Sunday 31 August 2014

Harry Revel

Music Out Of The Moon (1947) ... 

Musical direction by Les Baxter who formed an unusual group around cello, french horn, theremin and 12 voice choir ... Theremin played by Dr Samuel Hoffman, who played on Hitchcock's Spellbound soundtrack ... Original released as 3x 78rpm disc album, considered the best selling theremin record of all time ...

Lunar Rhapsody ...


Celestial Nocturne ...
"Harry Revel created the basic "idea" and themes while Leslie Baxter, conductor and arranger, has given them appropriately unique tone color, using mass harmonies of human voices as well as unusual instrumental effects with woodwinds, strings and bass; some without rhythm, others with a dominant, demanding beat [...] The artist who plays the Theremin is Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman, whose brilliant technique was heard in "Spellbound", "Lost weekend", "Spiral staircase" and "The Red House"... (from liner notes)


Moon Moods ('Les Paul-ish' guitar) ...

Les Baxter's instrumentation on "Music Out of the Moon" was unusual and experimental. The Theremin, wordless voices and a piano are prominent in a relatively small group of varying instrumentation including violins, harp, organ, woodwinds, and percussion. At times, a mild swing/jazz aura dominates, and at other times, the mood is rapturous. The overall result is a listening experience that lives up to the title, albeit in a quaint and somewhat dated manner. The amazing cover, featuring a scantily clad young woman seemingly emerging from a moon-like surface, was revolutionary in its time... ele-mental.org ...


Neil Armstrong took a cassette of this album on his trip to the Moon in 1969 ...

Mist o' the Moon ...



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