Bride of Frankenstein 1935 soundtrack La La Land (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

I got an exciting email from La La Land Records that the original 1935 Franz Waxman score for Bride of Frankenstein is released today. First time in any format. Though the score is not complete due to missing elements, this is still exciting. I’ve been listening to a re-recording that’s well done and is good by Kenneth Alwyn. I’ve never tried to compare it directly with the film. So it will be interesting to hear the original version. Especially my favorite part, The Creation. Will the recording still retain all the range of the lows. I’ll be ordering the disc after work.

 

[TravisR]

A two disc expanded version of Minority Report by John Williams is also coming today too.

I'll be getting both.

 

[Nelson Au]

I haven’t seen Minority Report in quite some time so I’m not familiar with the score. Though Williams work like Jerry Goldsmith is worth collecting!

 

[richardburton84]

It will be interesting to hear the original recording outside of the movie. I’ve heard the Alwyn recording and while the recording is pretty good, his interpretation of the Creation music pales considerably next to Charles Gerhardt’s recording with the National Philharmonic.

 

[Nelson Au]

I have not heard the Charles Gerhardt recording. I can’t wait to hear the new La La Land release now.

And maybe its time to view Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein again too.

 

[richardburton84]

I have not heard the Charles Gerhardt recording. I can’t wait to hear the new La La Land release now.

And maybe its time to view Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein again too.

Just for the record, Gerhardt only recorded the creation music as part of his Waxman compilation, which includes excellent performances of suites from some of the composer’s other scores (the suites for Prince Valiant and Rebecca are exceptionally good). There are two versions of this album, the one I have has additional excerpts from Peyton Place, To Have and Have Not, Mr. Skeffington, Objective Burma, and The Two Mrs. Carrolls.

https://www.amazon.com/Sunset-Boulevard-Classic-Scores-Waxman/dp/B00000E6DH

 

[David Weicker]

I really wish someone would record a Flash Gordon album. BOF’s score was used extensively, among others

 

[TravisR]

I ordered my copy.

I have to give La La Land kudos for actually managing to keep their site up and running when new stuff goes on sale. It is the one boutique company that I regularly patronize that I can count on to not have a problem handling the volume of new releases.

 

[Nelson Au]

Jack, I listened to that Gerhardt recording, thanks for posting that. It’s very convenient that so much music is posted on YouTube to sample. It’s also different as you said. It would be cool if the original score recording for Rebecca was ever released. I just picked up the Prince Valiant Blu ray and will have to find time to see it.

I just ordered my copy of Bride of Frankenstein too along with a couple of other titles I had on my list. Can’t wait to hear it. I did listen to a few seconds of the sample track of The Creation. It does sound a little different in tempo. I really like how Waxman was using the drum beat as a heart beat.

Agreed Travis about the La La Land site, check out was great.

 

[Craig Beam]

My copy of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN arrived today, and it sounds pretty impressive for an 84 year-old recording. I'm more than happy with the audio quality, but more importantly---- I'm thrilled to finally hear this brilliant score (the ORIGINAL recording!) isolated on its own at last.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Craig for your impressions of the new release. That’s great news. My copy shipped today, can’t wait to hear it myself.

 

[TravisR]

Got my copy today too!

 

[Nelson Au]

On a side note, since Travis mentioned La La Land’s ability to deliver on shipments, in my haste to order Bride of Frankenstein, I added a few extra titles I wanted to include in the order. But after I hit the buy button, I realized one title I had already ordered a few months ago and forgot! So I tried to send them a message if I could change the order. But I never heard from them and they completed my original order. I guess I’ll have to try again to contact them to arrange a return.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Just curious, what was that other title?

 

[Craig Beam]

I ordered THE INVADERS set the same day, but as far as I can tell it hasn't shipped yet. Weird.

 

[Nelson Au]

Josh, the other title is The Day The Earth Stood Still.

I was really busy yesterday afternoon at work and didn’t see an email from La La Land that came later in the afternoon. They said I can send the unwanted disc back.

 

[Lutz Koch]

I ordered THE INVADERS set the same day, but as far as I can tell it hasn't shipped yet. Weird.

According to the Lalaland website, INVADERS starts shipping Oct. 25. I'm waiting for mine too!

 

[Nelson Au]

I received my copy of Bride of Frankenstein yesterday! I’ll be listening to it today.

 

[Nelson Au]

I’ve listened to the score a couple of times now via my iPhone and AirPods. I still want to do a proper listen on my hi-fi system.

It sounds great and at first a little confusing because I was so used to listening to the 1993 re-recording done by Kenneth Alwyn. Of course, the re-recording has a higher level of fidelity.

So what confused me, after the last track, The Bride The Explosion, that was it. I was expecting one more piece of music that ends the film. The next tracks were the alternative tracks that are cool. I felt like there was something big missing. I reviewed the finale of the film on YouTube and what is missing was the coda. I then realized, the coda is the very last track on the CD, The Creation (Finale) which ends the film. So it seemed odd to add the alternative tracks in that location instead of after the Finale. Could be a logical reason I’m sure, such as it was a last minute bit of music put together at the end if the session.

In the end this is very cool to have the original score! And I’ll make time to watch the blu ray of the film next. And give the score a proper listen on the sound system.

( by the way, watching the clip of the end of the film on YouTube, I found it funny that the music sounded fuller then on the CD. That’s not a complaint about the CD because I have no complaints about the CD, the film must have had the audio tweaked. )

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey guys, not sure if Neil might know the answer, since the release of the 4K Universal monsters set has been out, it reminded me of this soundtrack.

As I mentioned earlier, this soundtrack release is great! And I said I had gotten used to the earlier re-recording version by Kenneth Alwyn because that recording included the finale and this release has it as a bonus.

Not sure why that’s the case, but as a listening experience, I found it unsettling to not hear the finale or the end credits sequence, A Good Cast is Worth Repeating. . That segment sounds like it was a edited clip from the main titles. Perhaps the recordings were done this way initially, and the finale was an added coda during the editing process as well as adding music to the end credits.

At any rate, I sort of fixed it by re-doing the order of the tracks in iTunes so the finale appears as the 10th track that follows Presenting the Bride-The Explosion.