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Citadel Records, a division of BSX Records, presents music from the original score to SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE, the fifth and last of the original 3-panel Cinerama travelogue films. Narrated by Orson Welles, SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE presents five separate stories, woven out of a series of theoretical, island-hopping voyages that start en route to Hawaii and after traversing the South Seas as far as Australia, end up flying back home from Honolulu.
Featured after the score for SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE are several themes that Alex North wrote throughout his career for a wide range of projects, including music from JOURNEY INTO FEAR, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, THE RACERS, DRAGONSLAYER, LES MISERABLES and the legendary song from UNCHAINED, resurrected years later for the film GHOST in 1990.
Alex North studied music at the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia, then won a scholarship to Juilliard in New York and the Moscow Conservatoire, making him the first-ever American to become a member of the Union of Soviet Composers. In Europe, he worked as music director for the Latvian State Theatre, before returning to the U.S. in 1935 to perfect his craft under Aaron Copland. At the same time, he produced his first compositions, including two symphonies, chamber music and dance scores for Martha Graham and Agnes de Mille. After a spell in Mexico as conductor/composer, he served as a captain with the U.S. Army, in charge of 'self-entertainment programs' for hospitalized psychiatric patients. He also did his first film work, scoring documentaries for the Office of War Information.
Profoundly influenced by Duke Ellington, North began to write several innovative compositions in jazz. North went on to compose theatrical scores, including DEATH OF A SALESMAN for Elia Kazan, which opened the door to Hollywood. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE was the first all-jazz score ever written for a motion picture. His next assignment was the film version of DEATH OF A SALESMAN, followed by VIVA ZAPATA!, for which he used traditional instruments, including marimbas and timbales.
Much of his subsequent work was characterized by sparse instrumentation. One of his most beautiful and lyrical works was the love theme from SPARTACUS. His filmography includes THE RACERS, I'LL CRY TOMORROW, THE ROSE TATTOO, THE BAD SEED, THE RAINMAKER, THE LONG, HOT SUMMER, THE SOUND AND THE FURY, THE WONDERFUL COUNTRY, THE MISFITS, CLEOPATRA, SHANKS, BITE THE BULLET, WISE BLOOD, DRAGONSLAYER, UNDER THE VOLCANO, THE DEAD and THE PENITENT. Alex North was Oscar-nominated fifteen times but only received the coveted statuette as a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1986.
HIstorically, SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE was the first Stereophonic record on the market, released in February, 1958. It would later appear again on vinyl in 1981. Label X released the music on CD for the first time in 1993. Citadel Records, a division of BSX Records, presents this new release of SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE, featuring music composed and conducted by Alex North, performed by the Cinerama Symphony Orchestra, including the Norman Luboff Choir, newly remastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and retaining the original album liner notes by John Steven Lasher, Tony Thomas and Alain Silver.
- BSX
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