In 1969, the great Alfred Hitchcock made one of his secret dreams come true: to make a realistic James Bond, by adapting the best-seller Topaz, a spy novel about unmasking a traitor in the pay of Moscow within the French secret services. A solid plot, an international cast, exteriors shot in New York, Washington, Paris, Copenhagen and Havana: the old master only lacks a composer, to replace Bernard Herrmann, with whom he definitively fell out over The torn curtain. It will be Maurice Jarre, at the time living in Los Angeles for five years and already a double Oscar winner. “I was worried, even impressed at the idea of working with such a sacred monster,” Jarre emphasized. Bernard Herrmann's mark was so strong that I wondered if I would be able to take over." On arrival, Topaz is a pure concentrate of Maurice Jarre's talent: unusual orchestral Meccano (ondes Martenot, zither, synthesizer, accordion), heady melodies to the point of obsession, dizzying dive into Cuban folk rhythms. It is above all a great little-known score, where the element of melancholy and sad lyricism prevails over the thriller and espionage side. Specially restored from the original master tapes, the music of Topaz is published here for the first time. Until today, it was one of the last major Hitchcock scores unreleased on record. A must for fans of the master of suspense and Maurice Jarre.
Track listing
Total Duration: 00:46:26 SHIPS FROM THE UK | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||