The German composer combined jazz and classical orchestral music with early synth sounds and composed the theme for Germany's number-one TV series, 'Tatort.'
Click here to read the full obituary.
News
New review of TIME AFTER TIME by MIKLÓS RÓZSA
| Time After Time (1979) *** 1/2 | |||
One of Miklós Rózsa’s final scores was for the 1979 science-fiction drama Time After Time, a film that imagines Jack the Ripper escaping into modern-day San Francisco, with H. G. Wells in pursuit. Directed by Nicholas Meyer, the thriller earned multiple Saturn Awards, including one for Rózsa’s music. Rózsa himself conducted a re-recording of the score with the Royal Philharmonic, which turned out to be a prized album at the time of its original vinyl release. With the advent of CDs, Southern Cross licensed the album in 1993, offering about 38 minutes of music. In 2009, Film Score Monthly issued the OST with approximately 53 minutes of material. Now, Dragon’s Domain revisits the Southern Cross program, presenting it digitally and in a limited physical run. This remastered edition includes the original liner notes and adds several Rózsa bonus tracks: re-recordings from The Lost Weekend (Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic), Spellbound (from the OST), That Hamilton Woman(Morton Gould and the London Symphony Orchestra), and The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (Rózsa with the National Philharmonic). Also featured is a two-guitar arrangement of “Valse Crepusculaire” from Providence, performed by Gregg Nestor and William Kanengiser. Following last year’s Eye of the Needle reissue from Varèse Sarabande, this 500-unit offering of Time After Time is a welcome addition for Rózsa collectors and a fine way to open the fall release slate. Clips are available at the label’s website. Dragon’s Domain has also begun reissuing other Southern Cross titles in recent months—an appealing prospect for new collectors and for those looking to upgrade from the harsher sound of the original CD pressings. —Steven A. Kennedy Comments regarding this review can be sent to: stev4uth@hotmail.com. |
Update on Backorders
Hello everyone,
If you have not yet ordered Gold of the Amazon Women or Albert Glasser Number Five, please note that these titles are currently on back order.
Albert Glaser Number Five is expected to arrive around the 29th of this month. Unless you request otherwise, we will hold your order until all items are available. If you would like us to ship the other items sooner, please let us know.
We are also currently out of Gold of the Amazon Women. This title is being repressed and should be available in the first week of October.
We apologize for the delays and appreciate your patience. We will ship your order as soon as possible.
The Staff of BSX and Dragon's Domain
Buysoundtrax.com Welcomes HITCHCOCK MEDIA to our family
We have updated the Buysoundtrax website to include a new catalog featuring the remaining physical inventory and digital releases from Hitchcock Media.
Hitchcock Media Records began in 1999 with the release of the WAZE Original Live Concerts series, recorded in Clearwater, Florida. Jazz was the ticket with Harry James, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and The Four Freshmen. Carmen McRae then expanded the music library to include pop, rock, country, folk, blues, alternative, and American standards.
Although the entire catalog is not yet available, we currently offer a selection of titles, including notable recordings by Harry James and Stan Kenton.
Please take a moment to browse the catalog and see if any of these non-soundtrack selections pique your interest.
You can find the catalog for this label at the following link. We encourage you to review the current selection, and we will continue to add more titles in the coming weeks.
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.
BSX
Composer Mark Snow 1946-2025 (RIP)
Hello everyone, I'm sorry to post this on our site, but one of the artists we've had the pleasure of working with many times over the years has passed away. Mark Snow, an Emmy Award-winning composer who, of course, wrote the theme to "The X-Files" and numerous scores for other TV programs, feature films, and more, passed away this week, and we only learned of it today.
He was an incredibly talented musician, as well as a great human being with a wonderful sense of humor; he will be deeply missed.
Here is the link to the Variety obituary by Jon Burlingame.
Rest in peace, sir.
New titles coming from Dragon's Domain on July 9th (Lots of goodies)
Hello everyone, we have a number of new releases scheduled for July 9th.
The first release is a Composer Collection, which is a lovely bit of Americana; one film is a futuristic science fiction film from the 1980s, and the companion score is from a TV Project from mid-1970’s and is an excellent historical drama set in the 19th century. I suspect this one will be a delightful surprise for many of you.
The next release is another rather beautiful film score we've been working on for quite some time. I won't say too much about it, other than to note that it was largely unused in the film.
