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The CPO Recordings

Dimitri Kennaway

On 12th February 1998, it will be twenty-five years since the British composer Benjamin Frankel died. Even as this anniversary approaches, so, too, does the completion of the recorded cycle of the composer's eight symphonies on the German label CPO. The recordings, which also include the five String Quartets and complete chamber works for and involving clarinet, are, incredibly, the very first of these works, excepting the fifth String Quartet (briefly available on LP during the late sixties) and the Clarinet Quintet, recorded by its dedicatee Thea King with the Britten Quartet, a few years ago, for Hyperion, and, fortunately, still available. Only the seventh and eighth Symphonies have yet to be released (probably during late 1998) and, by the time this appears in print, the premiere recording of the Violin Concerto, Viola Concerto and Serenata Concertante, should be due for imminent release. All things considered, then, this would seem to be a suitable moment to assess Frankel's current standing, and to examine certain aspects of his life and career.


Following the twenty-year period of near total neglect that Frankel's music suffered after he died, the CPO recordings - which began to appear in 1994 - unlocked the door to a treasure - filled room, in which a vital part of British musical heritage had been incarcerated - and quite unjustly so. This bears closer inspection, although any attempt to fathom the reasons must, inevitably, be speculative. Frankel was far from obscure during his lifetime: virtually all that he composed - important and otherwise - had been publicly performed and/or broadcast and, by the late 'sixties, he had achieved a certain pre-eminence as a symphonist. Indeed, in the year before he died, BBC radio broadcast his entire symphonic cycle and even commissioned a ninth symphony for the 1973 Proms. The work - largely completed in the composer's mind perished with him and, as an ominous foretaste of the neglect to come, none of his music appeared in lieu of the lost commission, during the 1973 Prom season - not even in memoriam. Following his death, broadcasts and performances of Frankel's works ran to a trickle. His great friend and advocate Hans Keller retired from the BBC in the mid-'seventies, making the situation far worse. Thanks to the late Sir Charles Groves - another friend and champion - the odd symphony was to be heard and, about ten years after Frankel's death, matters seemed to be improving when his last completed work, the opera Marching Song (after John Whiting's play) was premiered by Radio 3 in a studio version, produced by Chris de Souza. (The opera, completed in short score only days before the composer's death and fully scored by his friend and former pupil Buxton Orr, was to have been staged by ENO in London and Brussels, as part of the Belgian celebration of the EEC, but was one of five new productions axed when the company suffered a financial crisis in 1975). However, despite a very warm critical reception, the broadcast premier did not herald the much awaited revival of Frankel's output generally and, with the passage of time, the neglect became ever more pronounced.


One obvious problem - and here we encounter something totally at odds with Frankel's standing during his lifetime - was the absence of any commercial recordings of his music (in stark contrast with the current state of things): only the aforementioned LP of the fifth String Quartet and a 1940s 78 of the first sonata for solo violin had been recorded. Unbelievably, not a single orchestral work had ever been committed to disc; not even the 'popular' style May Day overture or the witty parody Mephistopheles' Serenade and Dance - nor, most strangely of all the composer's wonderful Violin Concerto - a commission from Max Rostal for the 1951 Festival of Britain - composed 'in memory of the six million' who had perished in the Holocaust. This lack of a recorded legacy was, undoubtedly, a telling factor in the posthumous obscurity of Frankel's music. It meant that the BBC either had to rebroadcast archive recordings or commission new ones - either option being very costly in relation to the broadcasting of commercial recordings. As to public performances of the orchestral works, economic factors again raise their head: orchestral managers and committees are wary of 'modern' music, concerned mainly with pulling in the crowds and avoiding total reliance on subsidy which, after all, is not inexhaustible. These considerations - while not adequate as excuses may offer some insight into the problems which faced Frankel's output in the years following his demise. Commercial recordings, too, are costly affairs and the major labels, traditionally, conservative. Even so, many of Frankel's contemporaries fared better in this area during their lifetimes, than did he and one would have expected, at least, that his more accessible works - which, by the way, include about half of the symphonies - would have found their way onto disc. There is nothing to indicate why they did not, especially in light of his increasing prominence during the 1960s; had they done so, matters might well have taken a different turn.


