I think it's easy to forget that film music isn't entirely an American institution, indeed it's only really the last century that America has had any kind of distinct musical voice at all, although in fairness, after Purcell, British music wasn't up to much until Elgar appeared. British film music has always been of high quality - one only need think of William Walton, Arthur Bliss, George Auric and so forth - and the tradition is being upheld by plenty of hard working composers today. This double CD album is a recording of a concert celebrating that fact, with music by some of the most well known British composers for both film and television. Of the currently working composers included, George Fenton is almost certainly the most high profile, with Shadowlands and Memphis Belle being two of his most well known entries, particularly the spine tingling excitement of the latter, thrillingly featured here.
Colin Towns might not be an instantly recognisable name, but his music to Vampire's Kiss is a terrific mixture of spookiness and propulsive action, all offset by an unusual saxophone led main theme. Puppetmasters is a curious mixture of 80's rock and a weird orchestral hoe-down. Odd, but enjoyable. Debbie Wiseman has had a few hits, although her most famous, Wilde, is not featured. Haunted starts off quite in a creepy and uncharacteristic way, but the truly haunting main theme is quite wonderful. Tom and Viv and The Good Guys are both melancholy and slightly unsettling, but lovely in their own way. Barrington Pheloung is probably most famous for his theme to Inspector Morse and a concert arrangement is featured here, although the longer selections from Nostradamus, including some well conceived faux Gregorian chants accompanied by the orchestra, and the classic weepy, Truly, Madly, Deeply, with its aching, quasi-classical cello solos, are undoubtedly the more accomplished selections.
The second half kicks off with Joseph Horowitz's witty woodwind theme for the classical series, Rumpole of the Bailey, but is only an appetizer for the three selections from Christopher Gunning. Perhaps the best known on UK soil is his immortal theme to Poirot, although the best here is undoubtedly his terrific Cold Lazarus which contains action music that could give Jerry Goldsmith a run for his money on occasions. The lengthy suite contains some of the more brooding underscore, but it's the highly charged, brass dominated thrill rides that are the most memorable. Carl Davis is one of the most well known composers featured, perhaps unsurprising given the success he had with Pride and Prejudice, represented here with the charming, classical pastiche main theme. Champions is one of those tunes that crops up frequently for sporting events, ideal with its gloriously over the top sense of heroism. The French Lieutenant's Woman is more subtle and perhaps the most genuine of the three pieces of Davis' music on offer.
The album concludes with the late, great Ron Goodwin and three instantly famous scores, starting with The Battle of Britain, which might not be as brilliant as Walton's rejected effort, but it's syncopated marches are still brilliant and instantly recognisable. However, Those Magnificent Men and 633 Squadron are still Goodwin's most memorable contributions to cinema, it's almost unimaginable to have a Battle of Britain day without at least one rendition of 633 Squadron. One might quibble that Patrick Doyle and Rachel Portman aren't represented given that they are perhaps even more high profile than those featured, but the selection is still terrific. The performances and sound are generally good - bearing in mind this was a one off concert - although some tracks have quite a bit clapping afterward, plus some audience participation during Those Magnificent Men. The liner notes briefly detail the composers and their works, although the track listing has swapped Champions and The French Lieutenant's Woman, but anyone familiar with Davis' work will spot the error. British film and television music at its finest, a superb introduction.
Rating ~ 
Disc 1 ~ 70:41
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Disc 2 ~ 62:25
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