John Morgan and I have composed this new score for the documentary THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL available for download at iTunes and CD Baby. In addition to coming up with many original themes, we used a lot of traditional tunes from the period including William Billings’ “Chester” and “Yankee Doodle”. The score is somewhat robust at times and, I would say, sounds a little as if Bernard Herrmann and Max Steiner had written a score together. I realize that that is a bold statement, but you’ll get what I mean when or if you hear it. The director, Tony Malanowski, is a huge fan of the Golden Age scores, so it was a lot of fun to work on. - William Stromberg
These awards are named after movie lyricist Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), who received 4 Oscars for his songs, and was nominated more than any other songwriter, 26 times in all. Cahn said he was “flattered and honored” to have these movie music awards named after him. His Oscar-winning songs are: “Three Coins in the Fountain”; “All the Way”; “High Hopes”; and “Call Me Irresponsible.” All four songs were recorded by Frank Sinatra , a big fan of Sammy ’s lyrics. Now in their twenty-second (22nd) year, the Sammys are the longest running awards for film music on CDs. They are chosen each year by Roger Hall, a film music historian, member of the International Film Music Critics Association, author of the book, A Guide to Film Music – Songs and Scores, and also editor-in-chief of the long-running online magazine, Film Music Review – www.americanmusicpreservation.com/fmr.htm
William Stromberg’s score for the independent horror film ARMY OF THE DEAD is available as a download only at itunes. Check out the samples at the ITunes site. It’s a score he wrote for a filmmaker friend Joseph Conti a couple of years ago, but is quite proud of some of the music and wanted to share it with you all.
In the spirit of “Army of Darkness” comes this incredible chiller following a college professor as he leads his students on an archeological expedition in Baja, Mexico. After unexpectedly unleashing an ancient curse, they find themselves battling hordes of skeletal warriors who were once associates of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado.
Jon Burlingame is the nation’s leading writer on the subject of music for films and television. He writes regularly for Daily Variety and the Los Angeles Times, and has written for such other publications as The New York Times, Washington Post, New York Daily News, Newsday, Premiere, Emmy and The Hollywood Reporter. He has chosen THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER as one of the best of 2009. Click the link to read the full article and see his other choices.
THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER is now available for download at Itunes both as a complete album and individual selections. Here you will also be able to hear :30 seconds clips of every track. Of course our CD including the beautifully designed 32-page booklet is always available for purchase at www.screenarchives.com
A quick note to ask all of our TFC friends and supporters who are eligible NARAS members to vote for us on your GRAMMY ballots. We have two albums this year in Category 107 - Best Classical Crossover. We would really appreciate your vote if you enjoyed THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER #023 and/or THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE #033. Wish us luck and thank you!
The Ninth Annual National Carry A Tune Week will be held October 4 – 10, 2009.
Sponsored by The Tune Lovers Society, this annual survey of favorite tunes chosen by Internet readers was begun as a way of remembering those lost from the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001 .
Since 2001, the event has grown to a nationwide response with over 250 tunes chosen, covering a broad range of music styles from America ’s past.
You don’t need to be a singer or an instrumentalist to take part, but musicians are especially encouraged to participate. All you need is the willingness to look back and select up to 9 of your favorite American tunes.
The only criteria for National Carry A Tune Week are that tunes must be of American origin from at least TEN years ago (up to 1999) and in any of these categories:
I. Patriotic Music (Songs and Marches )
II. Folk Music (Traditional Folk Songs and Singer-Songwriter)
III. Religious Music (Gospel and Sacred)
IV Popular Music (Ragtime, Blues, Jazz, Easy Listening, Country, Rock, etc.)
V. Classical Music (Themes and Songs)
VI. Film Music (Themes and Songs)
During National Carry A Tune Week (October 4 -10) –
Musicians are encouraged to perform one or more tunes in their concerts or elsewhere.
Teachers are urged to choose at least one tune for that week to teach to their students or ask them to find out about a tune.
Listeners are asked to sing or play some of their favorite tunes that week in their car, while exercising, at work, or at home.
The best entries sent in with personal comments for up to 9 favorite tunes will receive a Free CD.
Send in your list of favorite tunes anytime up until October 15, 2009.
For full details, see this link:
Check out the new documentary DVD THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL from our friend and filmmaker Tony Malanowski. Musical score by William Stromberg and John Morgan.
THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL is the inaugural DVD in the series AMERICA: HER PEOPLE, HER STORIES. Using an innovative blending of epic recreation, historical commentary and vintage imagery, you will learn about life during Colonial Times, and see why the Original Patriots chose to rebel against the mighty British Empire! You will experience the heroic stand of the American Colonists against the King’s superior forces, and appreciate their courage and sacrifice as they fought for their rights and liberties!
It’s official! Next February, I will be conducting the complete scores to Herrmann’s The Devil and Daniel Webster, and Steiner’s The Adventures of Don Juan coupled with Arsenic and Old Lace for Tribute Film Classics. Thanks to Craig Spaulding and William Waybourn of Screen Archives, as they’ve been a great help to us in keeping our label going and we really appreciate their help.
John, Anna, and I will be working on preparing all of this music through the rest of the year. It looks like we are in luck regarding the full scores, as we will be able to get our hands on most of the original orchestrations for these. All we have to do, really, is prepare the orchestral parts, although I’m sure most of the original parts for Don Juan are still in the Warner’s archives. I hope so.
When the recording dates arrive, I’ll try to give you all updates about how the recordings are proceeding and possibly get some video coverage of the recording sessions, as we’ve done in the past. We’ll keep you posted.
I can’t wait to get in front of the orchestra and perform more of my favorite music. Wish us luck on putting all of the music back into performable form. I hear the Webster music is quite a mess, as Herrmann cut it all up for his later suites.
Read Steven Kennedy’s glowing review of THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER at American Music Preservation’s website. It was rated the best of the month for June 2009
This is the official Tribute Film Classics blog, where you can get all your up-to-date information about our projects, special events, new reviews, and more!