So much for financial and practical considerations but what other explanations may lie at the heart of the problem? One reviewer, writing warmly of the first Frankel issue on CPO, opined that the composer may have been unfortunate in not having champions of sufficient note, to further his cause. There is some substance to this view, especially when one considers that, despite his lifetime success, none of Frankel's works had become standard repertoire by the time he died. The earlier mentioned Violin Concerto would have been an obvious candidate but it needed a world famous recording artist to push it: Max Rostal - for whom the work was written - was a persuasive advocate (indeed, a wonderful artist and performer generally) but perhaps better known as a pedagogue and was not widely recorded commercially. Other, less known (and lesser) violinists - usually pupils or colleagues of Rostal - who- took up the Concerto, were even less able to make an impact in non-standard repertoire. The work needed, say, a Heifetz or a Menuhin to bring it to prominence. Similar arguments could be made for most of Frankel's output, which is not to say anything against the many fine artists who did take up his music and did great justice to it - on the contrary, it is simply that new music - if it is to find its way - needs to be exposed at the very highest level of public perception.


However, what of more insidious reasons for the plight of Frankel's music? While he lived, it prevailed not only because of its intrinsic value but also due to the composer's strength of character which was essential to overcoming the many obstacles in the path of his acceptance: the fact that he earned his living for many years as a jazz musician (pianist, violinist and arranger); that he worked as music director for revues in London's West End, for the likes of Noel Coward and C.B. Cochrane; that he achieved fame as Britain's pre-eminent film composer; that when it came to his serious music, he was a Jew in an emphatically WASP fraternity. This latter point is, of course, the most controversial and contentious and Frankel's cosmopolitan disposition made him at home almost everywhere. The possibility of anti- Semitism in some quarters, however, should not be lightly dismissed. As to the former points, snobbery has always been rife in musical circles and the notion that a 'hot jazz' fiddler, sometime bandleader and film composer could also write some kind of a symphony - let alone of such lofty nature - was more than many people could bear. In Frankel's time, versatility was frowned upon in many circles and the subject of much scorn and derision. Today, he would simply have been considered a 'crossover' musician - a prosaic, if apt, term which broadly describes the kind of professional he was. Even today, though, his depth of expertise across the musical board would have been exceptional: 'Pop' musicians seldom crossover into the classical field - often for lack of the requisite skill and training - and classical musicians apparently lured by the notion of great financial rewards - make the journey into more 'popular' idioms with - usually - horrendous results. By the time of his recognition as a leading symphonist, Frankel had left his jazz days far behind (although he was still composing for feature films well into the 1960s, including such notable productions as Night of the Iguana and Battle of the Bulge - an area of his career which should be covered in a later survey). Before touching upon the life and remarkably diverse career of this exceptional figure, however, it would be well worthwhile considering what impact the ongoing CPO cycle is having upon the fate of Frankel's works.


Firstly, though, it might prove more than a little interesting to reveal something of the background to CPO's groundbreaking undertaking in recording Frankel's major orchestral and chamber works (which will, by the way, extend to much of the film music, in the near future!). It is widely known that the genesis of the independent record label, during the last two decades, has been almost entirely responsible for the rediscovery of countless neglected composers (of all eras). When it comes to overlooked twentieth-century British composers, however, most people would associate their revival with British labels, such as Hyperion and Chandos, and justifiably so. How, then, did it come to pass that a German label in partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, undertook to record Frankel's works, with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, under the German conductor Werner Andreas Albert. Some assumed - mistakenly - that this was a result of the composer's cosmopolitan outlook and the fact that Germany had been the most significant forum for his music, outside this country. In fact, it was Frankel's great friend and colleague, the clarinettist Thea King, who set the wheels in motion. It has already been mentioned that she recorded the composer's Clarinet Quintet a few years ago (an outstanding CD which was on the Hyperion label and the first commercial release of any Frankel work since his death). This, in itself, though important, was not the direct reason for what ensued. Some time afterwards, a British conductor, who was a friend and colleague of Thea King, mentioned to her that he was looking around for a new recording project to offer CPO, with which label he had an established association. She suggested that he investigate the music of Benjamin Frankel and he duly contacted the estate to request some scores and/or tapes of various works.


