14 The Mummy Sarcophagus | Jerry Goldsmith

Details

Description

The Mummy (Intrada Special Collection / Expanded Score) | Jerry Goldsmith

Full Soundtrack Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPv5mpdHouZqWvSHw0XiZhwdTWncUuzbj

© 1999 Universal Pictures Inc.

*Tech Talk From The Producer...* The most epic film score composed by Jerry Goldsmith in the 1990s was for Stephen Sommers’ wildly successful 1999 revival of The Mummy, bringing back one of the celebrated Universal cinematic monster icons, dating back to the 1930s. Utilizing a large orchestra with augmented percussion, full chorus and a judicious use of synthesized colors sprinkled throughout, Goldsmith composed and recorded nearly 100 minutes of music (including about ten minutes of alternates) with nods to his beloved action-and-suspense vernacular of the late ’70s and early ’80s, an era he seldom looked back upon by 1999. By this time, Goldsmith was usually rooting his rhythmic ideas in heavy doses of electronics, anticipating the upcoming scoring trend that evolved into the sound-design style that continues to this day. However, in a welcome move with his score for The Mummy, Goldsmith happily revisited a musical language he had largely moved away from, using real percussion, low brass and strings to deliver almost all the rhythms.

To present this entire score, including a handful of alternate versions of cues, we were given access to the complete sessions, recorded using the Sony PCM3348HR DASH 48-track digital format, about as state of the art as it came in the day. It took seven days during mid-to-late March to get everything down on tape, engineered by Mike Ross-Trevor at AIR Studios and Whitfield Street Recording Studios, both in London. The 48-track masters were then brought back to Sony Pictures Scoring in Culver City, where Bruce Botnick mixed everything down for both the six-channel (5.1) picture needs and the Decca stereo album that was released in 1999.

Goldsmith and Botnick selected 57 minutes of highlights for the album. Interestingly, they chose nothing from the middle of the film, eschewing all of reels 8, 9, 10 and most of reel 11. As a result, several sensational cues were not included on that Decca album, including some of the most exciting and dramatic sequences in the score. All of them are included in this expanded Intrada 2-CD release. Amongst many others, hear for the first time the fierce “Sand Storm” music, the action-packed “Escape From The Tomb,” “The Flies” and “The Prep Room.” We have also included both the film version of “The Locusts” (with a busier ending) and the alternate version with a streamlined ending and longer middle section. Goldsmith, indeed, recorded three different versions of this cue, with the third being the one included on the Decca album.

Another change for the album occurred with the “Giza Port” cue early in reel 4. The Decca album version featured chorus, but for the film itself the chorus was dropped. Both versions appear in this set. Still another change was made with “My Favorite Plague.” The alternate version, used in the film, had very active “sweeteners” (synthesizer embellishments), a tighter middle section and a re-scored chorus. The original version, used on the Decca album, featured less active sweeteners but a slightly longer mid-section and the original chorus. Again, both versions can be found on this Intrada release.

CD 1 offers the score in picture sequence, utilizing the takes heard in the film. Due to its 90-minute duration, this presentation continues on CD 2. Following are a pair of “extras”: the unused original versions of “The Locusts” and “My Favorite Plague.” And since Jerry Goldsmith and Bruce Botnick assembled the original Decca release from a hybrid of both film takes and alternates, we have included this unique assembly on CD 2 after the two extras.

For Intrada’s complete score presentation plus the alternates, Botnick has prepared brand-new digital two-track mixes of everything, using the 48-track session masters and revisiting his own work from 1999, albeit using today’s enhanced audio capabilities. For the complete Decca album presentation, we have used the digital two-track album master. All source material was housed in the vaults of Universal Pictures in pristine condition and has been used in the preparation of this release with their kind permission.

Universal’s The Mummy (1999), directed by Stephen Sommers, was one of the most successful films that Jerry Goldsmith ever scored. His music was surely a big part of that success. Listen now and discover why!

– Douglass Fake

*I OWN NOTHING IN THIS VIDEO. THIS IS UPLOADED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

#music
#soundtrack