BIG LOVE MOVIE THEMES

TRACK LISTING

SIDE ONE

1. TONIGHT

(From West Side Story)

 

2. TARA'S THEME

(From Gone With The Wind)

 

3. SOMEWHERE MY LOVE

(From Dr. Zhivago)

 

4. A SUMMER PLACE

 

5. THE SHADOW OF YOUR SMILE

(From The Sandpiper)

 

6. LA RONDE

 

SIDE TWO

1. A TIME FOR US

(From Romeo And Juliet)

 

2. STARS SHINE IN YOUR EYES

(From La Strada)

 

3. AS TIME GOES BY

(From Casablanca)

 

4. I WILL WAIT FOR YOU

(From Umbrellas Of Cherbourg)

 

5. A MAN AND A WOMAN

 

6. WHERE DO I BEGIN

(From Love Story)

 

P1971

Produced by Norman Newell

 

Certain theories exist as to the actual purpose behind the introduction of music on the film soundtrack. In the days of the silent picture, musical accompaniment was the accepted device of atmospheric addition to the visual entertainment and also served as a shield for assorted 'noises-off' within. the theatre. Came the sound film and alongside its growing sophistication was the advent of the music score. Producers were to learn of the commercial advantage of having a popular theme in a picture and most of the melodies in this collection, having been written for dramatic subjects, are excellent examples of how this can and has worked.

The 'grand old man' of the movie composers' world is Max Steiner whose legendary work over the years has earned him an unprecedented reputation and respect throughout the industry. His magnificent Tara's Theme from Gone With the Wind vividly recalls the Rhett Butler story set in the Deep South which cap­tured an eager world's attention back in 1939. Also represented here is one of Steiner's later scores, A Summer Place (1960).

The younger breed of Hollywood writers included Johnny Mandel who worked recently on M.A.S.H., but we include his The Shadow Of Your Smile which gently swept through the Richard Burton - Elizabeth Taylor movie The Sandpiper in 1965.

From the continent, some outstanding new composers have emerged over the last few years and in the midst of them is that very talented Italian, Nino Rota; judge here. his 1954 composition for La Strada against his haunting melody A Time For Us from Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet made fourteen years later.

Three writers represent the cream of France. The ultra-successful Francis Lai whose work with Claude LeLouch (particularly A Man and a Woman in 1966) was prior to the Oscar-winning Love Story music. Michael Legrand also works extensively and successfully for the screen and this album contains his theme for La Ronde (1964) plus I Will Wait For You from the all-too-little-seen musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Then comes Maurice Jarre whose stirring themes have enriched both Lawrence of Arabia and Ryan's Daughter as well as Dr. Zhivago highlighted here by the theme which we know as Somewhere My Love (Lara's Theme).

And so we come to one of the most memorable modern musicals, West Side Story which brought together the music of Leonard Bernstein and the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim. Tonight is just one of a whole host of songs that have combined to make this a classic show and film.

Our last tune has a particularly inte­resting cinematic history. In the 1942 release, Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart is haunted by a song that recalls his affair with Ingrid Berman in a war-ridden Paris; the song which Miss Bergman asks Sam to play again is of course, As Time Goes By and is the perfect illustration of a. theme song used to its fullest advantage..

Here then is a collection of love themes, originally written to enhance and capture romantic scenes in motion pictures and here presented as a memory of some classic movie moments and a representa­tion of the screen at its sentimental best.

ALAN WARNER