Monsignor

It seems that very few people have actually heard of, let alone listened to Williams' score for Monsignor largely due to its long absence from CD, but thanks to Intrada, it's finally freed from its original, long out of print, LP release. The biggest stumbling block with having the score released was likely the film itself (about double dealings in the Catholic Church; don't mention the choirboys) which was a dismal flop and despite the presence of Christopher Reeve, sank without trace. As is his wont, Williams opens the album with what is actually the end credit, but is a great concert arrangement (which never shows up in even the most generous of the composer's compilations, let alone at his concerts) to open the album which starts off with gentle balalaika (I think, the notes don't say) before presenting the main theme on trumpet, which gives off a hint of Rota, but when the orchestra swells it couldn't be anyone but Williams.

The score is surprisingly different from other efforts around the same time, remembering of course that this is during his epic Star Wars to Return of the Jedi phase and the same year as ET. Despite the fairly talky subject matter, the music is often energetic and occasionally quite balletic. This is no more apparent in the quite marvellous Meeting in Sicily; it follows in a long line of great Williams scherzos and something of a forerunner to that in Last Crusade of all things, but with the delicacy of his earlier Ride to Thornfield from Jane Eyre. It builds in such a way that you are unwittingly swept up in the breathless final few phrases. Another highlight is the very imposing Gloria, complete with church organ and chorus. The opening is unnervingly portentous, the organ rather overbearing, but once it gets going is quite splendid and hugely memorable, bringing back memories of North's masterpiece The Shoes of the Fisherman. Of the more introspective moments, the highlight is the suitably ennobling Santoni's Compassion, which actually hints towards Williams' more recent style.

At the Forum provides a lovely reprise of the main theme and brings to a close a most surprising entry in the enviable list of scores Williams has penned. The obscurity of the film is certainly no reason to dismiss the music; while Jerry Goldsmith scored one dud, unworthy of his talents, after another, Williams' track record is truly astounding. This release from Intrada contains the same cues as the LP, but do not fret, for the 38 minutes present all but a couple of minutes of the entire score and a couple of tracks (notably the splendid Meeting in Sicily) which didn't make it to the film at all. Like Heartbeeps of a couple of years later, it's an odd entry and a rare flop in the composer's filmography, but fills an important gap in his discography. All we need now is Black Sunday and all of his major works would be on CD. A fine release, with useful notes and great sound.