Around The World
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│ VA - Battle Of Britain (OST) │
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│ : : │
│ Artist : VA │
│ Album : Battle Of Britain (OST) │
│ Genre : Soundtrack │
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│ Date : Jun-11-2004 │
│ Grabber : Exact Audio Copy │
│ Encoder : LAME 3.90.3 MOD (APS) │
│ Quality : VBR / 44,1kHz / Joint-Stereo │
│ Songs : 28 │
│ Source : CDDA Around The World
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│ VA - Battle Of Britain (OST) │
│ │
│ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ : : │
│ Artist : VA │
│ Album : Battle Of Britain (OST) │
│ Genre : Soundtrack │
│ │
│ ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ : : │
│ Date : Jun-11-2004 │
│ Grabber : Exact Audio Copy │
│ Encoder : LAME 3.90.3 MOD (APS) │
│ Quality : VBR / 44,1kHz / Joint-Stereo │
│ Songs : 28 │
│ Source : CDDA │
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│ ┌──────────────────────────────[ Tracklist ]─────────────────────────────┐ │
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01. Ron Godwin - Battle Of Britain Theme [01:26]
02. Ron Godwin - Ace High March [03:34]
03. Ron Godwin - The Lull Before The Storm [01:40]
04. Ron Godwin - Work And Play [02:30]
05. Ron Godwin - Death And Destruction [01:27]
06. Ron Godwin - Briefing The Luftwaffe [01:19]
07. Ron Godwin - Prelude To Battle [03:25]
08. Ron Godwin - Victory Assured [02:17]
09. Ron Godwin - Defeat [01:29]
10. Ron Godwin - Hitler's Headquarters [00:58]
11. Ron Godwin - Return To Base [00:49]
12. Ron Godwin - Threat [01:26]
13. Ron Godwin - Civilian Tragedy [01:11]
14. Ron Godwin - Offensive Build-Up [03:47]
15. Ron Godwin - Attack [01:01]
16. Ron Godwin - Personal Tragedy [00:48]
17. Ron Godwin - Battle In The Air [04:54]
18. Ron Godwin - Absent Friends [01:08]
19. Ron Godwin - Battle Of Britain Theme/end Title [02:58]
20. Sir William Walton - March Introduction/battle Of [02:19]
Britain March
21. Sir William Walton - The Young Siegfrieds [01:24]
22. Sir William Walton - Luftwaffe Victory [01:18]
23. Sir William Walton - The Few Fight Back [01:54]
24. Sir William Walton - Cat And Mouse [02:54]
25. Sir William Walton - Scherzo 'gay Berlin' [01:21]
26. Sir William Walton - Dogfight [01:31]
27. Sir William Walton - Scramble!/battle In The Air [05:41]
28. Sir William Walton - Finale: Battle Of Britain March [02:28]
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58:57 min
: 85,3 MB :
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Out Jun-21-2004 on www.play.com
Battle of Britain was one of those stuff upper lip war movies
that crammed as many British thesps as the budget would allow
where daring deeds were done and the dastardly Germans duly
dispatched. Of course, the battle of Britain was an important
turning point in the war, but I would doubt that this exactly
represented the events. Whatever the case, the story of the
music is rather interesting. Sir William Walton was persuaded
to write the music (after a 10 year film scoring absence), but
his score was deemed too short to release commercially and so
the producers hired Ron Goodwin to write a replacement (at
double his normal fee, he was less than willing to do it, so
asking for twice the amount felt they wouldn't agree...). He
also made sure that they didn't use any of Walton's music, but
Sir Lawrence Olivier was so outraged at the dumping of Walton's
score that the producers decided to keep the Battle in the Air
by Walton and the rest by Goodwin. You couldn't make this stuff
up. Needless to say, neither composer was particularly happy
with the result, but what it does mean is that we get two very
fine film scores, about 20 minutes of Walton's (all the
original music he wrote) and around double that of Goodwin's
score, along with Walton's version of the Battle in the Air
that was used in the film.
