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Dragon's Domain Records presents NORTH BY NORTHWEST, featuring music from the original motion picture score composed by Bernard Herrmann (CITIZEN KANE, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, VERTIGO) for the 1959 thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Ernest Lehman, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Martin Landau, Jessie Royce Landis, Leo G. Carroll, Philip Ober, Adam Williams, Edward Platt and Robert Ellenstein.
Released on vinyl by Starlog Records in association with Varese Sarabande and also by Unicorn-Kanchana in Europe, later an early compact disc when the format was new, this recording featured a selection of music from the original motion picture score conducted by Laurie Johnson, performed by the London Studio Symphony Orchestra.
At the time of the album's inception in 1979, it was decided not to use the original 1959 tapes from the movie and to instead create a new stereo recording using the latest state-of-the-art technology of the day. The Sony PCM-1600 digital recording system and the Calrec Soundfield microphone were used together for the first time with a full orchestra for this recording. NORTH BY NORTHWEST was recorded direct to Sony digital in London on November 20, 1979.
In addition to this recording, Laurie Johnson's talents are represented on several other discs. As a tribute to Bernard Herrmann, Laurie adapted Herrmann's original score to the horror film IT'S ALIVE and conducted it for the sequels, IT'S ALIVE 2 and IT'S ALIVE III: ISLAND OF THE ALIVE. Together with his partners Albert Fennell and Brian Clemens, Johnson owned the companies which produced the enormously successful TV series, THE NEW AVENGERS and THE PROFESSIONALS.
Bernard Herrmann is one of the greatest composers of motion picture music in the twentieth century. He is considered the man behind some of the most original and distinctive film scores. He was a master at evoking psychological and dramatic tension in his music to suit the dramatic needs of a film. He won his only Oscar in 1947 for writing the score for THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER. Herrmann made a powerful mark in radio and in 1934 he began a 25-year career as a conductor and composer in radio, working for the CBS. In 1938, he scored the notorious infamous presentation of Orson Welles' Halloween production of H. G. Wells' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast. He is best remembered for his collaborations with some of Hollywood's most celebrated film directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese and Brian DePalma. Described as a perfectionist, he believed that most directors didn't have a clue about music so he would blithely ignore their instructions. His filmography includes CITIZEN KANE, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, VERTIGO, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, CAPE FEAR, FAHRENHEIT 451, OBSESSION, TAXI DRIVER and many hours of episodic television including THE TWILIGHT ZONE and HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL, among others.
Dragon's Domain Records is excited to bring this recording of NORTH BY NORTHWEST back to the marketplace, under license from Unicorn-Kanchana, newly remastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and retaining the original album liner notes by Christopher Palmer. NORTH BY NORTHWEST presents, for the first time together, the 1979 original remastered stereo recording, followed by the one stereo microphone performance.
- Dragon's Domain Records
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