INTRADA Announces:
THE WAY WEST
Music Composed by BRONSILAU KAPER
Conducted by ANDRE PREVIN
INTRADA Special Collection Volume 92
The 1967 United Artists film The Way West was based on a novel by A. B. Guthrie. Noteworthy for its sensitive prose and attention to detail, Guthrie’s book won wide praise as historical fiction, telling the tale of a wagon train journey from Missouri to Oregon’s Klamath Valley in 1843. In its transition to the big screen, everything grew larger than life. The film is remarkable for presenting the challenges faced by a wagon train in a realistic manner, including competition from cattle drivers, fear of disease, shortages of food and water, and keeping peace with Indian tribes. Frankly speaking, it’s a long, hard slog and anything but glamorous. Kirk Douglas played Sen. William J. Tadlock, the visionary leader of the expedition, determined to make the 1800-mile trek at any cost. Robert Mitchum is veteran guide Dick Summers, who is coaxed out of retirement following the death of his Native-American wife. And Richard Widmark plays farmer Lije Evans, a rough-and-tumble everyman who verbalizes his objections on behalf of the settlers.
For The Way West, Bronislau Kaper wrote a strong, confident orchestral score. Kaper wrote themes for characters, not just mood, and the tuneful basis for his score begins with the first track of the album. As the Liberty Train rolls out of Independence, the narrator intones “On the Sixteenth of April, 1843, the sun rose in the east, and headed west…over Missouri,” which then becomes the lyrics to “The Way West” (featuring The Serendipity Singers). While it was common practice to re-sequence songs so that they appear at the beginning of an LP, there’s more at work here: The motive that emerges in this tune provides the basis for Kaper’s score. From a comical country waltz, to exciting action set pieces, Kaper covers the much ground in his diversely-scored western.
Previous releases of The Way West were not without their flaws. Even the original UA LP had a five second drop-out, which carried over to other releases, until the score showed up on an abbreviated CD, where the producers simply and abruptly edited it out. With access to all the original elements at MGM, Intrada is proud to present the original LP program, complete, in stereo, and flawless as intended!
This release is limited to 1200 copies.
INTRADA Special Collection - Volume 92
Retail Price: 19.99
AVAILABLE NOW
For track listing and sound samples, please visit
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.6099/.f
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