There are certain things that inspire composers over and over; the sea, the night, tragedy and so forth. However, when it comes to flight, film composers have the arena almost all to themselves and have produced numerous thrilling aural spectacles to accompany one of the 20th century's most significant achievements. Anyway, first a confession. I thought The High and the Mighty was a biblical epic and not an airline disaster movie. Either way, Dimitri Tiomkin's music is typical of the composer, bold and tuneful, winning him an Oscar for his trouble (can you imagine that happening today? "...and the winner is... The Day After Tomorrow by Harald Kloser with additional music by Thomas Wanker." Actually, I'd pay money to see that. It'd be a more worthy winner than Brokeback Mountain). The famous main theme - you'll know it when you hear it - seems surprisingly cheery and distinctly lacking in doom, but it was a more innocent age.

Any collection focusing on flight was always going to feature some warhorses, none more so than Flying from ET (I suggest that Flight to Neverland from Hook might have been a nice alternative), plus Goodwin's 633 Squadron and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, all given solid performances. Fortunately, there are also some cues that will appeal to the more seasoned collector; the album for Bruce Broughton's Boy Who Could Fly is disappointingly hard to come by these days, but has a charming and memorable main theme, so typical of the composer. If it weren't for its inclusion on Silva Screen's recent Elmer Bernstein collection, the suite from Airplane! might have been even more welcome, but it's nice that his classic comedy score is starting to get some of the recognition it deserves.

Lee Holdridge's name doesn't appear that frequently on compilations, but his theme for the rather obscure TV movie The Tuskegee Airmen is lovely, even if doesn't quite compete with the classics contained elsewhere. One can't help but feel that some entries push the remit too far; encompassing space travel seems a bit much, especially when Kaufman takes the opening fanfare of Jerry Goldsmith's rousing Star Trek: The Motion Picture far too fast, losing much of its grandeur in the process. Fortunately, the rest of the performance is fine, as is that of Craig Safan's Last Starfighter. The album closes with a concert work commissioned to celebrate 100 years in the air. Although enjoyable enough, it sounds more like a pastiche of the music they used to play during the Oscars in the 1950's than suggesting soaring through the stratosphere. The LSO do a typically professional job and Kaufman's conducting is generally sympathetic. A nice collection, if rather aimed at the casual collector than dedicated fan.

Rating ~

  1. The High and the Mighty (6:46)
    Dimitri Tiomkin
  2. Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (4:58)
    Ron Goodwin
  3. The Boy Who Could Fly (3:03)
    Bruce Broughton
  4. Spitfire: Prelude (4:24)
  5. Spitfire: Fugue (4:18)
    Sir William Walton
  6. ET The Extra Terrestrial (4:01)
    John Williams
  7. The Spirit of St Louis (4:20)
  8. Franz Waxman
  9. The Great Waldo Pepper (2:24)
    Henry Mancini
  10. Out of Africa (6:20)
    John Barry
  11. 633 Squadron (3:05)
    Ron Goodwin
  12. Airplane! (4:39)
    Elmer Bernstein
  13. The Last Starfighter (3:16)
    Craig Safan
  14. The Tuskegee Airmen (5:18)
    Lee Holdridge
  15. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (3:56)
    Jerry Goldsmith
  16. A Century of Flight (5:24)
    Brian Shyer
Total Time ~ 66:10