A cassette - which included old broadcasts of Symphonies 4 and 5 and the Violin Concerto - was sent with all due haste, along with a duplicate for CPO. Both conductor and record label were very impressed by what they heard and it was decided to proceed. CPO reasoned - quite understandably that it would be ideal to have not only the British conductor who had introduced them to Frankel's music, but also a British orchestra to record it since, after all, Frankel had been a British composer. They proposed a co-production with the BBC and contacted the orchestras of BBC Wales and BBC Scotland about such a possibility. However, after months of waiting for a response, and repeated efforts to obtain one, CPO felt that nothing would come of their overtures, especially as they had heard via the omnipresent grapevine, that someone high up in the BBC's hierarchy was opposed to the idea. Undaunted, CPO approached other radio networks with whom they had co-operated successfully in the past. One such was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation with whom they had already embarked on a complete Hindemith cycle, with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, under Werner Andreas Albert. This time - in one of life's poignant ironies the response was entirely positive, thus giving rise to the now familiar complexion of the Frankel cycle. (For contractual reasons, the British conductor who had played such a pivotal role in introducing Frankel's work to CPO, was unable to conduct the cycle. His praises should not go unsung, however and he was (indeed still is) Alun Francis. In fact he did record one of the earlier Frankel/CPO releases - the Music for Strings (including the song cycle The Aftermath) with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra of Seattle, and a fine CD it is.


That, then, was the unlikely background to the rediscovery of Frankel's music and its first appearance - to all intents and purposes - on disc. And so, what of the impact of the recordings on the composer's output and his reputation as a major composer of the post-War era? The critical acclaim which has greeted all the releases to date has been immense, glowing and unequivocal: reviewers here, along with those in continental Europe and America, have welcomed the recordings with open arms and been at a loss to explain the unjust neglect of Frankel.


A few, choice, quotations from reviews would not be out of place here:


  • ...worthy of a place alongside any of the acknowledged great symphonists of the 20th century... Not to be missed. - Ateê Orga in BBC Music Magazine, June 1994.
  • It is clear that this symphonic cycle is going to be an event of major importance... - Martin Anderson in CD Review, July 1994.
  • ...the two symphonies on this disc (1 and 5) demonstrate that Frankel's neglect has been our loss. Michael Oliver in Gramophone, July 1994.
  • I was captivated by the recording of the second symphony... Frankel is that mid-century rarity: a shameless cerebralist who was not afraid to communicate. - Norman Lebrecht in the Daily Telegraph (28/08/95).


One could go on at great length but the above are indicative of the general consensus of critical opinion. However, the importance of the recordings has already gone beyond their availability and subsequent acclaim; when the film director Ken Russell spotted a news item in the Gramophone, announcing the forthcoming series of Frankel CDs, he was already planning a documentary for LWT's South Bank Show, about the widows of various British composers and how they cope with the business of keeping their late husbands' music alive. Russell, already very familiar with Frankel's film music, contacted the composer's widow, Xenia, about the possibility of her involvement. She readily agreed and appeared alongside the widows of William Walton, Bernard Stevens and Humphrey Searle, in a documentary televised in February 1995. This then, was a lateral consequence of the CPO recordings. A more direct outcome was BBC R3's decision - at long last and following a strenuous effort on the part of the composer's widow - to feature Frankel as 'Composer of the Week', in June of last year. Although the BBC did delve into its archives for some chamber music recordings and, importantly, commissioned a new studio recording of the Violin Concerto, with Ulf Hoelscher as soloist, the fact that a number of commercial CDs had become available meant that the cost of the programmes was far less than would otherwise have been the case (returning to an earlier point).


In fact, without the CPO recordings, the series would probably not have been possible, on financial grounds. The programmes were produced by Piers Burton-Page and presented by Chris de Souza (who, remember, had, himself, produced "Marching Song" back in 1982). With the subsequent repeat of the programmes during the following week, Frankel's music was given the kind of exposure it had not enjoyed since the year before he died. This was a much needed and long overdue occurrence, yet its long-term effects are difficult to judge: since those programmes were broadcast, things have fallen ominously quiet once more and it is altogether unclear why, with still more CDs now available, Frankel's music is not featured regularly on Radio 3. After all, the most incontrovertible fact about music is that it must be heard - it has no other function and its best chance - when it comes to a great deal of twentieth- century music - is on radio. Ideally, of course, it should also be heard regularly in the concert hall. Frankel's chamber music has a chance here, thanks to the commitment and enterprise of many up-and-coming, brilliant young performers in the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (notably the clarinettist Paul Dean whose advocacy of Frankel has become something of a personal crusade). As to the symphonies, their future in the concert hall will be determined, no doubt, by the kind of economic considerations referred to earlier and, one would hope, by the desire of discerning, adventurous conductors and orchestras to feature them. The Violin Concerto, and the Viola Concerto, ought, surely, to be taken up once the premiere CD is released and makes its mark (As a matter of interest the soloist in the Violin Concerto recording will be, once again, Ulf Hoelscher who recorded it for CPO with the QSO, under Albert, shortly after his sessions with the BBC. In the Viola Concerto, the soloist will be Brett Dean - brother of Paul, above who is an outstanding performer and member of the Berlin Philharmonic ).


