THE ERNEST GOLD COLLECTION: VOLUME 2

THE ERNEST GOLD COLLECTION: VOLUME 2
THE ERNEST GOLD COLLECTION: VOLUME 2 THE ERNEST GOLD COLLECTION: VOLUME 2 THE ERNEST GOLD COLLECTION: VOLUME 2 THE ERNEST GOLD COLLECTION: VOLUME 2

Dragon's Domain Records

$17.95 
SKU: DDR793

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Dragon’s Domain Records presents THE ERNEST GOLD COLLECTION, VOLUME 2, featuring music composed by Ernest Gold (ON THE BEACH, EXODUS, SHIP OF FOOLS ) from several projects in his rich filmography for the very first time. THE ERNEST GOLD COLLECTION, VOLUME 2 includes music from the Western TOM HORN and the historical television mini-series LINCOLN.

LINCOLN, also known as Gore Vidal’s LINCOLN, aired in March, 1988 in two parts on the NBC network. LINCOLN focused on Abraham Lincoln’s first days in office, contending with generals who refused to fight in the Civil War and politicians who schemed to usurp his power. After the death of his son, a death that drove his wife, Mary, to the edge of madness, and a war more ferocious and bloody than anyone could imagine, Lincoln would live long enough to his dreams realized before a bullet would end his life. Directed by Lamont Johnson, starring Sam Waterston as Lincoln, Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Todd Lincoln and a cast that included Richard Mulligan, Steven Culp, Ruby Dee, Jerome Dempsey, Jeffrey DeMunn, Jon DeVries, Robin Gammell, James Gammon, Thomas Gibson, Cleavon Little, John Houseman and Glenn Faigen as John Wilkes Booth.

Anchored by a singular infectious theme, Gold’s music for LINCOLN is brimming with period songs, African-American spirituals, Christian hymns, and historic musical references using an encyclopedic stable of Civil War-era instruments including banjo, fiddle, jaw harp, spoons, fife, tenor drum, tack piano, saxophone, acoustic guitar, and brass. LINCOLN would be Gold’s last major scoring assignment.

Released in 1980, TOM HORN introduces the audience to the legendary American frontier scout, cowboy, soldier, gun-for-hire, and tracker who assisted in capturing the infamous Apache raider Geronimo. Directed by William Wiard, written by Thomas McGuane and Bud Shrake, starring Steve McQueen as Tom Horn, along with Linda Evans, Richard Farnsworth, Billy Green Bush, Slim Pickens, Elisha Cook, Roy Jenson, Geoffrey Lewiis, Bobby Bass and Mickey Jones, the movie loosely chronicles the final year of Horn’s controversial life in which his violent vigilante lifestyle finally comes home to roost. Horn embarks on a one-man crusade to kill or otherwise expel anyone rustling cattle owned by his benefactors. His violent methods force the local townsfolk to revolt against him. In an effort to restore their tarnished image, the cattle ranchers who hired Horn begin plotting his demise...

Ernest Gold was no stranger to westerns. Over a prolific career, Gold penned scores for over a dozen Western films and television episodes. Gold’s daring orchestral accompaniment harkens back to the rough, raw, and rugged ways of the wild west, beginning with his main theme for Horn. The score also includes a beautiful love theme for the relationship between Horn and Glendolene. TOM HORN remains an under-appreciated gem in Gold’s storied filmography.

Ernest Gold came to the United States from Vienna in 1938, prompted by Hitler’s invasion of Austria, and started working as a piano accompanist and as a popular songwriter in New York City. Growing disillusioned by songwriting, Gold headed west in 1945, following an interest in writing music for Hollywood films. Within two weeks of his arrival in early July, Gold was quickly put to work scoring THE GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST for Columbia Pictures. He would score forty B-movies of all types for numerous studios through the late 1950s for a variety of studios. Gold never lost track of his Viennese musical heritage and contributed first-rate musical scores to dozens of films big and small.

He began studying with composer George Antheil in 1947, early in his Hollywood career. During the 1950s he began orchestrating Antheil’s scores, and when Antheil began scoring Stanley Kramer’s pictures, Gold came along with him. When Antheil died before finishing the score for Kramer’s next film, the post-apocalypse drama, ON THE BEACH (1959), Gold assumed his role as Kramer’s primary composer, scoring such films as INHERIT THE WIND (1960), JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG (1961), and Kramer’s blockbuster comedy, IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (1963). Meanwhile, his association with Kramer led to other A-list movies, including Otto Preminger’s EXODUS (for which Gold won an Academy Award for best score and two Grammys for best soundtrack album and best song) and Sam Peckinpah’s war movie CROSS OF IRON (1977). Gold's contributions were recognized with four Academy Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations. His work for ON THE BEACH also won Gold a Grammy Award. His classical works also included a piano concerto, a string quartet, and a piano sonata.

Dragon’s Domain Records presents THE ERNEST GOLD COLLECTION , VOLUME 2 featuring music by Ernest Gold, appearing for the very first time on compact disc for LINCOLN and TOM HORN. The music has been mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and the liner notes have been written by author and composer Brian Satterwhite.

THE ERNEST GOLD COLLECTION, VOLUME 2 is a limited edition release of 500 units. THE ERNEST GOLD COLLECTION, VOLUME 2 is expected to begin shipping the week of November 13 , 2023.

