Buy it... if you seek a handful of Bernard Herrmann's later and lesser known scores for 20th Century Fox on a well-balanced compilation.

Avoid it... if you prefer the flashy, unconventional, and powerful side of Herrmann's output, replaced in these scores by his more harmonic, conversational style of underscore.

Bernard Herrmann at Fox: Volume 1: (Bernard Herrmann) In one of the most complete releases of Bernard Herrmann's music in the digital era, veteran producer Nick Redman assembled three original Herrmann scores from his years at 20th Century Fox and rolled them into a strong compilation appropriately titled "Bernard Herrmann at Fox." The Varèse Sarabande label would release two such CDs back to back in the autumn of 1999, followed by a third volume released in early 2000. Herrmann, blessed with the admiration of music director Alfred Newman at Fox, composed more than a third of his scores for that studio (by the mid-sixties, of course, circumstances led Herrmann to become frustrated with Hollywood all together, so he ceased his film scoring in Los Angeles and moved to London to tackle concert-writing and other miscellaneous endeavors). The three scores represented on this first volume of "Herrmann at Fox" come from his later days at the studio, well after his named had been established (though not accepted by all) in Hollywood. Unlike many previous albums of Herrmann's work released by Varèse Sarabande, including Vertigo, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Psycho, and The Trouble with Harry, among others, all of the music on these "Herrmann at Fox" albums is the original recording from each respective film. None of the three scores on the album exhibits the flashy, unconventional, and powerful Herrmann music that many fans are accustomed to. The financial disaster Tender is the Night occupies the largest time on the album and features a softer and more melancholy side of the composer's work. The scoring of the film was extremely troublesome for Herrmann, who was originally removed from the project because he refused to interpolate the original song by veterans Sammy Fain and Paul Francis into his underscore. That song would go on to anchor the film's album (absent of any Herrmann material) and be nominated for an Academy Award. Herrmann reportedly begged to be reinstated, though it would turn out to be Herrmann's last collaboration at Fox due to incoming music director Lionel Newman's distaste for the composer's works.

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The music for Tender is the Night, while certainly not Herrmann's best, has one remarkable feature. The doomed love story called for a whimsical string theme that builds in anticipation and eventually bursts from the pressure, much like the classic love theme from Vertigo, and at this emotional release, Herrmann succeeds well. The mass of the score for The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit contains much of the same type of underscore, though there wasn't much music used in the film in the first place. The prelude bursts onto the scene with an impressive array of timpani and strings, and the score concludes with the same amount of bravado. It is this score's theme that sold this compilation for many film music collectors. The sixteen minute suite from A Hatful of Rain, mixed and reassembled by Intrada Records' Doug Fake for this release, is a remarkably troubled piece, with blaring brass and a strong, pronounced tempo. It's a very fitting score for the subject of addiction, though not readily enjoyable on album. Redman and Fake, for some reason, decided to allow all sixteen minutes from A Hatful of Rain to exist in one track, which is inconsistent with the rest of the album's format. Overall, the combination of scores together makes for a very worthy compilation of original works. Though all three scores are presented in archival sound, the quality of sound improves with each successive score on the album. The song for Tender is the Night (both at the beginning and end) features better sound clarity than the Herrmann score, and the difference is especially noticeable in the transition to the first Herrmann cue from the score. Some of that difference may be due to the dynamic presence of vocals in the song. On the whole, though, this flaw should not stop Herrmann fanatics from investing in this product. While the highlight for many will be the opening and closing cues from The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, the entire compilation is an excellent treatment of Herrmann's music. It may not appeal to casual listeners who generally restrain their interest in Herrmann's work to his explosive collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock, but it's a noteworthy album that exceeds the quality of the subsequent two volumes from Varèse. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download