Book Excerpt of the Day

For the 1974 live-action Planet of the Apes TV show Lalo Schifrin clearly made an effort to deliver music consistent with the big screen series. The Argentinean composer provided a jarringly primitive, atonal, electronically accented theme and scored several episodes including the first. Taking a stylistic cue from Jerry Goldsmith and Leonard Rosenman, Schifrin created a percussion-heavy, action-packed sound. He uses orchestral dissonance to capture the alienation felt by astronauts lost in a dystopian and primitive future where apes rule over men. Shuddering strings, nervous woodwinds, strident brass and atmospheric keyboards create a persistent and nightmarish tension and sense of urgency. The closest Schifrin had previously come to such a sound was on his Dirty Harry scores. Schifrin also recorded two funkified tracks — “Ape Shuffle” and “Escape from Tomorrow” — for a promotional 45 at the time.

– from Chapter 5: Sci-fidelity and the Superhero Spectrum of Kristopher Spencer’s Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979

Book Excerpt of the Day

The film of Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man (’69) was considered an interesting failure upon release. Undoubtedly, Jerry Goldsmith’s score is the interesting part. Even Bradbury thought it outshined the film. Because the film is episodic, the score shows some stylistic range. At times it is melancholy and lyrical, and at other times sterile and electronic. It goes from tunefully impressionistic (“Theme”) to chillingly atonal (“Angry Child”). Goldsmith excels at atonality being a self-described serial composer. But his themes aren’t so much austere as they are formal and frequently haunting. The electronic bits are often subtle (like the use of an Echoplex on woodwinds), but on tracks like “21st Century House” the electronics branch out to constitute most of the sound. In fact, his use of electronics anticipates his work on Logan’s Run.

– from Chapter 5: Sci-fidelity and the Superhero Spectrum of Kristopher Spencer’s Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979

Book Excerpt of the Day

Jerry Goldsmith’s outstanding score for 100 Rifles (’69) is very experimental and dynamic, and doesn’t seem to have much in common with Hollywood’s Golden Age westerns or Ennio Morricone’s re-imaging of the sagebrush sound. As is his wonderful habit, Goldsmith pits cacophonous brass against clamorous percussion on the riveting “Escape and Pursuit”. And who else but Goldsmith would use detuned guitar and bass along with prepared piano in a western? The effect is strangely sinister and mysterious (“The Church”), and highly suggestive of mounting danger (“Ready for Ambush”). It’s an awesome display of the composer’s ability to re-imagine the western sound in Morricone’s wake. If one must limit their western soundtrack collection to a single Goldsmith score 100 Rifles should be the one.

– from Chapter 4: Staccato Six-Guns of Kristopher Spencer’s Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979

Book Excerpt of the Day

"Logan's Run is a classic dystopian sci-fi film that was quickly forgotten when Star Wars arrived in theaters a year later. Set in a far-off future of domed cities, holographic entertainments and sex without love, it's a chilling morality tale with disco-era fashions and feathered hair. Jerry Goldsmith's score is among the most electronic soundtracks to accompany a major movie of that era. For scenes inside The City, Goldsmith employs synths that gurgle, squeak and whoosh with atonal abandon. Elsewhere, particularly for scenes outside The City, Goldsmith uses acoustic orchestration (strings, piano, woodwinds) to represent the natural world."

– from Chapter 5: Sci-Fidelity and the Superhero Spectrum of Kristopher Spencer’s Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979

Book Excerpt of the Day

"The Satan Bug is an earthbound germ warfare thriller with a score by Jerry Goldsmith, who clearly drew inspiration from the title for his diabolically angular theme music featuring spidery staccato percussion. The Satan Bug sounds a bit like a rehearsal for Planet of the Apes, which is one of Goldsmith's best sci-fi scores. Bug shares with Apes a penchant for exotic melodic motifs, which are – yet again – reminiscent of the ultimate sci-fi soundtrack classical reference: Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring.'"

– from Chapter 5: Sci-Fidelity and the Superhero Spectrum of Kristopher Spencer’s Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979

Book Excerpt of the Day

"The most influential element in Jerry Goldsmith's score for The Omen is the use of chorus. These days no self-respecting movie studio puts out a horror movie trailer without music featuring a 'demonic' choir (usually Carl Orff's 'O Fortuna'). The Omen arguably established that tradition with 'Ave Satani.' Somehow, nothing sounds as sinister as a brooding male and female choir chanting in Latin over a dark, minor key dirge.... Interestingly, the composer noted that his initial ideas for the score stemmed from 'hearing voices.'"

– from Chapter 6: A Fearful Earful of Kristopher Spencer’s Film and Television Scores, 1950-1979