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Dragon's Domain Records presents THE MORTON STEVENS COLLECTION, Volume 2 featuring music from several films from the composer's extensive filmography.
Airing on television in 1979, THE FLAME IS LOVE, an adaptation of one of Barbara Cartland's romantic novels, was written by Hindi Brooks and Barbara Cartland, directed by Michael O'Herlihy, starring Linda Purl, Timothy Dalton, Shane Briant and Richard Johnson as the Narrator. A turn of the century American heiress falls tragically in love with a Parisian journalist despite her engagement to an Englishman.
NIGHT JOURNEY (Track 14) is an original schizophrenic composition by Stevens that provides an intellectual contrast to his mellifluous television scores. Brimming with dissonant chorale brass, pulsating percussion, high-speed walking bass, an acrobatic drum solo, and a quirky little fugue for woodwind and brass, the piece explodes with harlequin colors, multiple personalities, and dynamic expressions that refuse to remain stationary for long.
CRACKING UP (or Smorgasbord, 1981) is an American comedy flick starring Jerry Lewis, featuring a series of short slapstick sketches, set pieces and blackout gags.
One of Stevens' most haunting melodies can be heard in the chilling "Opening Theme" to SHE WAITS (1978)—an American made-for-television horror film starring Patty Duke (arranged and performed by Mark Northam). The story revolves around a murdered woman whose spirit possesses her surviving husband's new wife.
Also featured is the single version of his heavy-hitting theme for POLICE WOMAN (1974–1978).
And finally, perhaps Stevens' most notorious work, through no fault of his own, was his labyrinthine score for the Italian horror film GREAT WHITE (or L'ultimo Squalo, 1981) which so blatantly plagiarized Steven Spielberg's classic film Jaws (1975), the motion picture was permanently banned in the United States one month after its initial release. Not wanting a good score go to waste, Stevens arranged a rousing three-movement concert work titled TIBURON based off material from his score Born In Newark, New Jersey in 1929,
Morton Stevens studied composition at the Juilliard School and became the arranger and later, the musical director, for Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Liza Minnelli. He also served as music director for CBS and was a prolific composer and arranger for television for over 30 years. Best known for the famous theme music for HAWAII FIVE-0, for which he won two Emmys, Stevens contributed music to many television shows, including GUNSMOKE, POLICE WOMAN, THRILLER, WAGON TRAIN, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., CIMARRON STRIP, THE WILD WILD WEST and TINY TOON ADVENTURES. Stevens also served on the board of directors for the Academy Of Television Arts And Sciences. Surprisingly, he only scored a few feature films including ACT OF PIRACY, THEY STILL CALL ME BRUCE, CRACKING UP and THE RAIDERS. Stevens scored 101 TV movies and nine motion pictures in a three-decade career that began in the early 1960s and ran until 1990. A former student of Jerry Goldsmith, he co-scored the 1981 miniseries MASADA and Arthur Hayley's WHEELS in 1978, for which he both received Emmy nominations.
Dragon's Domain Records presents the premiere soundtrack release of THE MORTON STEVENS COLLECTION, Volume 2, featuring music composed by Morton Stevens for THE FLAME IS LOVE, NIGHT JOURNEY, CRACKING UP, POLICE STORY, SHE WAITS and his concert work, TIBURON . The liner notes are written by author and composer Brian Satterwhite. The music has been mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland.
- BSX
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