Film Music Has a Home
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Film Music Has a home www.VareseSarabande.com STEVEN ALLEN FO X, CONDUCTOR THE GSPO CHORALE Expect the unexpected LED BY MAESTRA MARYA BASARABA VICTOR PESAVENT O, MUSIC DIRECTOR PRODUCED AND HOSTED BY ROBERT TOWNSON SOLOIST: SARA ANDO N, FLUTE WITH SPECIAL GUESTS ANN MARIE CALHOUN JOHN DEBNEY CLIFF EIDELMAN DANNY ELFMAN MICHAEL GIACCHINO MARK ISHAM CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ JOEL M cNEELY DIEGO NAVARRO JOHN POWELL BRIAN TYLER HANS ZIMMER MAY 11, 2013 WARNER GRAND THEATER Producer’s Note Welcome to Varèse Sarabande’s 35th Anniversary Concert Gala! There are film music fans all over the world tonight who wish they could be occupying the seat you are currently in, but you are the lucky ones. What a night this is going to be! The forces that have come together for the show you are about to see are remarkable. There is so much more history represented in tonight’s program than merely the last 35 years. This evening is really about the entire history of film music. We’ll be enjoying the performances of a select few … some of my best friends, who just happen to the masters of modern film music. And we’ll hear the music of those I dearly miss … legends of the art form — the immortals. As I’ve said before, the great thing about celebrating Varèse Sarabande history is that, for us, the spotlight is always on the composers. Tonight is, without question, about them. All of them! We could never represent everyone. That’s been the hardest part about putting together this programme. I started with a list of well over 1500 scores — closer to 2000, actually. I had to reduce that to 20, which ended up being about 30. But that’s the nature of concerts. In addition to the superstars of film music who will soon be taking the stage, the honorees of tonight’s celebration most certainly include the composers who are not on the programme. Some are here; so many are spread far and wide … all over the world. But they are all part of this and they all deserve to take a bow. May 10, 2008 The composers have always been film music’s royalty, but we need the full court for what front row: MICHAEL GIACCHINO , LALO SCHIFRIN , MARC SHAIMAN , RICHARD M. SHERMAN we do. I have been blessed to work with dozens of orchestras from all over the world and second row: MARK ISHAM , JAN A.P. KACZMAREK , CHRISTOPHER YOUNG , EDWARD SHEARMUR thousands of musicians. Certainly there have been musicians from every continent, and third row: CHRISTOPHE BECK , BRIAN TYLER , MYCHAEL DANNA , CHARLES BERNSTEIN , probably very nearly every country. There are the contractors, on whom all of the composers JOHN FRIZZELL , ROBERT TOWNSON , JOHN DEBNEY , MATTHEW JOSEPH PEAK fourth row: DON DAVIS , CLIFF EIDELMAN , JOHN OTTMAN , rely to assemble the musicians for each new score; and the music preparation, librarian and RICHARD KRAFT , MARCO BELTRAMI , JOEL M CNEELY , TREVOR RABIN copyist teams — these are just a few of the invaluable people behind the scenes. And it goes on — endless lists, upon lists — choirs, singers, conductors, and recording engineers. The directors and writers who have contributed liner notes … and the artists who’ve painted the covers. Of course there are the composers’ agents and publicists; the music department heads at all the film studios … even the lawyers! We’ve needed everyone and they have all been there for us. Year after year. It’s a big industry, but also a close-knit one. So much of what I do is based on personal relationships. Working with friends. There are truly no words to express the degree of gratitude I hold for them, so to everyone I simply say, thank you. Thank you also to the Golden State Pops Orchestra, Artistic Director Steven Allen Fox, Music Director Victor Pesavento and the entire GSPO team. I have been so touched by everyone’s incredible enthusiasm for helping me celebrate the music we all love. This is a very special organization and I am honored to have had the Varèse anniversary tour begin right here at home, with this orchestra. We have a special soloist, too. The remarkable flute virtuoso Sara Andon is with us tonight. Her performances on the scoring stages of Los Angeles have made her one of the most in- demand flutists in town, while her acclaim around the world is soaring. Believe me … you are in for such a treat! This evening will soon be a memory that we all will share forever. It will pass far too quickly. Each of us will leave here with different pieces of the memory puzzle of tonight’s musical celebration — one that will never be fully reassembled once we’ve all dispersed. But after tonight, all the different memories will live on — and sharing them with each other, as well as with those who aren’t here, will help keep them alive forever. Isn’t so much of