The next release is from the 1990s and is an elaborate mini-series that features a composer best known for his work in science fiction and fantasy. This particular project is based on a popular novel, and we hope you'll find it quite enjoyable.
Depending on the composer’s schedule and mood, we will also offer autograph booklets for this title.
The next release will be a premiere release from this composer on Dragon's Domain. It's his first all-orchestral score from the late 1990s, starring a well-known action star, and it was recorded in Seattle. We've wanted to see this released for over 25 years, and we are finally able to do it.
Additionally, for this specific release, the composer has agreed to autograph the first 50 booklets of this title sold through BSX.
The final release is a digital edition, a reissue of a brand-new recording of a score for perhaps one of the most well-known, and in some cases, infamous motion pictures ever made in the United States. It has been completely remastered for significantly improved sound, and it includes a digital booklet with all the notes, which provide in-depth details about the score's history.
It goes without saying that if you purchase all four of our physical titles, you will receive the digital title free of charge.
Review of RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH by Lalo Schifrin
https://www.sakennedymusic.com/single-post/shifrin-s-wwii-cantata-re-issued
Shifrin's WWII Cantata Re-Issued
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1968) was an historical war documentary from Jack Kaufman, more known for his work on The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau and National Geographic Specials. It was adapted from William Shirer’s popular book. The score was from Lalo Schifrin who had worked with Kaufman on the aforementioned series. Bullitt was Shifrin’s break out score among the six films he worked on in 1968. As documentary scores often went unnoticed, the composer extracted music from this work to create a concert “cantata” which premiered at the Hollywood Bowl in August, 1967. It was subsequently recorded for MGM Records, which featured an overlay narration by Laurence Harvey. Dragon’s Domain now provides us the work minus that narration as performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gregg Smith Singers under the direction of Lawrence Foster in this remastered release. Alfred Perry provided the libretto.
There are certainly elements of Schifrin’s dramatic television style present in the opening “Prologue” (taking a bit of a page from his Mission:Impossible) work. The style though is a blend of semi-tonal writing flirting with modal lines and with some brief clusters. In a lot of respects the style often hints at what he would accomplish in The Amityville Horror (1979). The tight-knit orchestral writing is also very much a part of contemporary orchestral work with its intense clusters of sound and Berg-like choral sections. “A Pact With Satan” seems a distant cousin of Berg, complete with its flashes of lyrical, tonal segments. The cabaret infusions that appear also add an often quirky, Weill infusion into the music “The Devil’s Spawn”. Just a couple of the many interesting segments across this multi-movement work.
Schifrin’s cantata bears resemblance to Schoenberg’s earlier A Survivor From Warsaw. The sprechstimme and angular vocal writing are less intense here though no less effective. The orchestral threads seem to pop randomly about in a more aleatoric fashion as well. This is not to say it is not tightly wrought music, and the more tonal section add a perfectly macabre quality to the proceedings. One has to wonder what audiences must have made of this sprawling piece at the time. Critical reception was certainly mixed, of course, some of this may be attributed to the lower esteem film composers were held at the time and that Schifrin may have been “over ambitious”. Today, as we listen with a different sense of appreciation for film music as art, we can see how well-developed and structured the work is and it is perhaps time for a modern performance to give new listeners a chance to decide where this piece fits in 20th Century concert music. At least Dragon’s Domain is giving us the chance to hear this performance recorded at the time of the premiere which lends it an extra historical value.
For clips, visit the BuySoundtrax website: https://buysoundtrax.myshopify.com/products/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich-a-dramatic-cantata-composed-by-lalo-schifrin . The label has been re-issuing a host of Southern Cross releases and even some classical releases that were licensed for Vox back in the 1980s/1990s. Many are both available in CD (limited) or as digital downloads (or both).
New titles from Dragon's Domain coming on June 11 @ Noon (Pacific Time
Hello everyone,
We’re excited to announce our next batch of releases on June 11 at noon Los Angeles time, featuring physical CDs and an exclusive digital release!
First up is a two-CD set from a whimsical, satirical film of the early 1970s. This collection includes the previously released re-recorded album and the original soundtrack, marking the debut of this unique composer on Dragon's Domain.
Next, we have a TV movie score from the 1970s, arranged in a narrative flow that reflects its original concept. This well-regarded composer’s work will surely resonate with fans.
Our third title features a charming, rejected film score from a talented composer who has passed away. This early 1980s discovery includes all original recordings, capturing a unique style.
