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Performed by:
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The Utah Symphony Orchestra
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Availability:
The 1985 Varèse Sarabande album was a regular U.S. release, but fell
completely out of print by 1993 and sold on the secondary market for $50+. The 1996 Taran
album is a bootleg without track titles, and sold at soundtrack specialty outlets in the
1990's for roughly $30.
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Sorry, there are no commercial ordering options for this title. However, you can
search for this title at the soundtrack specialty outlets listed on the Filmtracks Links Page. |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you enjoy massive symphonic scores for your animated
pictures, or are a fan of Elmer Bernstein's use of the ondes martenot
instrument.
Avoid it... if you are accustomed to hearing transparent themes and
easy concepts in your animated film scores.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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The Black Cauldron: (Elmer Bernstein) In the
mid-1980's, the Walt Disney animated film division was suffering through
the worst times in its history. All but dead since 1977's The
Rescuers, Disney was counting on The Black Cauldron to pull
itself back into the animated forefront, and as part of that plan, the
film was to be vastly different from its previous ventures. It would
feature no songs, incorporate computer enhancement to hand-drawn images,
receive a PG-rating, and be presented in 70mm. Despite all of these new
aspects, or perhaps because of them, The Black Cauldron was a
monumental failure. It would take The Little Mermaid four years
later to resurrect the lost animated division at Disney, and it would be
a dozen years before audiences would have the opportunity to view the
film again on video. Technically based on Lloyd Alexander's "The
Chronicles of Prydain," The Black Cauldron would chronicle "The
Book of Three" and "The Black Cauldron," two of five books in the
series. Many of the intricacies of the books were lost in the screen
adaptation, disappointing fans of the books. Also deviating from the
normal realm of Disney animated features was a score by Elmer Bernstein,
who had come off of an Oscar nomination for a comedy score and was mired
in parody writing for many of his assignments. The Black Cauldron
would be for Bernstein what Mulan was for Jerry Goldsmith: a
fascinating venture into a fresh realm that required music to play a
more significant role in the film. In response, Bernstein wrote a score
highly respected by his collectors, but suffering the same fate as the
film itself. Largely ignored commercially, the score for The Black
Cauldron has hidden in the depths of the out-of-print and bootleg
market, and while the music Bernstein wrote isn't earth-shattering (or,
in other words, worth a desperate search for just this title), it is a
likable and interesting symphonic score from start to end.
Treated as a dramatic film, Bernstein shakes the
shackles of comedy while retaining just enough innocence to root the
film in the proper genre without becoming trite. The 1980's were also
known by film music collectors as the time during which Elmer Bernstein
solidified the sound of the ondes martenot into listeners' vocabulary.
The pinnacles of use for the ondes martenot in his works were The
Black Cauldron and Ghostbusters, and it would continue to be
heard into the 1990's. Invented in 1928's France, the ondes martenot
shares some of the same characteristics as the theremin, but with the
ability to actually perform individual notes on a keyboard. Various
controls on the ondes martenot made it the earliest form of electronic
instrument and its eerie sound is still heard ocassionally in orchestral
performances today. Its role in The Black Cauldron is central,
for Bernstein was nowhere as advanced as, say, Jerry Goldsmith, in 1985
when it came to using synthesizers to enhance the fantasy element. As
the identity of The Black Cauldron, the ondes martenot creates an
undeniably unique environment for the world of Prydain, and its
performances highlight the score. Oddly, however, despite the symphonic
depth and thematic integrity of the score, the ondes martenot is really
the only standalone highlight. From start to finish, Bernstein offers
solid suspense music, with animated-genre comedy rhythms and ocassional
full-blown brass action integrated into several cues throughout. But
it's the often gloomy organ-powered, piano thumping, and timpani rolling
suspense that defines The Black Cauldron. The deliberately
pounding theme for the evil Horned King is almost religious in its dark
power. The piano intelligently plays an integral role in maintaining a
constant flurry of activity in action sequences.
The downfall of The Black Cauldron for
Bernstein, however, would be the lack of transparency in his themes and
development, something that really needs to be made clear in a
children's film. There is no musical material in The Black
Cauldron that your 10-year-old will remember after the film is over
(and it might even be hard for those 30-year-olds, too, unless you pay
very close attention). Somewhere along the lines to creating the
ambitious musical environment for The Black Cauldron, Bernstein
lost the romanticism that exists as part of the animated formula.
Perhaps the lack of this formula approach is a refreshing take on an
otherwise tired idea at the time, and perhaps it contributed to the
demise of the picture. On album, The Black Cauldron has gone
almost equally forgotten. It was one of the rare cases in which
Varèse Sarabande released both an identical LP and CD at the same
time, with the 30-minute CD serving as one their very first digital
products in 1985. Already out of print by 1993, the album sold for more
than $50 on the used market. Then in 1996, a bootleg was released with
an astounding 70+ minutes of score. Though this 'Taran' bootleg has
decent sound quality, it has no track names. Keep in mind that the sound
quality on either of the albums will vary from track to track (there's
no obvious reason for this other than deviation in the recording/mixing
process), and some of the ghostly aspects of the ondes martenot may
sound flat and distant. Certain tones cause static effects on the
bootleg because of high gain levels, especially in the finale cue (#25,
out of place). While the presentation of the expanded bootleg is
impressive from start to finish, a 30-minute compilation of highlight
cues from The Black Cauldron might make a better album. For
Bernstein collectors, the score remains an anomaly, but a source of
fascination nonetheless. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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Track Listings (1985 Varèse Sarabande):
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Total Time: 31:36
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• 1. Escape from the Castle (2:29)
• 2. Taran (4:00)
• 3. The Witches (2:16)
• 4. Gurgi (3:25)
• 5. The Horned King (2:54)
• 6. The Fair Folk (3:09)
• 7. Hen Wen's Vision (3:43)
• 8. Eilonwy (5:05)
• 9. Finale (4:35)
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Track Listings (1996 Taran Bootleg):
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Total Time: 72:25
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• 1. (1:07)
• 2. (2:26)
• 3. (1:50)
• 4. (2:20)
• 5. (2:46)
• 6. (2:21)
• 7. (2:21)
• 8. (3:09)
• 9. (2:44)
• 10. (1:31)
• 11. (2:24)
• 12. (2:29)
• 13. (2:03)
• 14. (1:32)
• 15. (2:13)
• 16. (2:58)
• 17. (1:21)
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• 18. (2:15)
• 19. (1:41)
• 20. (2:03)
• 21. (1:58)
• 22. (2:09)
• 23. (1:32)
• 24. (3:32)
• 25. (4:03)
• 26. (1:33)
• 27. (2:33)
• 28. (1:59)
• 29. (1:49)
• 30. (1:04)
• 31. (2:01)
• 32. (1:48)
• 33. (1:45)
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No track titles
Niether insert includes extra information about the score or film.
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