MUSIC FOR THE FILMS OF ROY WEBB

Nine times out of ten, when I see a 1940s or '50s movie and can't place the music (is it Steiner? maybe Victor Young?), the answering credit on the screen will proclaim: Roy Webb. This self-effacing composer produced some 300 Hollywood scores yet is the man least remembered when one is talking about film music. William T. Stromberg and John Morgan, who helm 90 percent of Marco Polo's film music series, have tried to set that right with this release, which features suites from the moody horror films associated with producer Val Lewton. The music is barely noticeable when you watch the movies, partly because of the noisy optical tracks, which swallow woodwind solos like a frog gulps mayflies; but also because these scores don't call attention to themselves owing to their effectiveness at complementing the movie they accompany. In his excellent notes, which really amount to an extended essay, Scott MacQueen points out that Webb was the very best composer at writing music that could accompany dialogue without obscuring it. Taking the scores out of the movie and putting them in the studio and on CD allows us to discover some positively rhapsodic melodies and some genuinely scary stuff, too, all of it totally effective. This is music of very high quality, and it is played to a turn by the excellent orchestra. Stromberg unerringly guides the players in the right direction to produce readings that seem entirely idiomatic and definitive. The recorded sound is about as good as one could ask for.
This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media.

1.?Main Title (01:20)
Cat People
2.?Irena (01:55)
Cat People
3.?The Cat People (02:26)
Cat People
4.?Irena and Oliver (02:20)
Cat People
5.?Need for Help (02:49)
Cat People
6.?The Evil Call (01:38)
Cat People
7.?The Aftermath (01:12)
Cat People
8.?Dream Sequence (01:14)
Cat People
9.?Too Late (01:51)
Cat People
10.?Horror Sequence (01:06)
Cat People
11.?Dr. Judd Murdered (01:23)
Cat People
12.?End Title (02:30)
Cat People
13.?Main Title (02:12)
Bedlam
14.?The Quaker (01:51)
Bedlam
15.?Nell's Escape (01:07)
Bedlam
16.?End Title (01:48)
Bedlam
17.?Main Title (01:11)
The Seventh Victim
18.?Principal's Office (01:50)
The Seventh Victim
19.?Mary Sees Jacqueline (03:31)
The Seventh Victim
20.?Jacqueline Is Found (01:36)
The Seventh Victim
21.?Jacqueline (00:57)
The Seventh Victim
22.?The Pallidists' Trial (03:04)
The Seventh Victim
23.?The Chase (02:24)
The Seventh Victim
24.?Desirous of Death (01:42)
The Seventh Victim
25.?Love Scene (02:10)
The Seventh Victim
26.?End Title (00:25)
The Seventh Victim
27.?Main Title (01:32)
The Body Snatcher
28.?Edinburgh (01:17)
The Body Snatcher
29.?The First Body (03:43)
The Body Snatcher
30.?Finale (01:56)
The Body Snatcher
31.?Main Title (01:38)
I Walked With A Zombie
32.?Chant (01:55)
I Walked With A Zombie
33.?Fort Holland (00:55)
I Walked With A Zombie
34.?Zombie (03:22)
I Walked With A Zombie
35.?Dr. Maxwell (02:22)
I Walked With A Zombie
36.?End Title (03:23)
I Walked With A Zombie