One should not leave the subject of the CPO recordings without mention of their overall quality, and the manner in which they compare with those performances given during the composer's lifetime. The orchestral CDs are, generally, of outstanding quality, with the obvious benefits of modern digital sound, and the interpretations are polished and committed Werner Andreas Albert clearly feels an affinity with Frankel's style and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra has become, in the last few years, top-class. Notwithstanding the composer's own remarkable performances of his music - he conducted the British premiers of the Violin Concerto and first four symphonies, after which ill health forced him to abandon the podium - some conductors (and orchestras) did not entirely flatter it. Frankel wrote brilliantly and sympathetically for the orchestra, so it was far from being a question of placing unreasonable demands on the players' abilities. No doubt, the dutiful, often reluctant, way in which 'modern' works were undertaken (has anything really changed that much?), was a major factor. The conductors involved were not always front-rank, and not always noted for their advocacy of contemporary music. Albert is not a household name in this country - his career being based mainly in Germany and Australia at present - but his credentials are impeccable, having studied with Karajan and Rosbaud. As to the QSO, it is increasingly peopled by young players, avid for unexplored repertoire, especially of the 20th century. The result is that Frankel's symphonies can now be heard in a fresh 'light', whereby the romantic and melodic elements of these works are, at last, clearly audible, irrespective of the rigorous intellectual discipline which dictates their structural development. As to the chamber music issued thus far, Paul Dean - mentioned earlier - has done a wonderful CD of the clarinet works, while the Nomos Quartet a fine young German ensemble - has done similar justice to the five string quartets.



Originally published @ MusicWeb International © 2002

Text reproduced by kind permission of MusicWeb Founder, Len Mullenger and E.D.Kennaway

Copyright © January 2002 E.D.Kennaway. All rights reserved.

