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Review of Magdalene (Cliff Eidelman)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if clashes of romantic melodrama and liturgical formality raise your spirits, or if you're curious about Cliff Eidelman's impressive debut effort.

Avoid it... if you demand crisp recording quality or superior performances, for Magdalene sounds a bit amateurish in parts.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Magdalene: (Cliff Eidelman) This independent West German film from 1989 was rescued by a video release many years later and is typically known by only the fans of actress Nastassja Kinski and composer Cliff Eidelman. The plotline of Magdalene is largely a critique by writer and director Monica Teuber of the Catholic Church in the 19th Century. Taking place in the same region, the film's love story involves a prostitute played by Kinski and the historically true-to-life priest, Joseph Mohr, who wrote the poem "Silent Night" and eventually arranged its song translation. The priest is considered too radical by his superiors, as well as by the local baron, and he is unsuccessfully set up in a plot to reveal his lost celibacy when in fact he has chosen God over the woman. The unhappy circumstances of Magdalene are interesting in their portrayal of the formation of the famed Christmas carol, but otherwise function to stir animosity towards organized religion of the era. For composer Cliff Eidelman, the little-known Magdalene was a gift from Heaven. Breaking into the scoring business is a very hard task to accomplish, especially for a person in his young twenties fresh from school and still in the days before production houses like Hans Zimmer's were an incubator. Many aspiring composers are still forced to spent rich amounts of money in order to record demos with a reasonably sized orchestra before they can be hired. Typically, it takes four or five scores and a lot of invested cash before a composer can establish himself thoroughly enough to be hired through the word of mouth.

In the case of Eidelman, who began his scoring career even before graduating with his advanced music degree, he was bestowed with an astonishing stroke of luck when he met in his apartment with the producer and director of Magdalene. During that conversation, Eidelman told the inquiring party that a group of seventy performers would be adequate for the heavily dramatic score. Producer Ernst Ritter von Theumer then responded with the now famous line, "Why seventy when you can have one hundred and twenty?" Eidelman was officially hired shortly thereafter and sent to Europe to compose for and conduct the Munich Symphony Orchestra. His eventual score would include a massive orchestral and choral sound, eclipsing most of the scores he would produce in the next two decades of his career. The score that Eidelman wrote for Magdalene would be among the best ever for a rookie composer, preserved by a generous album that serves as both an enjoyable listen and a fascinating case study (it was also the lone collaboration between Eidelman and Intrada Records' Doug Fake). Magdalene is a touching score, balancing the two concurrent story lines from the film. Both the relationship between the eponymous prostitute and the priest, and the French Revolution raging literally outside their door, are joined by a liturgical style that addresses the obvious oppression by the religion. For the romantic sequences, Eidelman uses piano and woodwinds in an adagio format. For the most robust sequences of revolution, Eidelman turns gothic, and explodes with full statements of orchestral and choral mass. These two elements of the score, the romantic theme and powerful orchestra and choir, only intermingle for two or three cues, however.

The orchestra also makes some notable performance flubs, such as the brass errors in "Silent Night" and "Mohr's Farewell" and the violin hesitation in "The Archbishop's Entertainment." Otherwise, the score is well enough performed, and the overwhelming chorus remains a highlight. The solo vocals in "Kyrie Eleison" are extremely attractive, and the conclusive "Mohr's Farewell" serves as a strong suite of orchestral and choral material from the film. Eidelman does rely on Mozart's Requiem Mass in several places, which may bother those with finely tuned ears for classical music. While not as obvious as the aforementioned piece, it has been reported that parts of Mozart's "Rex Tremendae" and "Lachrymosa" are borrowed by Eidelman in several cues throughout the score as well. The use of Franz Gruber's "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night) to underscore the Christmas repenting scene at the end of the film is appropriate to the storyline, though some sources place the writing of the actual carol half a century later (that's a problem inherent with the script and not necessarily Eidelman's work). Most score fans won't care about this usage, though more problematic may be quality of the analog recording in Munich. The sound here is fuller than that of the similar Triumph of the Spirit score the following year, however. It has long been hoped that excerpts from both scores will be re-recorded sometime in the future. Magdalene was an impressive debut for Eidelman; unlike his friend and associate, Mark McKenzie, he hit the pavement running and jumpstarted a career that would land him a major Star Trek feature within only two more years. Many of his fans still long for the day when this style of fully orchestral writing will resurface in his career.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 44:46

• 1. The Revolution (2:22) • 2. The Death of Hans (4:07) • 3. Magdalene in Love (1:06) • 4. Father Mohr (3:45) • 5. Going to Heaven (2:32) • 6. The Archbishop's Entertainment (1:52) • 7. The Aftermath of War (4:45) • 8. Christmas Time (1:59)

• 9. Absolve Me of My Sins (4:01) • 10. Temptation (4:42) • 11. Silent Night (0:48) • 12. Freedom in Salzburg (1:56) • 13. Magdalene's Prayer (5:11) • 14. Kyrie Eleison (1:31) • 15. Will You Forget Me (1:10) • 16. Mohr's Farewell (4:32)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes two pictures of Eidelman and the following note from him (written in May, 1992):

"Imagine how I felt when, in 1988, I was offered my first feature. The producer Ernst R. von Theumer and writer/director Monica Teuber visited my apartment and asked me the big question; "How many musicians will you need?" I told them seventy would be sufficient for a nice, rich sound. Emst replied, "Why seventy when you can have one hundred and twenty?" To quote Casablanca, this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

To say I was fortunate would be an understatement. Most first or even third time composers pay out of their own pockets to have their scores performed by any musicians. I was so inspired by the fact that I had a job, I must have spent a minimum of fifteen hours a day composing. This score is my contribution to the romantic period during the time of the French Revolution. In order to best dramatically serve the film, I used four bars from Mozart's Requiem Mass to help root the early eighteenth century period, subject matter and place in history. The song Silent Night (by Franz Guber) is also part of the story. The rest of the score is my own.

I arranged this soundtrack much in the same way as if I were constructing the foundation and drama for a tone poem. The opening piece dramatically erupts with the sound of war where rebel, Janza, is on a warpath, trying to ignite a revolution. The battle takes place in Oberndorf (near Salzburg). I used the text from the Requiem Mass throughout the score as a way of painting the church as the all empowered force in the lives of all the characters. This music tells the story of a beautiful woman named Magdalene, who by the strength and love of a newly appointed Priest, Father Mohr, fights to change her suffering life as a victimized prostitute. They fall in love at first sight but are forced to keep much of their feelings toward each other a secret. Eventually Father Mohr is confronted with choosing God or Magdalene. Both of their lives are further complicated by the hostility raging through the town. Many families are brought down to poverty while the Baron, a wealthy land owner becomes even richer. In exchange for money which he donates to the church, the evil Prior agrees to turn his head away from the injustices that the Baron indulges in.

The story ends on Christmas when the song Silent Night helps to bring the people of the town together. Many, including the Baron and the Prior, realize their sins and they repent, praying for God's forgiveness. Father Mohr and Magdalene part for the last time. Fifteen film scores later, Magdalene continues to be one of my personal favorites. I would like to give special thanks to Monica Teuber for giving me the almost unimaginable opportunity to write my first major score. You truly provided me with a life changing experience. To my greatest support Claire Benoit and my family; to my Mentor Donald G. Richardson for your continued belief and priceless inspiration; to my agents Richard Kraft and Lyn Benjamin for putting so much effort into my music career."

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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Magdalene are Copyright © 1992, Intrada Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/20/01 and last updated 7/22/08.