PAUL MAURIAT - FILM THEMES I

back 1984


Paul Mauriat - Film Themes Volume I

818 969-2, Philips, Hong Kong/Malaysia/Singapore/Korea. CD.

 
  1. Evergreen (Theme From 'A Star Is Born') (3:00)
  2. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (Theme From 'Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid') (2:50)
  3. Somewhere My Love (Lara's Theme) (Theme From 'Dr. Zhivage') (2:51)
  4. The Morning After (Theme From 'Poesidon Adventure') (2:16)
  5. A Summer Place (Theme From 'A Summer Place') (2:19)
  6. Free As The Wind (Theme From 'Papillion') (2:24)
  7. Sound Of Silence (Theme From 'The Graduate') (3:14)
  8. Speak Softly Love (Theme From 'Godfather') (2:36)
  9. Over The Rainbow/Singing In The Rain (Theme From 'Wizard Of Oz/That's Entertainment') (6:03)
  10. Emanuelle (Theme From 'Emanuelle') (2:42)
  11. Let It Be (Theme From 'Let It Be') (2:55)
  12. Love Said Goodbye (Theme From 'Godfather II') (2:06)
  13. Last Tango In Paris (Theme From 'Last Tango In Paris') (2:45)
  14. The Entertainer (Theme From 'The Sting') (2:35)
  15. Windmills Of Your Mind (Theme From 'The Thomas Crown Affair') (2:51)




Review
When Paul Mauriat addresses film music, he rarely arranges it in terms of being a faithful idiom of the original soundtrack. He takes it in the direction of his own 'pop formulation'. In doing so, he seems to follow a pattern of reorganizing the melody in two ways: adjusting the musical notes to the latest pop styles; and weaving in only a few strands of notes that echo the memorable sights of the original film. Take for instance his fantastical take on Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head from BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. Mauriat begins with a trumpet filled herald more reminiscent of a glitzy Las Vegas production than a 'cowboy film'. The harpsichord plays the main notes in a modulation imitating the sensation of riding a horse. Then the concluding strains of human whistling remind the listener of the two carefree film personas played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford in that famous bicycle scene. Likewise, A Time for Us from ROMEO AND JULIET, as well as the love theme Speak Softly Love from THE GODFATHER are rendered in the fashion of a 70s soft rock anthem. See if you can spot other interesting patterns to Mauriat's arrangements when you next listen to them? Finally, in his 1996 all-new studio album, observe what Mauriat transforms the BODYGUARD soundtrack (I Will Always Love You) and Unchained Melody into – cinematic anthems for star-struck romantics!

PHILIPS/Polygram exclusively for the Hong Kong/Malaysia/Singapore/Korean market. Catalogue number 818 969-2. This is a compilation of Mauriat's take on movie themes premiered between 1961 and 1977 stays very much with the pattern of his 60s styling of groovy arrangements with perhaps two exceptions Evergreen and Over the Rainbow/Singing in the Rain. The former reinterprets the Streisand ballad in a soft rock fashion with guitar and drums marking tempo while the strings and trumpets play the lead melody. The Over the Rainbow... medley showcases Mauriat's piano ballad arrangements, melded with smart touches of Broadway-like pizzazz played on big band trumpets, plucked violins, and jaunty tempos. Right in the middle there are lush orchestral intermezzos to mediate the transition between fast and slow sections. This medley is worth the entire disc alone.

Somewhere my Love, Windmills of your Mind, Raindrops Keep Falling... and Summer Place draw from the 60s movie epic catalogue and have been transformed under Mauriat's arrangements into dramatic pop symphonies that defy convention while staying reassuringly rhythmic and evocative of the original movie plots. Finally, there are plenty of 70s flavours that cover the range from The Morning After to Emanuelle, Speak Softly Love, to Last Tango in Paris to The Entertainer.

Free as the Wind, or the Theme from the French film Papillon is the nod to Mauriat's French roots with its swinging accordion lead. Finally, the Beatles' Let it Be stands alone as a soft rock instrumental arrangement that is quintessentially Mauriat, and dare I say it, ahead of its time in its edgy interpretation of an anthem to faith!

- ALAN CHONG