Kaufman Returns to Early Tiomkin

Tiomkin: From New York to Hollywood—Music for Albertina Rasch and Classic Films Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Richard Kaufman Intrada 7191 Total Time:  72:13 Recording:   ****/****Performance: ****/****

In 2020, Intrada released a fascinating collection of ballet music by Dimitri Tiomkin (1894-1979) composed for the Albertina Rasch Dancers (INT 7158).  Rasch (1891-1976), was an early pioneer of modern dance and after some success on Broadway with Ziegfield productions.  Tiomkin, as her husband, had an excellent opportunity to provide music for some of her early Hollywood work and it is among his early scoring material.  Richard Kaufman’s program here with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra somewhat picks up where that earlier disc left off.  The music here was recorded during the same period sessions for The Old Man and the Sea (INT 7182), also worth adding to your music library!

The album begins with the “Fashion Ballet” which was used in M-G-M’s Our Blushing Brides (1930) which certainly has that pit orchestra Broadway sound in a rather light-hearted period fashion.  That same year, Tiomkin composed a “Swan Ballet” for Rogue Song.  While there is no surviving print of this film, the musical sequence was used in 1933’s Broadway to Hollywood and the music reappears in a reconstructed score from Paul Henning.  A brief arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” is followed up by a Gershwin-esque piece based on music by Chopin, Chopiniana which is simply delightful.  New versions of two pieces from the earlier Paris Under the Stars album, (“Gitana” and “Fandango”) which provide a look at some of the composer’s earlier dramatic work with hints of what was to come.  Next up is “Moon Ballet” whose original film intent was not realized and the music ended up in an M-G-M short (“Hello Pop!”.  The current recording comes from parts in the Tiomkin USC archive.  The “Gypsy Song” was used in the Spanish version of Resurrection and here we get the instrumental version.  The last smaller bit of music here is the “Main Title” from More Than a Secretary, a 1936 romantic comedy that listed Morris Stoloff as “musical director”, where Tiomkin features musical gestures from contemporary jazz and swing styles. 

Three early film scores are also featured with a bit more music in semi-suite style.  First up is an extended suite from Lost Horizon (1937) running just under 13 minutes as well as a track for the exquisite “Love Theme”.  The suite is the same that he put together for a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 1938.  The interesting blend of Russian and Asian elements takes its inspiration from Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin.  It is also worth noting that one of the suite’s orchestrators is William Grant Still.  The music of Johann Strauss, Jr. was the focus of Tiomkin’s score for 1938’s biographical film The Great Waltz.  This is the same music John Mauceri arranged and recorded for Philips (438 685) with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.  The music here is a fine example of the blend of existing classical material with Tiomkin’s own style.  A three-part suite of music from It’s A Wonderful Life (arranged by Christopher Palmer) closes out this section of film music.  A little encore of sorts is the nightclub music from D.O.A. (1950), “Fisherman’s Jive” from one of the more interestingly-scored sequences in that classic film noir. 

The present release is an enjoyable blend of lighter Tiomkin with the suites bringing out some of the composer’s thematic gifts more.  One can hear how he has embraced the elements of 1920s-30s jazz and merged them into his own Ukrainian/Russian musical traditions.  It is still a bit early for much of the first part of the disc to distinguish his unique musical style, but by the time we get to the music for Lost Horizon it is beginning to appear and the opportunity to hear that progression in this release is quite valuable.

Detailed program notes by Warren Sherk and Frank DeWald help guide the listener through the historical aspects of these pieces.  The music itself is all quite engaging and the performances feel quite committed.  The audio has a dry edge to it that befits film music and lends a bit of authenticity.  It can feel a bit boxed in for larger orchestral climaxes but this is not distracting overall.  The orchestra responds well here to this music with some excellent solo work strewn throughout.  If Tiomkin fans have been following these Intrada releases, this one can come highly recommended and it will fill in some of those earlier works in the composer’s oeuvre.  The current release will certainly be among the highlights of 2026.