I'm not an especially great admirer of Ron Goodwin, his music
always struck me as being rather samey, all WW2 marches and so
on, but in this instance he has done a marvellous job of
writing some really first rate music. The opening Battle of
Britain Theme is a short concert piece which features the
reasonably well known motif that I suddenly realised I
recognised on first listening. This is then followed by the Ace
High March (which I think should be Aces High...), which is
exactly what you'd expect for a Ron Goodwin WW2 march. I would
suggest that it's not one of his most memorable, but it's very
good none the less and on hearing it you wonder how anyone
could have effectively summed up the era or movie better in
music. After this stoic opening, the score proper begins and
while there is a fair share of pomp and heroism as befits a
film of this type, there are also some more sublime and sombre
sections. Most notable of these is Civilian Tragedy that is as
elegaic as would be expected for such a morose title. One
curious thing I did notice was that the German music (Briefing
the Luftwaffe and Hitler's Headquarters) were really quite
patriotic sounding... in a Germanic way, but with music as
equally thrilling as the Allies based music. Goodwin does, of
course, make good use of the main march themes whenever
something really heroic happens, but also works them in more
subtly, such as a quieter horn version of the Battle of Britain
Theme in Prelude to Battle, which then bursts into a fully
fledged march version. Walton's Battle in the Air is distinctly
different music, but I honestly didn't notice it appearing the
first time around. The type of orchestration is similar to
Goodwin's, but obviously doesn't use Goodwin's motifs. It has
been suggested that Walton's music, while being superb on its
own, didn't fit in the film very well, but musically, it
doesn't really grate as a huge turn in style from Goodwin's.
Going from Goodwin to Hans Zimmer, that would be obvious, but
in this case, Walton and Goodwin gel pretty well. If the CD
only contained Goodwin's score I'd have no hesitation in giving
it four. The patriotism could be reigned in a little at times,
but it's less of a patriotic battering that something like
Gettysburng or Independence Day. One couldn't accuse Goodwin's
music of containing filler music and each moment has interest,
something that is becoming rarer in modern times.
Sir William Walton's brief score is really a much more complex
affair than Goodwin's. The opening March starts of a little non
descript, but then bursts into a very typical Walton sounding
march that anyone who's heard Walton before will immediately
recognise as his style. It is noble and heroic, but in a much
more restrained classical way than Goodwin's rather more
typical WW2 march. Walton treated the score as more of a tone
poem and so each episodes flows beautifully along to the next.
His use of orchestration in many instances is rather
interesting (the score was orchestrated by conductor Malcom
Arnold), the muted brass bring to mind Bernard Herrmann, but
more interesting for younger fans will be his use or woodwind
clusters that perform runs and add excitement during the
dogfight sequences. This orchestration idea was used in several
sequences of the Death Star Run from Williams' classic Star
Wars score. I suppose all those suggestions of the Death Star
being WW2 dogfights in space were taken to heart by Williams in
his scoring method (indeed the Throne Room music is very much
in the Walton ceremonial march style as well).
It is a superb and rare privilage to hear two scores for the
same film, with both composers at the height of their composing
abilities. Goodwin, then a highly paid and respected Hollywood
composer and Walton the classically trained composer who did
scores once in a while. It is a shame that one had to be
rejected at the expense of the other, but musically they are
both excellent, although the complexity of Walton's short
contribution gives it the edge musically. The original tapes
were apparently lost, but recording engineer Eric Thomlinson
had copy reels in his garage and so the album was mastered from
these. You'd honestly never guess the age or condition of the
tapes as the sound quality is crystal clear. Both scores have a
similar recording ambiance, quite dry, but very clear indeed
and every orchestration nuance can be heard and would beat some
modern recordings in clarity. I can't recommend this disc
enough as not only is it a fascinating double take on the same
film, but is a marvellous listening experience.
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