Composer and arranger Victor Young made a long series of single records for Decca that were periodically compiled into LPs. This one, titled Night Music, is from 1954.
Many of those singles consisted of film music, and here we have, among others, Young's hit version of the theme from The High and the Mighty (Dimitri Tiomkin), Smile (Charlie Chaplin), the Rear Window theme (Franz Waxman), and Magnificent Obsession (Frank Skinner).
The High and the Mighty has an unearthly quality that, while suited to its theme of a imperiled transoceanic flight, also was quite common in post World War II music. Here it is conveyed by Muzzy Marcellino's eerily perfect whistling; more often it was embodied in celestial choirs or sopranos like Loulie Jean Norman. A similar influence could be seen in the commercial art of the time, and the back cover of this LP (below) is a good example. As for the film, the theme of coming through an ordeal safely - perhaps through the intercession of some higher power (or at least John Wayne) - was strong in a world that had endured the Great Depression followed by a world war and was very much imperiled by the threat of nuclear destruction.
REMASTERED VERSION
15 comments:
Very pleasant LP. Thanks for posting it. Victor Young deserves a revival!!
This is an interesting LP - I don't believe I've come across it before.
Thanks very much.
Great post. Keep up the good work with posts like this!
Great album! Thank you for the post
Buster,
Was the whistler on "The High and the Mighty" on loan from Walt Disney? He sure had that bluebird vibrato. In any case, this is a first-class album of movie music from the golden age of Melanchrino and the like. I could imagine people swooning to "Magnificent Obsession." For me, noirish "Rendezvous in Tunis" and ultra-romantic "Twilight Interlude" are my favorite tracks. But I must admit "Never Say Goodbye" took me into some Victorian drawing room. And the arrangement of "Last Night When We Were Young" pays such homage to that lovely Harold Arlen melody. All in all, this album is in the highest standards of its genre. Thank you. It has been a lovely half hour or so listening to this music.
Hi David,
The whistler is Muzzy Marcellino, and he did do work for Disney, yes. He was a remarkable artist in his own way
I agree with everyone's sentiments that this is an excellent LP, and since I have many Young records, I'll have to feature him again.
Buster,
If you have any more of this series compiled from Decca singles, please by all means post them sometime in the future. They are treasures.
Thanks.
This record is really beautiful. Am I wrong, or have I seen this reissued on CD in Europe?
Buster: see this link http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Rhapsodies-Night-Music-Carter/dp/B0017RRDXM/ref=sr_1_50?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1257303364&sr=1-50
@ Scoredaddy,
If it's Dutton Vocalion, he sources from vinyl, I believe. His transfers are often heavily filtered. I believe I have the Hollywood Rhapsodies LP that also is on this CD.
Buster, I suppose it depends what sources he can get. I have three CDs of The Queens's Hall Light Orchestra on Vocalion - most of the material never having been issued on vinyl. The technical information by David Ades from the insert of Volume 1 is quite interesting:
"Digitally remastered by Michael J. Dutton.
All of the recordings on this CD are new, direct transfers from the 78s. When they were made, over 50 years ago, electrical sound recording had only been in existence for around 20 years, but the sound engineers had already become experts of their craft. Still in mono, they managed to recreate the subtle nuances intended by the composers and orchestrators with great success, despite the fact that often as few as only one or two microphones may have been employed in the studio. The mikes themselves were of an early vintage, adding to the atmosphere of these tracks; for example, the brass has a quality all of its own. Maybe it was the acoustics, or those marvellous glowing valves."
Personally, I have found that Dutton transfers leave very little to be desired.
And may I say the same for the jazz transfers engineered by the late John R.T. Davies, who did most of the work for the set of Jazz Greats, an 80-odd CD set published around ten years ago by Marshall Cavendish (also in the UK).
Hi Mel,
I am sure you are correct about Dutton using shellac. I wanted to convey that he was not working from the recording company's masters. Like you, I have many of Dutton's recordings. I recently had the occasion to look at the frequency response of one of his transfers (wish I could remember which one) and there was a severe dip in response where surface noise usually occurs. He got rid of the noise - but also the music. My other concern is that he often adds reverberation, a practice I hate. I will admit, however, that his transfers are always listenable and never shrill, thankfully, and that the new recordings he puts out are quite excellent in my experience.
Olink deste algum foi desativado,é possivel liberar um outro link para baixar este Album.Agradeço pela gentileza,um abraço e obrigado
Coincidentally, I just remastered this LP for reupload. Here is the link:
https://mega.co.nz/#!6AFjmbqR!bGDIfiVBelCJDFjXh57bZWiTTf4ZqfNvxzDVw7z14Hs
É uma pena ñ poder baixar este Album, o Mega ñ esta ativo,De qualquer maneira agradeço pela gentileza, um abraço e Obrigado.
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