On Monday, March 27, 1995 at 4:05:47 AM UTC-10, Ray Tuttle (Dept. of Psychiatry) wrote:
> HERRMANN: Jane Eyre (film score).
> Adriano conducting the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava)
> --- Marco Polo 8.223535 [DDD] (68:15)
> "Jane Eyre" was Bernard Herrmann's fourth film score, coming right
> after his remarkable work for "The Magnificent Ambersons."
> (Curiously, the job was offered to Igor Stravinsky first.) "Jane Eyre"
> was another Orson Welles film in almost everything but name; he
> starred as the mysterious Mr. Rochester, and the role of Jane was
> given to Joan Fontaine. It was completed in 1943.
> Herrmann recorded a thirteen-minute suite of music from this film
> for London/Decca Phase 4 in 1970, and it has been transferred to CD,
> as has Twentieth Century Fox's soundtrack recording. This disc offers
> more of Herrmann's music than either of those CDs do, however, and
> so it will be a must-buy for the composer/conductor's many admirers.
> They will not be disappointed. Adriano has fashioned the music into
> a de facto suite of twenty-one numbers, and almost none of
> Herrmann's original cues have been neglected (although some were too
> fragmentary to fit coherently into the whole). The order of the cues
> does not correspond exactly with their appearance in the film, but
> this doesn't create any problems. Working from a photocopy of
> Herrmann's manuscript, the actual soundtrack, and from his own
> knowledge of Herrmann's compositional style, particularly vis a vis
> orchestration, Adriano has produced a new printed score which may
> well interest other conductors and orchestras. And certainly "Jane
> Eyre" is one of Herrmann's finest scores. The film contains no
> cross-dressing motel managers and no homicidal taxi drivers, but
> Herrmann was as comfortable with romance as he was with suspense
> (hear also his remarkable score for "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir"). His
> music for "Jane Eyre" is as gentle and forthright as the heroine, and
> as passionate as the feelings that she inspires.
> Adriano (the only name that he uses professionally) and the Slovak
> Radio Symphony Orchestra do not perform this music as vividly as
> Herrmann did on that Phase 4 recording, but there is no doubt that
> they are committed to the cause, and they do not misrepresent the
> score. In fact, they probably adhere more to the spirit of the film
> than Herrmann himself did in 1970. The sound is acceptable, and
> Adriano has written copious annotations about Herrmann's score and
> what was done to bring it to CD in this form. May Adriano continue
> his work; there still are some wonderful Herrmann scores that are in
> need of commercial release.
> Raymond S. Tuttle
> Reviewer for _Fanfare_
> please send comments/questions about this review to
> rtu...@mednet.med.miami.edu

(Recent Y. upload):

Film Scores: Jane Eyre (Bernard Herrmann)