The White Dawn

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At last! One of Henry Mancini's most involved, impressive scores (and a personal favorite of his) finally gets world premiere release! Philip Kaufman film was challenging project chronicling 1896 plight of three shipwrecked American whalers off coast of Northern Canada. How each is differently affected by environment, group of Inuit nomads that rescue them, ultimate violence that ensues forms basis of unusual outdoor drama. Warren Oates, Timothy Bottoms, Lou Gossett star alongside the Eskimo People of the Canadian Arctic. Mancini melds two diverse ideas - simple, fluid melody for Inuit people and involved orchestral statements for full orchestra and percussion - resulting in rich, diverse yet incredibly coherent musical experience. Woodwinds (particularly family of flutes) often get spotlight for numerous melodic ideas. Dynamic percussion also have their say, as do terse brass chords in select dramatic moments. Great music! Long not available for album releasing due various missing elements, now through combined efforts of Intrada, Paramount Pictures, Henry Mancini Archives and Lukas Kendall of FSM, full presentation of entire score is possible, albeit orchestral cues, many layers of quasi-improvisational solos, vocal chants and percussion tracks were only mixed and vaulted in mono. Every precious tidbit is included but myriad elements exhibit considerable degree of hiss, even after restoration efforts. That said, careful preservation and presentation of masterful score yields important CD for seventies soundtrack fans and Henry Mancini collectors alike! Authoritative notes by John Takis plus flipper cover offering two different artwork approaches completes handsome package. Interesting to note Mancini adapted a brief suite of WHITE DAWN themes for concert performance, years later director Kaufman includes one such sequence from RCA concert recording in his epic THE RIGHT STUFF feature! Henry Mancini conducts.