GORE VIDAL’S LINCOLN
1. Theme From “Lincoln” (1:02)
2. Opening Credits / Arrival In Washington (3:25)
3. Hotel Music (0:58)
4. Mark and Abe / President Lincoln (1:33)
5. The Inaugural Ball (2:53)
6. Mary’s Illness / He’s Dying / The Flag and The Funeral (4:18)
7. Salon Music (1:12)
8. Bar Music (1:45)
9. Drinks and Politics (1:32)
10. Spiritual Hymn (1:25)
11. Saloon Music (2:06)
12. End of Part One / Opening of Part Two (2:44)
13. Quiet Moments (2:00)
14. The Weight Of Command (1:21)
15. Coffins for the Fallen (0:46)
16. Grant and Abe (1:46)
17. Surrender / Ford’s Theme (1:40)
18. The Journey Home / Finale (2:13)

TOM HORN
19. Main Title (2:28)
20. Tom’s New Job (2:20)
21. Chasing The Rustlers (5:35)
22. Glendoline and Tom (3:11)
23. Tom’s Rage / Gunfight In Town / Boy Shot (3:50)
24. Tom Arrested (4:36)
25. Tom and Glendoline / The Trial (4:14)
26. Tom’s Attemted Escape (3:10)
27. Glendoline’s Goodbye / End Credits (4:00)
28. Brown’s Water Hole (Source) (0:31)
29. Gunshot Shuffle (Source) (0:37)
Total Time: 70:28

Reviews


The Ernest Gold Collection, Vol. 2 **** (1988/1980)
 
ERNEST GOLD
Dragon’s Domain DDR793
29 tracks - 70:28
The career of esteemed film composer Ernest Gold spanned from the 1940s to the 1980s. One of Dragon’s Domain’s newest composer compilations collects two scores from the latter period of his lengthy time in the industry.

The 1988 two-part miniseries Gore Vidal’s Lincoln chronicled the tribulations that our 16th President (Sam Waterston) faced during his initial days in office. From the outset, trumpet heralds the “Theme From Lincoln,” with the line soon taken over by woodwinds. In the “Opening Credits,” jaw harp leads into a forceful performance of the song “This Train Is Bound for Glory.”

Solo harmonica starts off “Arrival in Washington,” followed by guitar and a full ensemble. The solemn cello and guitar of “Mark and Abe” contrast the spirited march of “President Lincoln.” Meanwhile, the material written for “The Inaugural Ball” ranges from a stately brass passage to a gently swaying, carnivalesque tune.

“Mary’s Illness/He’s Dying” casts a somber mood with everything from clarinet and banjo to harmonica. “The Flag and the Funeral” captures both aspects with drums and trumpet, while the piercing tones that bookend the track quote the old folk tune “Arkansas Traveler.”

The main theme on brass ably supports “End of Part One/Opening of Part Two.” The melody also dominates the gentle calmness of “Quiet Moments,” while “The Weight of Command” shifts from a celebratory parade to more concerned writing for harmonica and woodwinds.

The brief “Coffins for the Fallen” spotlights mixed vocals crying out a lament for the dead. “Grant and Abe” counters with a return to the upbeat stylings of the first part of “Weight of Command,” with attention given to snare drums and winds.

“Surrender/Ford’s Theater” starts with a repeating trumpet figure spiced with low brass and scattered quotes of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” before chattering horn effects hint at Lincoln’s end. “The Journey Home/Finale” offsets the piercing tones of earlier with solemn flutes and trumpet, before concluding with a reprise of “This Train Is Bound for Glory.” The man may be gone, but his legacy will live on.

Gold also composed a number of source pieces for the mini-series. “Hotel Music” is a jaunty work for horns and clacking percussion that almost (but never quite) breaks into “America the Beautiful.” The horns return, banjo in tow, for the wistful “Salon Music.” The peppy “Bar Music” spotlights flute, harmonica and saloon piano, which is of course also found in “Saloon Music,” this time joined by guitar. There’s also the choral solemnity of “Spiritual Hymn” and the piano rag of “Drinks and Politics.”

Paired with Gore Vidal’s Lincoln is 1980’s Tom Horn, notable mainly as the penultimate film of Steve McQueen. The story concerns the bounty hunter’s search for cattle rustlers and the fallout from the brutal methods he employed to stop them. Drum hits form the backdrop for a lonely flute melody in the “Main Title”; brass eventually joins in, forming a fine musical portrait of the iconoclastic main character.

“Tom’s New Job” shifts the main theme to strings, with a jaunty travelogue passage in the middle and unusual string effects near the end. The score’s longest track, “Chasing the Rustlers,” spotlights more string effects amongst its looming brass before laying down jagged rhythms and snatches of the principal melody.

“Glendoline and Tom” introduces a gentle new motif for recorder and guitar, with flute rounding the cue off. The latter instrument starts off “Tom’s Rage” in a more agitated form. Snare drum and the main theme on tuba accompany the “Gunfight in Town,” with the music quickening and aleatoric material taking over in “Boy Shot.”

“Tom Arrested” reprises the snare with Horn’s melody passed around the orchestra, before the second half of the track broods with low-end strings. “Tom and Glendoline” brings back the love theme on flute with strings and guitar for color. Things turn serious with the frantic music of “The Trial,” where the main theme also receives a pensive treatment.

“Tom’s Attempted Escape” features his motif on morose strings, but the cue grows more energetic as it goes along. In “Glendoline’s Goodbye/End Credits,” the love theme on viola leads to doleful recorder music and a hearty return to the main theme.

As with Gore Vidal’s Lincoln, Gold rounds out the underscore with a pair of source cues. “Brown’s Water Hole” and “Gunshot Shuffle” are both spirited works based in fiddle, guitar and jaw harp.

The Ernest Gold Collection, Vol. 2 shows that, even when his career was winding down, the talented composer had lost none of his creative spark. —Tor Harbin

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