Search - Jerry Goldsmith, National Philharmonic Orchestra :: The Blue Max: Original Sound Track Recording

Aural Splendor On The Wing

David Beynon | E. Weymouth, MA United States | 05/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The opening sequence of The Blue Max provides one of the more
memorable moments in the on-screen blending of film images and
music.
Bruno Stachel, a German soldier on the Western Front is pinned down by heavy machine gun fire in a rat-infested trench.
Unable to to escape this muddy grave-like trap, he suddenly hears
the sound of an airplane engine above and behind him.
Momentarily thereafter, we hear the the first notes of Jerry
Goldsmith's score-not unlike awakening birdsong.
The image of actor George Peppard's blue eyes peering out from the grime of war on the ground fades as Goldsmith's music
literally lifts us up into the clouds to another battlefield, no
less deadly, in the air.
Then, after a few brief, introductory fanfares from the horns, the ascending 19 notes of Goldsmith's main theme are stated with superlative purity by the strings, followed by the entire orchestra.
With The Blue Max, Jerry Goldsmith finally delivers all that his previous film music had up to that time been promising-the delicacy and drama in the space between single notes (A Patch of
Blue}, the intensity in the string section portions of his television themes (Dr. Kildare and The Twilight Zone}-an incomparable symphonic score that may be his most enduring achievement. D.R. Beynon"

Kinetic masterpiece

skunktrain | So. California, USA | 04/15/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am a big Goldsmith fan, and I admit, when I first bought this recording (it was the LP - boy that dates me) I thought it was so-so. I had to listen to it a few times before I appreciated its depth. This is a brilliant score, full of kinetic energy, sweeping and masterful. I admit, I am not even that familiar with the film - I just know the score, mostly. It stands well on its own, and I have no doubt it brilliantly supports the film.Let it flow over you. This is one of Goldsmith's best."

Poor sound spoils one of Goldsmith's greatest scores

Gary J. Wright | San Francisco, CA United States | 12/24/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a magnificent score, presented here in feeble, tinny and harsh sound. Excerpts from this original soundtrack in excellent sound have been issued in a now-unavailable Goldsmith compilation from Varese Sarabande, so we know that decent source material is available, waiting to be released. Looks like patience will be needed if you want a decent CD of this superb music."