Charles Gerhardt & Classic Film Scores

by Pascal Dupont • 10 May, 2024
Charles Allan Gerhardt English version adapted by Doug Raynes - FRENCH VERSION AND COLLECTION had a reputation as a great conductor, record producer and musical arranger. His major work at RCA on the Classic Film Scores series earned him recognition from film music devotees of Hollywood’s Golden Age, as well as other renowned conductors of his day. Born on February 6, 1927 in Detroit, Michigan, Charles Gerhardt developed a passion for music and percussion instruments from an early age. At the age of five, he took piano lessons, and by the age of nine, had established a solid reputation as an orchestrator and composer. He spent his early school years in Little Rock, Arkansas, then after 10 years, having completed his schooling, moved with his family to Illinois for his military duties, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a chaplain's aide in the Aleutian Islands, then became an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He went on to study at the University of Illinois, at the College of William and Mary, and later at the University of Southern California. Throughout his time at school Gerhardt was attracted not only to music, but also to the sciences. Passionate about the art of recording, he joined Westminster Records for five years, until the company ceased operations, and then joined Bell Sound. One day, he received a phone call from George Marek to meet with the heads of Reader's Digest, to discuss producing recordings for their mail-order record business; a contact that was to secure his musical future and a rich career spanning more than 30 years. Gerhardt's first job for Reader's Digest was to produce a record; “A Festival of Light Classical Music”; a 12 LP box set that he produced in full. One of Gerhardt's finest projects was the production of another 12 LP box set, “Les Trésores de la Grande Musique (Treasury of Great Music)”, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by some of the leading figures of the day: Charles Munch to Bizet and Tchaikovsky, Rudolf Kempe to Strauss and Respighi, Josef Krips to Mozart and Haydn, Antal Dorati to Strauss and Berlioz, Brahms 4th Symphony by Fritz Reiner and Sibelius’ 2nd Symphony by Sir John Barbirolli. In the 1950s he conducted works by Vladimir Horowitz, Wanda Landowska, Kirsten Flagstad and William Kapeli. In the early 1960s, Gerhardt lived in England, where he made most of his recordings, but kept a foothold in the United States, mainly in New York. Often, when he went to the United States after a period of recording sessions, he would stop off in Baltimore and spend some time listening to cassettes of his new recordings. Gerhardt loved percussion instruments, especially tam-tams. One of his favorite recordings was the Columbia mono disc of Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy, with Dimitri Mitropoulos and the New York Philharmonic. He had great admiration and respect for the many conductors he worked with, starting with Arturo Toscanini, with whom he worked for several years before the Maestro's death. It was Toscanini who suggested that Gerhardt become a conductor, which he did! His career as an orchestra director began when he had to replace a conductor who failed to show up for rehearsals. It was a position he would later occupy for various recording sessions and occasional concerts. His classical recordings include works by Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Ravel, Debussy, Walton and Howard Hanson. Hired by RCA Records, he transferred 78 rpm recordings of Enrico Caruso and other artists to 33 rpm. He took part in recordings by soprano singer Kirsten Flagstad and pianist Vladimir Horowitz. He worked with renowned conductors such as Fritz Reiner, Leopold Stokowski and Charles Munch, from whom he learned the tricks of the trade. Still at RCA, he assisted Arturo Toscanini, with whom he perfected his conducting skills. Then, in 1960, he produced recordings for RCA and Reader’s Digest in London, and joined forces with sound engineer Kenneth Wilkinson of Decca Records (RCA's European subsidiary), The two men got on very well and shared a passion for recording and sound quality, making an incredible number of recordings over a 30-year period. Also in 1960, RCA and Reader's Digest entrusted him with the production of a 12-disc LP box set entitled “ Lumière du Classique (A Festival of Light Classical Music) ”, sold exclusively by mail order. With a budget of $250,000, Gerhardt assumed total control of the project: repertoire, choice of orchestras and production. He recorded in London, Vienna and Paris, and hired such top names as Sir Adrian Boult, Massimo Freccia, Sir Alexander Gibson and René Leibowitz. The success of this project, in terms of both musical quality and sound, earned him recognition from his employers. Other projects of similar scope followed… A boxed set of Beethoven's symphonic works with René Leibowitz and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. A boxed set of Rachmaninoff's works for piano and orchestra with Earl Wild, Jascha Horenstein and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the above mentioned 12 LP disc set “Trésor de la Grande Musique (Treasury of Great Music)” with the Royal Philharmonic conducted by some of the greatest directors of the time: Fritz Reiner, Charles Munch, Rudolf Kempe, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Antal Dorati and Jascha Horenstein, with whom Gerhardt had sympathized. In January 1964 in London, Gerhardt joined forces with Sidney Sax, instrumentalist and conductor, to form a freelance orchestra. This successful group went on to join the National Philharmonic Orchestra of London, an impressive line-up that would later become Jerry Goldsmith's orchestra of choice. With Peter Munves, head of RCA's classical division, he conceived the idea of recording an album devoted exclusively to the film music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, one of his favorite composers. Enthusiastic about the project, Munves