Returning to the 1970s, we present a Gothic thriller’s haunting score, offering the definitive edition with all existing materials for fans of atmospheric music.
Lastly, our digital release presents a gripping score from a dark early 1980s TV movie based on real events. While brief, it showcases the composer’s talent, complemented by a digital booklet that offers valuable insights.
We hope you’ll join us to explore these exciting offerings!
FSM reviews The Bruce Broughton Collection, Vol. 1 (1982/1981) ****
The Bruce Broughton Collection, Vol. 1 (1982/1981) ****
BRUCE BROUGHTON
Dragon’s Domain DDR844
29 tracks - 75:13
By the early 1980s, Bruce Broughton was steadily transitioning from episodic television—credits including Quincy, M.E., Dallas and Logan’s Run—to scoring made-for-TV movies. Two of the latter are featured on The Bruce Broughton Collection, Vol. 1 from Dragon’s Domain, offering a valuable glimpse into the composer’s formative years.
In One Shoe Makes It Murder (1982), Robert Mitchum plays a private eye hired by a mob boss (Mel Ferrer) to track down a missing woman—though, unsurprisingly, things are not what they seem. With Mitchum’s character seemingly echoing his Out of the Past (1947) persona, Broughton’s “Main Title” takes a fittingly noir approach, featuring sultry saxophone, piano and swooning strings. The main theme surfaces at the 1:05 mark, setting the tone for what follows.
Tracks like “Shill and Fay” build on this moody texture with keyboard and double bass, while “Ride to Vallejo” introduces vibraphone and a lounge-style variation of the theme. “Finding Caroline” contrasts warm strings and sax with percussive hits and screeching violins in “Caroline’s Fall,” signaling a sharp tonal turn. The melancholy melody reappears in “Drink and Talk,” now shaded with resignation.
Elsewhere, shimmering harp in “The Next Day” deepens the mystery, and low-end piano in “Back to the Lodge” shifts the tone again. “About Caroline” offers introspective strings and light piano, while “Back to Los Angeles” weaves sneaky jazz rhythms with brushed percussion and bass.
A violent “Confrontation” bursts forth with pounding snare and cello, before the smoky “Burning the Film” returns to jazzier textures. The final cue, “Return to Charnock,” closes the score with a last breath of noir, as saxophone and bass fade into the distance.
A year earlier, Broughton scored Killjoy (1981), a darker, more psychological drama involving the murder of a young woman and the unraveling lives of an ex-boyfriend (Robert Culp) and a morally dubious doctor (Stephen Macht). The grim premise gave Broughton the opportunity to explore a moodier, more atmospheric soundscape.
The “Main Title” introduces a dissonant palette of sustained strings and unsettling percussive accents. A lonely keyboard line, eventually echoed by strings, forecasts the composer’s later work in thrillers like The Presidio. “The Murder” features sliding string glissandi and sharp anvil strikes to chilling effect.
The ominously jaunty “Laury Drives” is closely followed by “Into the House,” with the main theme returning in a deliberate, string-led fashion. The strings continue in “Devious Plan/Photo Album,” before harp and pizzicato join in halfway through.
Low and high strings fight for prominence in “Joy Morgan.” The suspense continues in “The Morgue/Searching the House,” broken up by a furious string run. In “Coming Home/Joy’s House,” suspense melts away to romanticism on keyboards.
The pervading atmosphere is such that even “Soap Opera Muzak” is tinged with darkness, making acoustic guitar and flute sound very downbeat. Quivering string figures punctuate the reappearance of the main theme in “Tailing Laury.” Meanwhile, “The Real Joy Morgan/Finding the Body” buries fragments of the same theme in layers of effects and textural unease.
In “The Hospital,” rolling piano figures and sustained keyboards offer a ghostly reprise of the theme. The final cue builds from creepy string passages to an ambiguous, unresolved close—an appropriate end for a film mired in psychological complexity.
The album closes with a generous selection of bonus tracks. The alternate version of “Soap Opera Muzak” is much lighter, favoring clarinet and electric guitar. The soft rock of “Bruce’s Bar” and “One More Drink” and the light jazz-rock of “Time to Party” make for welcome respites from the darkness, though the funky “Closing Time” finds the album trailing off instead of coming to a firm close.
For fans of the composer, The Bruce Broughton Collection, Vol. 1 is an insightful look at the earlier years of his stylistic development. Here’s hoping that it leads to future volumes detailing more of the obscure scores on Broughton’s resume. —Tor Harbin