life all too fleeting? Thankfully music has an extraordinary power to stay upper left: ROBERT TOWNSON , with us. STEVEN ALLEN FOX , ALAN SILVESTRI Since I won’t have the opportunity to enjoy this concert from the audience, I am already a above: ROBERT TOWNSON , little envious of you. But getting to produce and host this evening’s gala and to introduce on SARA ANDON , stage so many of my friends to an audience full of so many other friends — and family as well LEE HOLDRIDGE (Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!) — is one of the great honors of my life. left: ANA MOLOWNY Thank you for coming. ROBERT TOWNSON , TENERIFE SYMPHONY Enjoy the show! 41 51 35 Years of Film Music History Part One Thirty-five years is a long time by any estimation. It’s a demanding, rewarding and VARÈSE SARABANDE 35 TH ANNIVERSARY OVERTURE transforming period of time and these last thirty-five years have certainly seen Varèse . Arranged by Steven Allen Fox and Victor Pesavento Sarabande Records through a significant metamorphosis. Varèse Sarabande [V ˘a-r ˘ez´ S ˘ar´- Steven Allen Fox, conductor e -b ˘and´] was founded in the spring of 1978 as a classical label with a mandate to rescue DRIVING MISS DAISY . Hans Zimmer archival recordings of some of the more obscure works by both the great masters as well as Steven Allen Fox, conductor Hans Zimmer, piano • Mike Einziger, guitar many lesser-known composers. Sibelius’ Origin Of Fire and Dvorák’s Eighth Symphony are Ann Marie Calhoun, violin found alongside composer-conducted albums by Enesco, Harris, Copland, and Leonard Bernstein. Also from this earliest period came the first flirtation with composers who were THAT HAMILTON WOMAN Love Theme . Miklós Rózsa best known for their film composition. Albums featuring concert works by Erich Wolfgang Steven Allen Fox, conductor Paul Henning, violin Korngold, Miklós Rózsa and Franz Waxman were the first to foreshadow what was to come. DOLPHIN TALE Suite . Mark Isham Later, there was a series of state-of-the-art recordings produced incorporating the latest methods from the developing world of digital technology. Dvorák’s New World , Saint-Saens’ Steven Allen Fox, conductor Organ Symphony , Beethoven’s Seventh , Tchaikovsky’s Sixth plus works by DeFalla, Rodrigo A LITTLE ROMANCE Main Title . Georges Delerue and Gould made up Varèse’s release schedule during this time. Concurrent with all of this, Steven Allen Fox, conductor Sara Andon, flute a few film soundtracks found their way into the catalog. Victor Young’s The Quiet Man , Rózsa’s A Time To Love And A Time To Die and Alex North’s Four Girls In Town were among the scores HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Suite . John Powell that initiated an exploration of the world of film music. As sales of the soundtracks overtook John Powell, guest conductor the classical releases, the tide began to turn and soon Varèse Sarabande became the first ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM Overture . Brian Tyler record label to be devoted exclusively to film music. Greater ambitions soon led to a series Brian Tyler, guest conductor of new recordings produced by the great George Korngold and conducted by the legendary likes of Miklós Rózsa and Elmer Bernstein. RUDY The Final Game . Jerry Goldsmith The rest, as they say, is history. For over three decades, Varèse Sarabande Records has Cliff Eidelman, guest conductor The GSPO Chorale been home to more of film music’s greatest composers than any other label. Now with a catalog of over 1500 albums, which grows by 60 to 70 titles each year, Varèse Sarabande remains the most prolific soundtrack label in the world. Over the years, our extended family Part Two has grown to include an international group of film music's very best composers — all of them. But with nearly 100 releases, no composer has appeared more frequently on the label than VARÈSE SARABANDE 35 TH ANNIVERSARY ENTR’ACTE our patron saint, Jerry Goldsmith, whose importance to Varèse Sarabande and, indeed, to . Arranged by Christopher Lennertz all of film music is immeasurable. Christopher Lennertz, guest conductor The GSPO Chorale It has been both a thrill and an honor to have had the opportunity to work with so many of the greatest composers of our time on preserving their music and making it available to be IRON WILL . Joel McNeely enjoyed by fans around the world. In doing this, we have also enjoyed performances by many Joel McNeely, guest conductor of the world’s finest musicians and orchestras. There is no question that motion pictures SPARTACUS Love Theme . Alex North, Arranged by Lee Holdridge afford the music featured in them the opportunity of reaching an audience more vast than Diego Navarro, guest conductor Sara Andon, flute what has been available to composers at any other time throughout history.