Something that really irritates when shopping for original score recordings! (1 Viewer)

[Paul_D]

Why is it so difficult/rare to find a recording of the ORIGINAL/in-film score of classic flicks. I've got a few crappy CDs at home that maintain to be a DEFINITIVE compilation of Bernard Herrman's (with out a shadow of a doubt the greatest film-music composer who ever lived) film scores. They always (and some may dispute this) sound different from the same music in the film. It could be psychological - i.e. because I know that it isn't the original music, it sounds worse. But what I want to know is... why don't they just remaster/clean up (if-necessary) the original recordings - slap it all onto one disc, and call it a day on the multiple releases. There are countless soundtracks that I'd buy if they were original! The scores of Nino Rota (Fellini movies and The Godfather) come to mind as some of the most overly recorded scores!
Just wondering if anyone else was irritated by this phenomenon!
[Edited last by Paul Dalmaine on October 26, 2001 at 04:51 PM]

 

[Luc]

Let me start off by saying that I'm a film score fan owning over 400CDs. That being said, we're a rare breed. There's not much interest or money that goes into score CDs. Some scores do get remaster and there are in fact many, even though they might not be the ones you're looking for. Most recently, Jerry Goldsmith's The Omen, Omen II and Omen III Final Conflict have been remastered. This was done because they know there's a market for those scores. Marketing team from record company such as Varese do research and see if there are score fans interested in those scores. Remastering cost money. If you go through film score sites and messageboard, you might a pretty good idea what is in demand.
You're not alone in your frustration. Check out some score sites and you'll see what I mean. Getting a score release is always an issue to begin with since there are reuse fees that must be paid to each members of an orchestra. Unlike movie soundtrack and all those inspired songs from the movie, film score has a small fan base. It's all economic unfortunately.