JUDITH
Composed and Conducted by SOL KAPLAN
INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 277
Premiere 2-CD release of entire original soundtrack from Daniel Mann post-WWII adventure set during 1947-48 formation of State of Israel, starring Sophia Loren, Peter Finch, Jack Hawkins, from Lawrence Durrell story. Concentration camp survivor Judith seeks revenge against former husband who collaborated with Nazis while Arab attack looms in background. Tragedy, romance, location filming all add to color, dramatic impact. Getting spotlight is superb score by Sol Kaplan. One of the strongest orchestral themes in all 1960’s film scoring anchors, powerfully launching in minor with sweeping dips into major. Kaplan surrounds stirring melody for Judith with rousing energetic music for Israeli inhabitants of new State. Kaplan scores numerous set pieces in story. Highlights here include “hora theme” that drives much of the action, dynamic music for illegal landing sequence, flavorful music for Damascus, serious-toned Judith’s breakdown scene, many others. Tour-de-force tympani writing another asset. Yet no matter how involved Kaplan digs into drama, powerhouse main theme always remains close at hand. Now haunting, now brooding, now passionate, now powerful – always moving. Magnificent music! 68-minute soundtrack plus alternates plays on CD 1, mastered from 1/4″ mono masters housed in Sol Kaplan Collection at University of Wyoming, courtesy Paramount Pictures. CD 2 offers original 1966 RCA label re-recorded LP, presented from original stereo album masters preserved in beautiful condition. This RCA album was itself a masterpiece production, incorporating many of the score’s highlights in magnificent recording made in London in August 1965, following actual soundtrack sessions. Finish to both soundtrack and re-recording deserves special mention: when respective programs wrap, Kaplan hammers out main theme in powerful fortissimo unison for entire orchestra, brass to the fore. One of the great film score codas! Notes by Jeff Bond illuminate film production, score while dramatic graphic design by Joe Sikoryak offers “flipper” cover with two artwork choices. Sol Kaplan conducts
The 1965 Paramount film JUDITH gave composer Sol Kaplan a rare opportunity to score a big-budget epic. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, scored the same year and released recently by Intrada, was an espionage thriller who’s chilly realism had called for a spare, bleakly moody score. In striking contrast, Judith’s bold melodrama required something big, which Kaplan handily provided. His robust score, performed by the Sinfonia of London, features two primary themes: a powerful, anthem-like theme for Judith, and a hora—a traditional Israeli folk dance— for the kibbutz and its people.
RCA Victor released a re-recorded LP album of Judith featuring 38 minutes of music, a fairly generous presentation for the period (sourced here from ¼″ stereo tape album masters and presented on disc two). But Kaplan recorded well over an hour of music for the film and this Intrada presentation of the score (courtesy ¼″ mono tapes from the Kaplan Collection at the University of Wyoming and featured on disc 1) reveals the composition’s full scope and variety for the first time.
Judith centers on events leading up to the partitioning of Palestine and the formation of the State of Israel during 1947 and 1948. Sophia Loren plays concentration camp survivor Judith Auerbach, who is smuggled into Palestine by the Haganah, the Israeli underground army, to help identify her former husband, Gustav Schiller (Hans Verner). Schiller betrayed Judith and her son to the Nazis to cement his position in the Party during the war. Now, the Haganah suspects he is training Arab tank commanders in Syria for an attack that will take place when the protective British Army forces withdraw. The fiery Judith takes the assignment, but she really intends to kill Schiller for causing the death of her son.
TRACKLIST
CD 1
01. Paramount Insignia (0:12)
02. Main Theme (3:06)
03. Judith’s Breakdown #3 (2:09)
04. Judith’s Breakdown #1 (2:51)
05. The Cabin (1:20)
06. Work (1:53)
07. Skirmish/Poppies (2:10)
08. Waiting for Aaron (1:49)
09. Judith’s Breakdown #2 (1:09)
10. Judith’s Discovery #1 (2:08)
11. The Nursery (2:37)
12. Kibbutz Hora/Illegal Landing (7:20)
13. Major Lawton’s Waltz (1:09)
14. The Strip #1/The Strip #2 (2:04)
15. Major Lawton’s Waltz #3/I Will Pay for It (2:00)
16. Major Lawton’s Waltz #2/Judith’s Discovery #2 (3:56)
17. Damascus (9:35)
18. After the Shot/Return to Kibbutz (1:24)
19. British Leave/The Nursery (2:12)
20. Schiller’s Warning (1:51)
21. Aaron (1:13)
22. Karl Is Alive/The Information (2:00)
23. Trust Me (0:40)
24. Theme for Judith #2 (1:37)
Total Score Time: 59:20
The Extras
25. Theme for Judith (special arrangement for album) (3:00)
26. Main Theme (alternate #1) (3:12)
27. Main Theme (alternate #2) (1:30)
28. Theme for Judith #2 (alternate) (1:30)
Total Extras Time: (9:18)
Total CD Time: 68:44
CD 2
01. Main Theme (3:45)
02. The Nursery (3:22)
03. Poppies and Work (2:35)
04. Judith’s Breakdown (4:09)
05. The Strip (2:06)
06. Major Lawton’s Waltz (2:08)
07. Theme for Judith (3:10)
08. Kibbutz Hora (2:29)
09. Illegal Landing (2:11)
10. Damascus (4:53)
11. Judith’s Discovery (3:03)
12. Schiller’s End (2:46)
Total CD Time: 37:02
