthia Millar
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
8 VIII. Sostenuto 02:27
- Track
- 8
- Title
- VIII. Sostenuto
- Duration
- 02:27
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Performer
- Cynthia Millar
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
9 I. Introduction and Allegretto 01:53
- Track
- 9
- Title
- I. Introduction and Allegretto
- Duration
- 01:53
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
10 II. Spring Flowers 00:54
- Track
- 10
- Title
- II. Spring Flowers
- Duration
- 00:54
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
11 III. Summer Sequence 02:28
- Track
- 11
- Title
- III. Summer Sequence
- Duration
- 02:28
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
12 IV. Finale 01:33
- Track
- 12
- Title
- IV. Finale
- Duration
- 01:33
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
13 I. Main Titles and the Palace of Mopu 05:34
- Track
- 13
- Title
- I. Main Titles and the Palace of Mopu
- Duration
- 05:34
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Chorus of Wales, BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
14 II. Irish Song 02:54
- Track
- 14
- Title
- II. Irish Song
- Duration
- 02:54
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Chorus of Wales, BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
15 III. Sister Ruth and Mr Dean 01:52
- Track
- 15
- Title
- III. Sister Ruth and Mr Dean
- Duration
- 01:52
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
16 IV. Hunting Song 01:55
- Track
- 16
- Title
- IV. Hunting Song
- Duration
- 01:55
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Chorus of Wales, BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
17 V. Death of Sister Ruth 01:39
- Track
- 17
- Title
- V. Death of Sister Ruth
- Duration
- 01:39
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Chorus of Wales, BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
18 Prelude 03:19
- Track
- 18
- Title
- Prelude
- Duration
- 03:19
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
19 March 02:25
- Track
- 19
- Title
- March
- Duration
- 02:25
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
20 I. Prelude and Pastorale 05:40
- Track
- 20
- Title
- I. Prelude and Pastorale
- Duration
- 05:40
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
21 II. Intermezzo and Dance (Africa) 02:25
- Track
- 21
- Title
- II. Intermezzo and Dance (Africa)
- Duration
- 02:25
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
22 III. Barcarolle and Sultan's Fanfare (Aden) 03:00
- Track
- 22
- Title
- III. Barcarolle and Sultan's Fanfare (Aden)
- Duration
- 03:00
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
23 IV. Pastorale and Lullaby (India) 03:47
- Track
- 23
- Title
- IV. Pastorale and Lullaby (India)
- Duration
- 03:47
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
24 V. Finale Progress (Malaya to Fiji) 03:55
- Track
- 24
- Title
- V. Finale Progress (Malaya to Fiji)
- Duration
- 03:55
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
25 I. Titles 01:33
- Track
- 25
- Title
- I. Titles
- Duration
- 01:33
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
26 II. The Hunt of the Death Pack 01:41
- Track
- 26
- Title
- II. The Hunt of the Death Pack
- Duration
- 01:41
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Chorus of Wales, BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
27 III. The Prayer 01:10
- Track
- 27
- Title
- III. The Prayer
- Duration
- 01:10
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
28 IV. The Shropshire County Fair 01:47
- Track
- 28
- Title
- IV. The Shropshire County Fair
- Duration
- 01:47
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
29 V. Hunter's Spinney 03:03
- Track
- 29
- Title
- V. Hunter's Spinney
- Duration
- 03:03
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
30 VI. Undern Morning 02:18
- Track
- 30
- Title
- VI. Undern Morning
- Duration
- 02:18
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba
-
31 VII. Finale 03:14
- Track
- 31
- Title
- VII. Finale
- Duration
- 03:14
- Composer
- Brian Easdale
- Ensemble
- BBC National Chorus of Wales, BBC National Orchestra of Wales
- Conductor
- Rumon Gamba