gave Gerhardt carte blanche, and was offered a helping hand by George Korngold, producer and son of the famous Viennese composer, who owned all the copies of his father's scores. The Adventure Began : The Sea Hawk: Classic Film Scores of Erich Wolfgang Korngold. For this first disc, Gerhardt selected 10 scores by Korngold, which he recorded in the Kingsway Hall Studio in London, renowned for its excellent acoustics. The disc thus benefits from optimal recording conditions, favoring at the same time the performances of the National Philharmonic (and its leader, Sidney Sax), a formidable orchestra made up of London's finest musicians and freelance soloists. Each album was recorded in the same studio, with Kenneth Wilkinson as sound engineer and George Korngold as consultant/producer. As soon as it was released, the album's success received strong acclaim in classical music circles and received a feature in Billboard No. 37, a first in this category in December 1972. It took no less than a year to sell the first 10,000 copies in all the specialist record suppliers and the album went on to sell over 38,000 copies, making it the fifth best-selling album in the “classical” category in 1973. On the strength of this success, Peter Munves and RCA entrusted Charles Gerhardt with the production of further discs devoted to other world-renowned composers of Hollywood music. The program includes several albums dedicated to Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold plus one each to Miklos Rozsa, Franz Waxman, Dimitri Tiomkin and Bernard Herrmann, followed by 3 volumes associated with specific film stars such as Bette Davis, Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart. Then, a disc devoted to Alfred Newman, a composer who was a pillar of the famous Hollywood sound, who Gerhardt admired and had met: “Newman was a charming man, full of good humor. He was friendly, fun and always had a joke. With his eternal black cigar in hand, he was a composer by trade, down-to-earth, discussed little about himself but was a first-rate advisor in my life. “ Gerhardt would consult certain composers in advance about how to recreate suites from their works, or when this wasn't possible, he would rearrange the suites himself and submit them to the composers for approval. "Some critics complained that my suites were too short, but my aim in the case of each album was to present a well-split 'portrait' of the composer, highlighting his many creative facets". Although Korngold, Newman and Steiner were no longer around to lend their support, Gerhardt was lucky enough to still work with Herrmann, Rózsa and Tiomkin as consultants who turned up at the recording studio to lend a hand. Gerhardt also had the idea of creating albums focusing on a single film star. Three specific volumes were devoted to music from the films of Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and Bette Davis. Although these albums suffer from too great a diversity of genres, they still offer the chance to hear and discover rare and previously unpublished compositions. The best conceived album was arguably the one devoted to Bette Davis. Conscious of the important role played by music in her films, the legendary actress took part in the conception of the album, knowing that it favored scores by Max Steiner designed for Warner Bros. The Collection Begins ! Gerhardt's passion for certain composers knows no bounds, but he soon envisages a disc devoted to Miklos Rozsa, including suites for “Spellbound” and “The Red House”, one of his favorite scores, which he will exhume to create one of the longest suites in the series. At the same time, he received various fan wish lists and films to watch, such as “The Four Feathers”, which he had never seen and which gave him the opportunity to discover a splendid score by Miklos Rozsa that he had never heard before. He was disappointed, however, not to be able to conceive a longer “Spellbound” sequel for rights reasons. Despite RCA's full approval, Gerhardt realized that it was not easy to record film music in its original form, as few were ever edited, played and made available for rental. For The Sea Hawks album, things were simpler, as Georges Korngold had copies of his father's scores, and Warner Bros had also archived material in good condition. From the outset, Gerhardt encountered other major problems in the search for and discovery of scores hidden away in other studios, often with the unpleasant surprise of discovering missing or incomplete conductors, or others heavily modified by orchestrators during recording sessions, or the surprise of discovering, in certain cases, instrumentation information noted in shorthand on the edges of the conductor score. For the disc dedicated to Max Steiner, for example, the conductor score for “King Kong” had disappeared from the RKO archives, having been shipped in 1950 to poorly maintained warehouses in Los Angeles where it had become totally degraded and illegible. With the help of Georges Korngold, Gerhardt was able to reconstruct a substantial suite from the piano models left by Steiner at the time. This experience was repeated when the conductor score for Dimitri Tiomkin's “The Thing” was discovered in the same warehouse, in an advanced state of disintegration. Fortunately for Gerhardt, Tiomkin, who was still alive, had been able to provide precise piano maquettes with orchestration information in shorthand, revealing a complex and highly innovative style of writing. Tiomkin always composed at the piano, inscribing very specific information and signs on the edges of the scores in pencil, an ingenious system of his own invention that was difficult to decipher. “Revisiting the score of ‘The Thing from Another World’ was a complex task, involving experimental passages and an unorthodox orchestra. You can understand that I had a huge job on my hands. When I approached the recording sessions, it was not without some trepidation. However, the composer present made no criticism or comment on my work, and was delighted. He was delighted.” For “Gone With The