Here are a couple of Q and A's from the chat:
DHARMESH: When did you start thinking about the Superman box set?
MIKE MATESSINO: It's hard to recall exactly how and when it came about but I think it basically came out of learning that the Rhino release was going out of print right around the time we started hearing about Warner Bros.' "Year of Superman" line-up.
So I think it was in early 2006 that Lukas made the initial inquiries and found out that licensing all the scores would be possible if it were done as a box set. We initially had a pipe dream of coming out in 2006 but as I didn't start actual work on the music until July we soon realized that this wasn't practical.
As it turned out I think we might have gotten "lost in the crowd" so it's nice that our release will stand out as an event of its own.
...DHARMESH: The orchestration of Superman: The Movie’s End Title sounds like a “finality” to a film rather than a larger than life beginning. The history of the Superman March is convoluted, and the main title, as heard in the film, is actually a combination of three different recordings.
Although the history is explained in the accompanying book, can you explain the placement of the tracks on the CD?
It's very hard to explain this without sounding confusing, and as you say pages 58-59 of the book provide an explanation for the three versions of the march, the two editorially created ones, and where they were used.
But as for how we came to program them on CD as we now have them, it all stemmed from my desire to present the score as Williams intended it. That meant beginning with the revised Prelude and Main Title, even though the march portion was, in the film, used for the end title.
I initially felt that same sense of "finality" that you mentioned, but after a while I realized that the score makes more sense with the composer's intended opening. If you put that version against the picture you'll see that certain flourishes of the orchestra are meant to synchronize with some of the animated space imagery.
So I'd go as far as to say that the sense of it being an end title comes solely from years of hearing it as such. Listen to the score a few times and you'll see that it works as it should. I have not been able to find out why the change was made, but it's the composer's intended opening and that's what drove the decision.
However, realizing that this could be slightly disorienting to certain listeners, we then came up with the idea of preceding it with something absolutely familiar to open the disc itself: the editorially created "Theme from Superman." This was the first track of the original 1978 album and it served, I felt, as a kind of overture, which makes the unfamiliar - but accurate - intended version work much better. This approach meant that the score would conclude with the end title that Williams intended, which is what was presented on the original 1978 album.
It was the march portion of that version which, in the film, was used for the main title. After the “Love Theme”, which concludes the film's end credits, we have the original Prelude and Main Title kicking off all of our alternates. It leads into the alternate of "The Planet Krypton" as originally intended (these were on separate discs on the Rhino release), and then the sequence of alternates ends with the film version of the “End Title”, which I felt gave us a satisfying way to bring the 2-disc Superman: The Movie presentation to a conclusion.
The editorially created film version of the Main Title likewise gave us a perfect way to open disc 8.
DHARMESH: After sampling some cues from Superman II, I was floored by the sound quality of the Ken Thorne material. It sounded vibrant and multi-layered. Some have insulted Ken Thorne’s adaptation as a “High School Marching Band”. Was Ken aware of this?
MM: I know recording engineer John Richards and his work, so I knew that if an original source was found that it would sound stunning. But it did still need a bit of work because I really wanted listeners to have the reaction you had to it. So I put some effort into punching it up and then Doug Schwartz followed through with that on his end.
Yes, Superman II was recorded with a smaller ensemble than for the first score, but it's no high school marching band unless England's have full string sections and choirs.
The way the music sounds in the film does create a false impression, though, and it's still a mystery why it was compromised to such an extreme.
Unfortunately, Ken did come across some of the comments about it a while back, and he was very surprised by some of the negativity. Superman II was something he worked very hard on and reading comments dismissing it so flippantly all these years later didn't make him feel too good.
So I hope this new release brings about some retraction of the 'high school band' comments. Some of London's best players were used for Superman II and the performance and recording quality are both excellent.
I would agree. At one time I owned the Superman II score on LP and thought the recording quality made the music sound like it came from a marching band. However, I have listened to samples of the SII score as released in the box set online, thankfully the quality is improved beyond belief...
If you are into this kind of film topic. Be sure to read the entire interview. It's worth the click.
I can't wait until my copy arrives...
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