CLASH OF THE TITANS (2 CD)

Tech Talk From The CD Producer…

Laurence Rosenthal’s powerful and exciting score for Clash Of The Titans arguably remains the pinnacle of his lengthy and distinguished career. The events bringing us to this complete restoration of Rosenthal’s monumental score are interesting to note.

With pressing limitations to consider, the original 1981 soundtrack LP from Columbia Records offered less than half of the score, providing some 38 minutes of highlights out of an hour and a half scored for the picture. The cues selected by the composer were certainly an exciting representation, but Rosenthal necessarily had to omit entire musical set-pieces, including all of his "Olympus" choral music to keep the LP under 40 minutes.

In the early 1990’s, with the LP long out-of-print and unavailable, the PEG label released the program on CD for the first time. Aware of my strong working relationship with the composer, PEG approached me prior to manufacturing and asked if I could assist in locating any previously unreleased music. As the composer had no copies of the music save the actual LP, I embarked on a search through Sony (now in control of the rights). We followed a lead to three previously unreleased cues but after considerable effort Sony was unable to locate that additional music. Unfortunately PEG had already prepared packaging, which indicated additional music though the CD itself contained the same 14 tracks as the original LP. Still, it made a classic score available once again to an eager audience. Eventually, researchers at Sony did locate a single ¼" reel of the two-track stereo session mixes, containing two cues already available plus the three additional, unreleased cues PEG had originally hoped to include. While still far from complete, this now made an expanded release possible, bringing the album running time up to 47 minutes. PEG still had rights to reissue the CD and enlisted Intrada to prepare a new CD master. This second PEG reissue satisfied a lot of fans in 1997 but the label ceased operation shortly thereafter, leaving the music once again unavailable.

Fast forward to 2010 and enter Lukas Kendall of Film Score Monthly . While working on other projects with Warner Bros., Kendall unearthed virtually all of the actual 2" 24-track scoring session masters, now housed in the Warner vaults. As Intrada was currently working with Sony on realizing yet another release of this classic score to new audiences, Kendall generously helped to gain access to all of the newly discovered master elements. In tandem, Sony managed to locate even more ¼" two-track elements. Soon we had happily embarked upon a complete restoration of Rosenthal's masterpiece, all 90-plus minutes of it, newly mastered in thrilling stereo and sequenced to match the picture.

Amongst the treasure-trove of riches offered in this world premiere 2-CD release: the entire "Medusa" sequence, the lengthy "The Quest" music, sparkling ideas for the weapons given to Perseus and several action cues written for fight scenes between Perseus and various Ray Harryhausen creations—all presented for the first time. Of particular interest are several cues that most fans of the film ostensibly will have never heard before—subtle "a cappella" choral pieces full of complex, shifting harmonies, written for the Olympus cloud sequences with Zeus and the gods. I say ostensibly because these cues are mixed to an almost subliminal level in the film, blended beneath wind and dialogue and virtually impossible to detect without knowing what to listen for. Even the composer believed that these cues had gone unused until we scrutinized the picture. For listeners desiring a purely symphonic experience, each of the choral pieces is indexed individually. But for listeners wanting to experience the entire score in all of its scope and glory, these challenging choral pieces add a whole new dimension to the score and help illustrate the massive canvas Rosenthal was working with.

And finally, a word about "the extras" that appear at the close of CD 2. The original LP included dialogue spoken by Laurence Olivier over the final "Constellations" music. Since we are premiering this music sans dialogue in the album presentation, we elected to include the dialogue version here for all of those listeners familiar with and nostalgic for the LP. The original unused version of "Joppa" presents the cue in a more deliberate tempo while the alternate "The Quest" is a brief, unused version of the larger film cue, here coming to a massive, fortissimo major-key ending. "Procession Drums" does appear in the film, heard immediately in front of the "Andromeda Shackled" music, but is used as visual source music as she is taken up the hill by an army of soldiers. It consists primarily of a lengthy repeating cadence from tympani and bass drums.

Of particular interest is the "Prologue And Main Title." The opening sequence of the film underwent several changes and edits during post-production, causing Rosenthal to rescore his initial cue that leads into the titles. The version heard in the film and on the original LP is the shorter re-scored version and is included here on CD 2 with the extras. Listeners will enjoy hearing for the first time the complete original version, with its piercing French horn cries and longer exposition into the credits as a start to the complete score on CD 1, just as the composer originally intended.

So listen now and appreciate the complete soundtrack to Clash Of The Titans, composed and conducted by Laurence Rosenthal and delivered with rousing excitement via the London Symphony Orchestra!

—Douglass Fake

CLASH OF THE TITANS (2 CD)

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