The Road to Baghdad

1. Two Rivers

2. Childhood

3. Iraqi Café

4. Road to Baghdad

5. Sufi Moments

6. Dance of War

7. After the War

8. Sama'ai Baghdad

9. Doulab Mukhtar

10. Motherly

11. Iraqu Kurdish Dance

12. Arab Marshes [Saba]

13. Horizon [Oud & Qanun]

14. Segah [Rhythmic Taqsim]

15. Moments in the Mosque [Taqsim Qanun]

16. Taqsim Joza

Tracks:

Journey To The Center Of The Earth: Mountain Top And Sunrise
Journey To The Center Of The Earth: Prelude
Journey To The Center Of The Earth: The Grotto
Journey To The Center Of The Earth: Salt Slides
Journey To The Center Of The Earth: Atlantis
Journey To The Center Of The Earth: The Giant Chameleon And The Fight
Journey To The Center Of The Earth: The Shaft And Finale
The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad: Overture
The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad: The Duel With The Skeleton
The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad: Baghdad
The Day The Earth Stood Still: Outer Space
The Day The Earth Stood Still: Radar
The Day The Earth Stood Still: Gort
The Day The Earth Stood Still: The Robot
The Day The Earth Stood Still: Space Control
The Day The Earth Stood Still: Terror
The Day The Earth Stood Still: Farewell And Finale
Fahrenheit 451: Prelude
Fahrenheit 451: Fire Engine
Fahrenheit 451: The Bedroom
Fahrenheit 451: Flowers Of Fire
Fahrenheit 451: The Road And Finale
Gulliver's Travels: Overture
Gulliver's Travels: Minuetto-Wapping
Gulliver's Travels: Hornpipe
Gulliver's Travels: Lilliputians 1&2
Gulliver's Travels: Victory 1&2
Gulliver's Travels: Escape
Gulliver's Travels: The King's March
Gulliver's Travels: Trees
Gulliver's Travels: The Tightrope
Gulliver's Travels: Lovers
Gulliver's Travels: The Chess Game
Gulliver's Travels: Pursuit
Gulliver's Travels: Finale

Amazon.com

Captured on this one disc are the great film scores Bernard Herrmann did for several classic science fiction films of the '50s and '60s. Herrmann did not go in for simple atmospherics and cheap orchestral tricks with his music. He knew that the music would have to conjure a mental world all its own. This is especially true in "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad". It's a tone poem Rimsky-Korsakov could have written. The best here is "The Day the Earth Stood Still" with its use of the (then) revolutionary theremin. It's a clear masterpiece, all on its own. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

The other essential Herrmann CD.......2004-08-25

I like to think of this CD as being the "Forbidden Planet" of film scores CDs -- technically marvelous, consistently enthralling on an emotional and mental level, and way ahead of its time.

Unfortunately it is not available as I write this. Last time I visited this Amazon site, there was one CD for sale for almost $60. You'll have to make up your own mind if this music is worth that much to you. I made my choice long ago to own this and keep it in my library, conceivably forever.

With five film scores, 35 tracks and 72 minutes of the most high grade science fiction music, this CD should be considered the definitive source for Bernard Herrmann's non-Hitchcock film scores. Not only did he conduct the National Philharmonic Orchestra in these recordings, the composer approved of the Phase 4 recording and mixing. It is, as the notes say, a unique listening experience.

I have found this CD to be a constant source of imagination, vision and scope in film music that still has no peer 30 years after its production. The opening sequence to "Journey To The Center of the Earth" is better than it ever was in the theater, where the music was a hackneyed backdrop to an incredilbe film. In this CD, the music dwarfs the film action.

My favorite sequence in this issue is Herrmann's work for the Ray Bradbury novella "Fahrenheit 451", which was recast in some minds recently when "Fahrenheit 911" appeared in theaters throughout the country.

Every bit of the miracle of that little film is projected through this eerily wonderful music, which seems to comprise a world of its own. The sections help recall Sontag's first trip on the fire engine, the bedroom fire and the finale.

The lengthiest tract on this disk is the near 27 minute set from the film "Gulliver's Travels". I've never seen the movie but will attest that the music is out of this world in a very British way. This section seems closer to following the musical rules for a suite than any other on this disk.

Decca had the good sense to return the Bernard Herrmann-conducted Hitchcock scores to circulation, so maybe they will do the same with this miraculous disk. Again, the notes are nothing to write home about, but even with that considered no lover of film music or the music of Bernard Herrmann can consider their library complete without this disk.