CD REVIEW
– THE
FILM SCORES AND ORIGINAL
ORCHESTRAL MUSIC OF GEORGE MARTIN
The
Berlin Music Ensemble conducted
by Craig Leon
Atlas
Réalisations ARCD008 (63.00)
This is a
delightful disc which, possibly
due to not being on a major
label, has fallen under the radar
somewhat. It is as it says on the
tin music from the pen of the man
called the "fifth
Beatle", well-known to light
music aficionados as the producer
of some of the great Ron
Goodwin's finest orchestral
albums, and manager of the
Parlophone label which profusely
recorded comedy acts and popular
singers in the 1950s, such as the
Temperance Seven, Peter Sellers,
Bernard Cribbins, Shirley Bassey
and Matt Monro.
He later worked
with Cilla Black, Gerry and the
Pacemakers, Neil Sedaka, Paul
McCartney, and many others. He
was knighted in 1996 and died
aged 90 in 2016.
Among the works
here are the original music
scores written for the films
'Yellow Submarine' (The
Pepperland Suite), and 'Live
and Let Die' (Live and Let
Die Suite). Also included
are the Under Milk Wood
Overture, Judy's Theme,
inspired by his wife and former
secretary, Three American
Sketches for Violin and Chamber
Orchestra, the pizzicato led
Belle Étoile, Waltz in D Minor
for Flute and Chamber Orchestra,
Prelude for Strings, an
arrangement of a J S Bach piece,
and – for me – the ten
stand out tracks of The
Mission Chorales, the first
recording of the original
sketches for the film 'The
Mission' featuring the Berlin
Music Ensemble Choir.The
uncredited helpful booklet notes
tell us that due to scheduling
difficulties Sir George could not
complete the film score.
The orchestral
players all come from leading
Berlin ensembles. The recording
was made at Berlin’s
Meistersaal/Emil Berliner Studios
in July 2017. The American-born
Craig Leon has had a long and
varied career in many genres of
music. I keenly anticipated the
arrival of this album and have
not been let down.
Peter Burt
© 2018
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