Enemies, A Love Story

I'm not entirely sure what the subtitle 'American Gothic' is meant to signify, but the material here is from a wide range of television and radio dramas, several of which were never actually aired. Indeed, the opening Landmark Theme was for a pilot show, about historical figures, that never got off the ground. However, Herrmann's vaguely militaristic, percussive and brassy opening and end titles is pleasingly dynamic and recalls fond memories of his few war film scores, notably the underrated Battle of Neretva. The Walt Whitman Suite is from a radio series and is perhaps the highlight of the disc. For all the melodrama and excitement in his best known scores, Herrmann's slightly melancholy pastoral style has produced some of his finest scores. The ensemble of strings, harp and percussion bring back fond memories of the gently eerie moments in Fahrenheit 451 filtered through hints of The Ghost and Mrs Muir, surely one of his finest film scores. There are some more dynamic segments, notably the bracing Processionals and Indian Gathering, which use piercing strings to replace the brass in a stark, but driving arrangement.

The Ethan Allen Suite was written for an unaired drama about the Revolutionary War hero. Herrmann's score for brass and timpani is as striking and martial as one would expect, even if there are a few static moments and the musicians sometimes sound like they're getting through it by the skin of their teeth. To compliment the western suites from the first CBS album, The Desert Suite is another selection of library cues which are variably interesting, but all constrained in terms of interest by their repetitive nature. Despite the suggestion of this being location specific music, there is little grandeur, Herrmann preferring to concentrate on the starkness rather than the beauty, although North Horizon does suggest a touch more spectacle. Another unseen pilot, Collector's Item actually sounds like a modestly interesting proposal revolving around art forgery. Herrmann's music makes it all sound like a thriller, but it isn't really that interesting on its own and never really goes anywhere. Radio drama The Moat Farm Murders receives a tense score to underpin the madness of the murderer and makes pretty uneasy listening.

Brave New World was a radio version of Aldous Huxley's tale of the future and Herrmann scores for a curious mixture of percussion and Hammond organ, giving the future a sterile, glistening aura that is quite entrancing and very strange. As much of the music was written and recorded for radio, the budgets were clearly tight and so the sound quality is a little abrasive at times. The high end is very shrill and some of the Walt Whitman tracks pierce right through the listener at anything above a low to moderate volume, although it could be argued that it all adds to the drama. Still, the clarity is fine and the level of hiss and distortion generally low, certainly better than one would have any right to expect from such low budget and relatively old recordings. Generally more interesting than the first volume, although more casual listeners will likely find much of it hard going, especially in the very repetitive tracks, but the finest moments are as good as Herrmann's film work.