Bernard Herrmann: Sym No. 1; Suite Devil & Daniel Webster; Con Macabre

Like Korngold, Herrmann was a consummate movie composer: his only Symphony -inventive, soundly constructed, always eventful and excitingly scored - successfully taps a harmonically tangy, neoromantic vein reminiscent of Barber at his best... The Devil & Daniel Webster (Suite) was assembled shortly after the film's score won it's Oscar... Herrmann treats several New England folk-tunes to his own special brand of orchestral wizardry. The score is both a gentle, sepia-tinted portrait of rustic Americana and a wickedly endearing account of Mr Scratch's devilish interventions... The 1943 berceuse For the Fallen, is a brief, but poignant lament for the soldiers killed in action... James Sedares and the NZSO are on top form throughout this valuable addition to Koch's concert works by acclaimed film composers" (Gramophone)