FRANZ WAXMAN: LEGENDARY HOLLYWOOD (VOLUME 4)

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Citadel Records, a division of BSX Records, presents FRANZ WAXMAN: LEGENDARY HOLLYWOOD VOL. 4, featuring music from several films from the composer’s lengthy filmography, focusing on Epic and Fantasy centered films. The music is performed by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Mills.

FRANZ WAXMAN: LEGENDARY HOLLYWOOD VOL. 4 includes music from DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS, CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS, ANNE OF THE INDIES, THE STORY OF RUTH, BOTANY BAY, THE SILVER CHALICE, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and A CHRISTMAS CAROL. 

Composer, conductor and impresario, Franz Waxman was best known for his prolific career as a composer for the motion picture industry, spanning 150 scores throughout the 1930-1960s. Waxman won two Oscars for Best Score, was nominated twelve times and was the first to receive the honor in two consecutive years. Waxman was also an accomplished concert composer and conductor. In 1947, Waxman founded the Los Angeles Music Festival and, over the course of two decades, used it as a platform to champion American composers and introduce significant international composers with over seventy premieres, including work by Stravinsky, Shoenberg and Shostakowitz. His massive filmography includes legendary films such as BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, REBECCA, SUSPICION, WOMAN OF THE YEAR, SUNSET BLVD, A PLACE IN THE SUN, THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS, SAYONARA, PEYTON PLACE, THE NUN’S STORY, THE STORY OF RUTH, MY GEISHA, TARAS BULBA and many, many more. 

Richard Mills is a central figure in Australia’s musical life. He is one of the country’s most frequently commissioned and performed composers and a regular guest conductor of all Australia’s leading orchestras. Mills pursued his advanced musical studies under Edmund Rubbra (composition) and Gilbert Webster (percussion) at the Guildhall School of Music, London. He is currently the artistic director of Victorian Opera, and formerly artistic director of the West Australian Opera and artistic consultant with Orchestra Victoria. He was commissioned by the Victoria State Opera to write his opera SUMMER OF THE SEVENTEENTH DOLL and by Opera Australia to write the opera BATAVIA. 

Since its first concert in March, 1947, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra has established itself as a major cultural force within the city of Brisbane and the state of Queensland, Australia. Over 100,000 people attend more than 100 performances by the orchestra each year.

This series of recordings is a natural progression from SUNSET BOULEVARD: THE CLASSIC FILM SCORES BY FRANZ WAXMAN, which Charles Gerhardt recorded with the National Philharmonic for RCA in the 1970s. Like that disc, most of the music heard in this series was faithfully reconstructed from the original scores especially for these recordings. Originally presented as four volumes of LEGENDS OF HOLLYWOOD: FRANZ WAXMAN on compact disc by Varese Sarabande in the 1990s, those volumes have become very scarce over the years. Citadel Records, a division of BSX Records, is proud to bring these recordings back into the marketplace in a series of new volumes with the music newly remastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and liner notes written by John Waxman and author Randall Larson. 

EPICS

1. DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS 14:45

Suite: Prelude; Lucia; Messalina & Demetrius;

The Marriage Of Life & Death; Return To Faith

2. CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS Suite 7:01

3. ANNE OF THE INDIES 4:37

Suite: Prelude; The Sheba Queen; Jamaica; Finale

4. THE STORY OF RUTH Suite 13:22

5. BOTANY BAY 9:23

Suite: Prelude & Forward; Montage; New Escape Plot; Love & Victory

6. THE SILVER CHALICE 12:16

Suite: Prelude; The Chase; Simon The Magician; Fight For The Cup & Finale

FANTASIES

7. THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN Danse Macabre 6:57

8. A CHRISTMAS CAROL 9:49

Suite: Prelude & Threadneedle Street; Mr. Scrooge; Ghost & Spirits; Snowball Fight; Christmas Morning; Finale

Total Time: 48:33