Review:Sherlock Holmes: Classic Themes From 221B Baker Street/Barbara Roden
This review of the disc "Sherlock Holmes: Classic Themes From 221B Baker Street" was written by Barbara Roden and published in the The Parish Magazine (No. 14, september 1996).
This review warmly recommends Sherlock Holmes: Classic Themes From 221B Baker Street as an enjoyable CD anthology of music from Sherlock Holmes films and television, praising both its range and its power to revive memories of the screen versions. It highlights standout cues by Rozsa, Addison, Gowers, Broughton, Mancini and others, while noting a few omissions and hoping for a second volume.
Review
- Sherlock Holmes: Classic Themes From 221B Baker Street
- 1996; Varèse Sarabande VSD-5692
Reviewed by Barbara Roden
Think of Sherlock Holmes, and the trappings associated with him, and what springs to mind? Well, a pipe, of course, followed (not necessarily in this order) by a deerstalker, a magnifying glass, and an Inverness cape. What next? Well, the cynical might suggest a hypodermic syringe and a small bottle, while those who are (like Violet Smith) more spiritually inclined would probably mention a violin.
Holmes's association with music in general, and violins in particular, is well-documented. Articles and booklets about what music he would have played and listened to have been written, and various people have endeavoured to put together tapes of music that the detective would have enjoyed as both audience and artist. Now, for the first time, someone has had the simple, yet brilliant, idea of gathering together on CD various pieces of music that have accompanied Holmes during his cinematic (and television) adventures.
Sherlock Holmes: Classic Themes From 221B Baker Street contains sixteen pieces of music from various Holmes films (and the Granada television series), which span the years 1939 to 1994. It's a comprehensive overview of the music that has been written to accompany the great detective's screen adventures, and is also a fascinating look at what such distinguished soundtrack composers as John Addison, Bruce Broughton, Henry Mancini, Miklos Rozsa, Cyril Mockridge and Stephen Sondheim have made of Sherlock Holmes.
Not surprisingly, violins feature significantly in many of the compositions, with Miklos Rozsa's suite from The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes making particularly haunting use of that instrument. This suite, along with one of John Addison's music for The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, is one of the highlights of the recording, although it is marred somewhat (at least for this listener) by some terribly jarring synthesised music towards the end. No such problem with the Addison suite, however, which contains various elements from the original score, including the lovely main theme, a Viennese waltz-inspired theme, and the thrilling music that accompanies the train pursuit at the film's end.
It's nice to have Cyril Mockridge's main theme from 1939's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (itself an adaptation of his own theme from the Rathbone The Hound of the Baskervilles), and also to hear Frank Skinner's main theme from the Universal series: inevitably one pictures Rathbone and Bruce in the swirling mist. It was also a nice touch to include the 'Moriarty' theme from the 1939 Adventures, but did this comparatively short piece have to be included three times, with only minor variations?
The above-mentioned pieces, as well as Patrick Gowers's main theme for the Granada series and his incidental music from 'The Red Circle', are the works I was most familiar with. Pleasant surprises were John Scott's theme from A Study in Terror and Bruce Broughton's lovely, thoughtful closing music for Young Sherlock Holmes. Broughton's score for the western film Silverado is one of my favourites, and he shows in his music for both films that he understands what becomes a legend most. As Steven Spielberg produced Young Sherlock Holmes it would have been natural to expect that his long-time collaborator John Williams would have been called upon to perform the soundtrack duties, but Broughton is an entirely happy choice. However, Williams proved, with his score for the 1979 Frank Langella version of Dracula, that he also understands what a legend needs in terms of soundtrack; and it's to be hoped that he gets a crack at Holmes one day.
Stephen Sondheim's contribution to Sherlockian film music was a naughty little ditty that appeared in the brothel scene of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. However, the number was heavily cut during the film's editing, and only the last verse or so remains in the finished version. Never fear: Judy Kaye gives an excellent rendition of 'I Never Do Anything Twice', milking the numerous double entendres for all they're worth.
The CD ends on a spirited note, with Henry Mancini's end title from the cheeky 1988 film Without a Clue. It's a merry, jaunty piece which, when I heard it on the CD, had me grinning from ear to ear as I remembered choice moments from the film. And that is, perhaps, the best thing about the music on this CD: while much of it can stand alone as fine music, it also serves as a reminder of the films in question, and whatever personal memories are bound up in them. For those who like to know more about the films and composers in question, there are excellent liner notes which go well beyond the basics of name of composer and year of film, and provide much fascinating background information.
I would like to have heard some of the music from Murder by Decree included. Perhaps this, as well as some of Henry Mancini's score for The Great Mouse Detective, and some of the songs from the musicals Baker Street and Sherlock Holmes: The Musical, could go on a second volume. Holmes is, after all, the most often-filmed fictional character of all time, so there must be a lot more music out there to be tapped. In the meantime, however, this first volume is a welcome addition to the music library of any Sherlockian.
Sherlock Holmes: Classic Themes From 221B Baker Street is distributed in Great Britain by Pinnacle. If you can't find it in the shops, contact Magpie Direct Music (01784) 242224. The CD is available in North America through Scarlet Street; their address is Box 604, Glen Rock, New Jersey 07452.
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