Wind”, Steiner was against the idea of remaking a complete soundtrack, as he felt that too many passages were repeated. It was an opportunity for him to revisit his own score, integrating his favorite melodies. This synthesis gave him the opportunity to revitalize his music by eliminating the least interesting parts of the score. Conceived as long suites or isolated themes, the discs reflect the essence of the composers' work. The “Classic Film Scores” series by Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann and Miklos Rozsa etc will become a big hit with collectors. For Gerhardt, this will be an opportunity to unearth forgotten or rare scores such as Herrmann's “The White Witch” and “On a Dangerous Ground”, Hugo Friedhofer's “The Sun Also Rises” and early recordings for Waxman's “Prince Valliant” and Rozsa's “The Red House”, all with new, impeccable acoustics. For “Elisabeth and Essex”, Erich Korngold had already prepared a suite in the form of an Overture, which was given its world premiere in a theater. The suite for “The Adventures of Robin Hood” also pre-existed. Franz Waxman created his own suite for “A Place in the Sun”, which was also performed in concert. Dimitri Tiomkin, Miklos Rozsa and Bernard Herrmann acted as consultants and contributed arrangements to their scores. For the continuation of “White Witch Doctor”, Bernard Herrman added percussion to link the different musical tableaux. He did the same for the different parts of “Citizen Kane”. Miklos Rozsa saw an opportunity to add a male choir to the suite from “The Jungle Book”, based on an idea by Charles Gerhardt. For the record dedicated to Errol Flynn, Gerhardt re-orchestrated the theme “The Lights of Paris” from Hugo Friedhofer's “The Sun also Rises”, as the original was no longer available. “I wanted to go back to that time and systematically explore the very substance of the great film scores of the late 30s and 40s, sending them back directly to their images as dramatic entities. The desire to rediscover tunes we know and to take into account the contexts in which they were originally used. I decided to recreate these scores with their original orchestrations, and this could only be done by returning to the ultimate sources, as the composers had originally conceived them.” Keen to open up the collection to other genres, such as science fiction, Gerhardt dedicated two further albums to the series in 1992. The first featured contemporary sequels to “Star Wars” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, promoting the work of John Williams, a leading composer of new film music. Then another called “The Spectacular World of Classic Film Scores”, presenting a disappointing compilation of scores that had already been recorded, except for the creation of a sequel to Dimitri Tiomkin's “The Thing From Another World” and Daniele Amfitheatrof's rarely heard theme “Dance of the Seven Voiles” from Salome. In 1978, the collection was published in Spain by RCA Cinema Treasures. In the USA and Europe, the Classic Film Scores LP series was reissued in the early 80s with a black art deco cover and colored star index. All Volumes in the First Series Were Reissued : By the end of the '80s, the series was running out of steam, and Charles Gerhardt planned to relaunch his collection with albums dedicated to famous American actresses, a new volume for Max Steiner and the Western, a volume reconstructing the score of Waxman's “The Bride of Frankenstein”, followed by volumes devoted to Alex North, Hugo Friedhofer, Victor Young and Elmer Bernstein... But RCA would not support Gerhardt in these projects, preferring to release the collection on CD for the first time. In early 1990, RCA asked Gerhardt to supervise and co-produce the collection, which he saw as an opportunity to revisit some of the volumes, inserting tracks that had not appeared on the LPs or extending certain suites. The volume devoted to Franz Waxman, “Sunset Boulevard”, was the first to be released. The CD did not benefit from any particular promotion, but sold very well, as did the other CDs that followed... A collection marked by a new design in silver pantone. The CDs series was reissued in 2010, still under the RCA Red Seal label, but distributed by Sony Music Entertainment. RCA Victor's Classic Films Scores series represents a unique collection in the history of film music recordings. 14 recordings of rare quality, produced by Georges Korngold and Charles Gerhardt to become one of the revelations of the reissue phenomenon. Other Concepts... Later, Gerhardt spent most of his time in London, continuing to make recordings. After retiring from RCA in 1986, he returned to independent work for Readers Digest and other record labels, a position he held in production and musical supervision until 1997. Since 1991 he had lived in Redding, California. In later years, he did not appear professionally, refusing all public invitations because of his desire to remain discreet. In his entourage he was close to three cousins, Lenore L Engel and Elizabeth Anne Schuetze, both living in San Antonio, and cousin Steven W Gerhardt of St. Pete Beach, Florida. In late November 1998 Charles Gerhardt was diagnosed with brain cancer and died of complications following surgery on February 22, 1999. He was 72 years old. Thus ends this tribute to Charles Gerhardt and the most famous collection of film music records: The Classic Film Scores series.

Exodus

by Doug Raynes • 24 Jan, 2024
Following on from Tadlow’s epic recording of El Cid, the same team – Nic Raine conducting and James Fitzpatrick producing – have turned their attention to a completely different type of epic film for the definitive recording of Ernest Gold’s Academy Award winning score for Otto Preminger’s Exodus (1960). The score is something of a revelation because aside from the main theme, the music has received little attention through recordings. Additionally the sound quality of the original soundtrack LP was disappointing and much music was deleted or cut from the film.
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