PRINTER FRIENDLY VIEW
(inverts site colors)

•	2007 Re-Recording

•	2021 Album

•	2013 Album

•	2007 Re-Recording

The thematic tapestry in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is especially interesting for those familiar with the composer's three-part concert work that inspired it. Rózsa adapted all three major sections of that composition and translated them into themes dedicated to characters and concepts in the movie, but he also supplied several new themes as well. The main identity of the score is actually a new one, using romantic waltz structures with ascending romanticism in a style emulated later by James Horner when in his pastoral mode. An opening fanfare sequence is a point of bravado for heightening emotions in the story and sometimes precedes the theme, including its original opening to the score. The prime melody of the main theme debuts at 0:16 into "Main Titles" with friendly string layers against woodwind counterpoint and returns in the final minute for continued grace, yielding a lofty resolution. It turns ominously suspenseful at the start of "The Curious Case of the Upside-Down Room" before the bright fanfare returns in "Watson's Rage" and hints early in "No.32 Ashdown St." The theme is then warmly reprised in "The Diogenes Club" and rises with enthusiasm for a moment in "Farewell." A formal fanfare conclusion awaits with gusto in "The End" that doesn't fit the prior scene, and Rózsa's upbeat sendoff is too bright for this story, a continuing problem for him at this time in his career. His secondary theme for Holmes represents his addiction to cocaine (yes, Wilder went there), and this material owes to the concerto's opening theme from its first movement. Notable for its descending four-note phrasing late in its progressions, this idea bursts at 0:58 into "Main Titles/221B Baker Street" for a self-important introduction to its sinewy, complicated melody but turns fragmented and troubled in "The Smoke Machine" and "Cocaine." The solo violin takes the idea by itself in "Concerto" for an on-screen performance of the instrument by Holmes, and this moment provides an easy way to distinguish the very long melody. In a series of scenes never appearing in the film, the theme later tingles on percussion in the first minute of "The Curious Case of the Upside-Down Room" and returns with a prickly demeanor in "Pistol Practice" before a rollicking rendition.

The addiction theme for Holmes moves to somber violin tones in the slower "Moving Out" before an agonizing ensemble rendition ensues with significant atonality in its ranks. The idea contributes some phrasing to the mystery of "Canaries," and one last reminder flows out of the love theme in "Auf Wiedersehen" as Holmes soothes himself. Much of this theme's purpose was removed from the picture, so it plays a very minor role there. Left more or less intact was Rózsa's love theme for The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, which derives from the concerto's second movement and was also eventually adapted for the Scottish sequences in this story. This theme, a personal favorite of Wilder, makes a cameo at 2:01 into "221B Baker Street" before the story was meant to transfer back in time, and it briefly touches "The Curious Case of the Upside-Down Room" despite no character connection at that moment. It shifts to lightly and humorously represent the (intimate?) Watson friendship in "Being Presumptuous" and interrupts the villain motif on low clarinet in "Von Tirpitz Appears." Developed throughout "Gabrielle," including with poignant solo violin performances, the love theme informs "The Parasol" to represent train travel, and this stance continues in "Castles of Scotland" after other takes on the cue were rejected. Thereafter, "Urquhart Castle" returns to the softer origins of the theme, and the idea takes an earnest turn in "Ilse Von Hoffmanstal" on the solo violin. It continues its more somber explorations on string layers in "Gabrielle's Awakening" and is restrained in "Eternal Silence" before an emotional coda awaits in "Auf Wiedersehen" as the female lead's fate is revealed. Among the lesser themes is the one inspired by the concerto's third and final movement, and this one is translated into the Loch Ness Monster theme here. This roiling identity lets loose with exuberance and wickedly fast woodwind and brass lines in "The Sighting" and guides the ambitious action of "After the Monster/The Monster Strikes" with brazen force. Some of this mode would continue in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and it's by far the most engaging material in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. That said, its melody is extremely elusive, and many listeners may have difficulty identifying it unless they already appreciated it within its concert origins.

Two additional secondary themes in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes are all-new from Rózsa, including a pompous identity for upper-class nobility and the queen of the country. An extended performance of this idea at 0:26 into "The Diogenes Club" is almost obnoxious in its stature but becomes more reserved despite maintaining its sense of importance in "A Certain Royal Personage." Finally, a villain motif for the German agents tailing Holmes to Scotland is a liturgical idea of stoic character. It dominates the start and end of "Von Tirpitz Appears," broods once again in "The Last Act" with more anticipation, lowers its tone with an almost funeral personality in "Holmes' Morse Code," and offers one last grim rendition of obvious death in "Farewell." One of the most interesting aspects of this score is the feeling a listener might get that the movie's all-new themes don't always mesh with those from the concerto. That would especially be the case with the love theme from the second movement, because while it makes perfect sense for the solo violin performances to exist here due to Holmes' performances, the piece doesn't always function well with surrounding material. The original recording was a long time coming on album for Digital Age collectors, a 2013 Quartet Records album combining the score with several source pieces on one mono CD but this product suffering from poor sound quality due to unsavory film stem sourcing. The label's subsequent 2021 2-CD set combines cues in the main presentation and adds the concerto itself as well as another suite arrangement for the film and a few extras. The later product most importantly cleans up the mono sound with new technology, because no better sources could be located in the interim. Vitally, the aforementioned 2007 re-recording of the score was carefully re-orchestrated by Nic Raine based on the composer's complete original sketches, and the resulting Tadlow product is very attractive. It includes original versions of "Castles of Scotland" that were both completely serviceable (they used the same melody but were deemed either too Scottish or Viennese for Wilder), and the quite obnoxious and unnecessary mix of "Castles of Scotland" with bagpipe drones is included to reflect post-production add. An alternate version of "Main Titles/221B Baker Street" adjusts the demeanor in parts, most notably in a more victorious conclusion to its ending fanfare. The faithfully delightful 2007 re-recording is highly recommended, though purists will wish to seek the 2021 offering in mono instead.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

• Music as Written for the Film:  ***
• Music as Heard on the 2007 Album:  ****
• Music as Heard on the 2013 and 2021 Albums:  ***
• Overall:  ***