Oliver Twist

Consider yourself at home... food glorious food... You've got to pick a pocket or two... Stop that! No, this isn't the Lionel Bart musical, but the classic David Lean version from 1948 and starring the late Sir Alec Guiness as Fagin and Robert Newton as Bill Sikes. This being over a decade before his working relationship with Maurice Jarre, David Lean secured the services of the then Master of the Queen's Music, Sir Arnold Bax. Along with his near contemporary Sir Arthur Bliss (Bax's successor as Master), Bax has been undergoing a renaissance recently and two fine cycles of his seven symphonies appeared in 2003, along with various recordings of his terrific tone poems, most famously the rugged evocation of Tintagel. Bax only wrote two film scores and both are premiered on another in Chandos' rather wonderful, but somewhat overlooked film music re-recordings.
The Prelude introduces the listener to the two main themes; one for the locket that holds the key to Oliver's identity and a curiously ambiguous string melody for Oliver himself. Bax doesn't sentimentalise the character, nor make his plight seem unnecessarily depressing. Neither is there any hint of the playfulness one might expect, however both are lovely melodies and used with care throughout. The Storm is one of the most intense episodes as Oliver's mother struggles with her unborn son. While much of the music was unused in the film, that which was used, together with the striking black and white cinematography makes for one of film's most memorable openings. Oliver Asks for More pre-empts some of the rogue-ish jauntiness as he steals away to London and meets with Fagin, the Artful Dodger and the evil Bill Sikes.

One of my earliest acquisitions as a soundtrack collector was Silva Screens' Cinema Century collection which thoughtfully included the sprightly Fagin's Romp and it's every bit as wonderful as I remembered. There follows a run of rather more uproarious cues, but Oliver at Mr Brownlow's House is a gorgeous change of pace, highlighting the piano (before it became a cliché for such domestic scenes) and some lovely string writing. The darker hues of the final third become notably manifest in Oliver's Abduction and Mr Brownlow's Grief. Due to time pressures, Bax adapted material from In Memorium, an orchestral work composed years earlier, for Dawn After the Murder, but the tone seems perfect for the scene and Bax weaves it in deftly. Two versions of the Finale are included; the first, used in the film, concludes with an heraldic flourish, whereas Bax's preferred alternate is a less showy, but equally winning conclusion.

A selection of highlights from his score to Malta, GC, made by the Crown Film Unit in recognition of the island's heroic resistance to air attacks during the First World War, rounds out the album. Unsurprisingly, after such a splendid and dramatically mixed score as Oliver Twist, Malta, GC is a less striking achievement, but no less enjoyable. The cue titles are perfectly descriptive - even if Gay March is meant in the 1940's sense than the modern sense - and for all the doubt Bax expressed over the medium of film scoring (doubts he also expressed while writing Oliver Twist), the composer is in sunny and, for Quiet Interlude in particular, laid back mood. Work and Play is by turns industrious and jolly, while the noble March is a more obviously fitting tribute to the bravery of the Maltese.

For a composer who wrote only two film scores, Bax's music perfectly fulfills the multiple requirements of writing for the screen. The deftness with which he moves from moving drama to almost Korngoldian intricacy - such as The Fight which mimics the action impeccably, but without becoming overblown. The BBC Philharmonic under the redoubtable Rumon Gamba turn in another fine performance. One does occasionally wish that the Chandos engineers had traded in a little of the sonic lushness for a touch more clarity on occasion, but it's a minor quibble and does nothing to spoil a splendid package. Oliver Twist's score has been expertly reconstructed to represent Bax's original intentions and anything jettisoned for the final mix of the film is adroitly re-inserted. The notes give a fine overview of the score, its composer and performers and, as such, another winning release from Chandos.