THEME SETS & LIFE'S RITUAL

Renowned film and television composer John Scott contributed a sizeable body of music to the Bruton Music library in the late 1970s and early ’80s. His film scores include A Study in Terror (1965), Doomwatch (1972), Antony and Cleopatra (1972), England Made Me (1973) and Satan’s Slave (1976), and in the 1960s he was one of Britain’s leading jazz and session musicians (alto sax/flute) at which time he formed the Johnny Scott Quintet. The albums compiled here represent two of the best albums he wrote for Bruton. Scored for orchestra and rhythm section, Theme Sets’ music is in a grandiose yet contemporary vein and in some ways similar to his film soundtracks of the time such as North Dallas Forty (1979) and The Final Countdown (1980). The influence of some of the music Scott wrote for the Return of the Saint television series also filters through into various pieces. The result is an exciting fusion of modern rhythms with sweeping orchestration. Contrastingly, the Life’s Ritual album was written for smaller forces: Scott employed woodwind, synthesizer and rhythm section as well as ethnic percussion instruments in this atmospheric suite descriptive of life in a natural environment.
Includes an 8-page booklet detailing the history of Bruton Music as well as biographical information and the stories behind the albums.
Remastered from the original analogue tapes. First time on CD.

“It’s a good few years now since library music cuts like these - never intended for public consumption - started making their way into the hands of us plebs via a mix of fortuitous car-booting and well curated compilations. Suddenly it was possible to hear again some of the great incidental music and theme tunes that filled the TV airwaves throughout the ’70s and ’80s. Many of the composers and musicians involved in those long-ago sessions became, if not quite household names, a little less anonymous. These new collections and re-issues from Vocalion prove that there’s still some gold left to mine as we play our game of ‘where’s that one from?’”

“The original production (and performance) of all these recordings was top-notch and these new transfers gleam. Extensive liner notes … give a history of the Bruton library and informative, comprehensive biographies for each of the composers. Very impressive too is the packaging, which evokes the collectable colour-coded styling of the original library albums while making it less utilitarian. These are niche artefacts, but if it’s your niche, snap them up.”

“… John Scott’s Theme Sets and Life’s Ritual are also presented in theiroriginal format and are the mostpurpose-written collections here. Theformer is filmic and dramatic, thelatter by turns pastoral, funky andmoody in a slightly unsettling way …”

Christopher Budd, Shindig! magazine, March 2015

Theme Sets
The original LP BRJ 17 (1980) STEREO

Orchestral suites of differing treatments of basic themes

Proud Surroundings 1
Proud Surroundings 2
Proud Surroundings 3
Proud Surroundings 4
Ominous Surroundings 1
Ominous Surroundings 2
Ominous Surroundings 3
Ominous Surroundings 4
Ominous Surroundings 5
Pentagon 1
Pentagon 2
Pentagon 3
Pentagon 4
Pentagon 5
Pentagon 6
Pentagon 7
Pentathlon
Thrilling Surroundings 1
Thrilling Surroundings 2
War Games 1
War Games 2
War Games 3
War Games 4
Danger Sign 1
Danger Sign 2
One Step Ahead 1
One Step Ahead 2
One Step Ahead 3
Places to See 1
Places to See 2
Places to See 3
Places to See 4

All titles composed by John Scott

Recorded at CTS Studios, Wembley, Middlesex
Recording engineer: John Richards
Producer: Robin Phillips

Life’s Ritual
The original LP BRJ 18 (1980) STEREO

An unusual atmospheric suite descriptive of life in a natural environment

Nature’s Ritual
Nature’s Ritual links
Nature’s Ritual bridge
Nature’s Revelations 1
Nature’s Revelations 2
Utopia
Utopia Revisited 1
Utopia Revisited 2
Utopia Revisited 3
Nocturne
Nocturnal Ritual
Hidden Mysteries
Caution
Habitat 1
Habitat 2
Habitat 3
Habitat 4
Relentless Approach 1
Relentless Approach 2
Relentless Approach 3
Relentless Approach 4

All titles composed by John Scott