British film music, 1/14, William Walton - Battle of Britain - 'Battle In The Air'

[corcaighrebel]

ASTONISHING PIECE OF MUSIC, wish to God I was there in the Albert Hall that night!

[benylemoni]

Red 2 much closer that i can hardy see you!, Now stick to me like glue!

[pazuma]

'Its like shooting rats in a barrel!'

'You'll be in a barrel if you dont watch out for the fighters'

[vividwatch47]

I always preferred Sir William Walton's score to Ron Goodwin's score for "The Battle Of Britain", and the sound of the celli simulating the sound of the propellers has got to be the best case of film music imitating the sound of aircraft since Hugo Friedhofer's use of brass imitating the sound of the B17s in "The Best Years Of Our Lives" where Fred Derry sits in the cockpit in one of the abandoned planes.

[peteste1]

This is an absolutely seminal piece of film music - it turns quite some not great film making in this scene into jaw-dropping action. The German theme is great too - all the more so for it being composed by an English composer.

[corcaighrebel]

@peteste1 how right you are my friend, the music took the film to a whole new level, this is an astonishing sequence, just watching the movie on my 32 inch screen as I write and all I can say is: WOW, WOW, WOW!

[elh666]

I absolutely *adore* the french horn solo in the 'Siegfried Music' section of this :]

[elh666]

@elh666 Oh wait, they're not doing the whole suite. Ignore me! xD (but look it up)

[peppersax]

Boy, you can really hear how John Williams was influenced by this great composer.

[johno1066]

Wonderful stuff, the contrast between this and the muck they produce with X-factor hold no bounds.

[tuftybox1821]

Battle in the air - the incredible urgency of this music really communicates the terror of what those young men experienced. But no one will ever know of course except them.

We literally owe everything to them.

[h0ll0wm9n]

I think I've heard almost all versions, including ... orig. 1969 M. Arnold-conducted score (2nd best, but see comments below); Chandos (Neville Marriner, AoSMitF, 1990; So-so perf.); EMI (Carl Davis, 1987. AWFUL perf.!). But this one from BBC Proms 2007 blew me away: Very tight, dynamic, and CONTROLLED performance. It's fast-paced but never rushed.

[h0ll0wm9n]

@h0ll0wm9n ... (cont) "Rushed" with what I might call "asymmetric tempo/meter" is how I'd describe Arnold's orig. 1969 performance (but he may have HAD to do this -- i.e., sacrifice pace and flow performance, by compressing or stretching tempo/meter -- to fit film edits/cues).

The YouTube version's sound quality is decent (and hints at what full-rez may be capable of!!), but, alas, not in stereo and image is cropped from 16x9 to 4:3.

[h0ll0wm9n]

@h0ll0wm9n ... (cont. 2) Can't find the 2007 Proms on DVD or CD (source, anyone?). I would LOVE to have a higher-quality version -- video, audio-only, whatever. Please reply in-thread or we can communicate off-list. Thx!

[h0ll0wm9n]

Walton piece -- possibly best ever performance. Hats off to John Wilson / BBC Orch.

marcosnardon ... thx for uploading. Too bad image sides are cropped (modern broadcasts are captured in 16x9 'widescreen' HD). Also, no stereo :(

Was this released on DVD or CD? (recall years ago Walton Sym 1 was on BBC Music magazine CD)

[Azena63]

The men...the machines....the battle and the bravery in the air....all summed up in the most wonderful and inspiring piece of music. Sheer genius.

[tklogan11809]

Sad by the way if James Bernard wasn't part of this. He was in many ways the most popular of British film music composers, with his brilliant Hammer Films scores.

[MoBinger]

I dont´t get it... i look for William Wallton... and what is, what i get??? John Williams... Harry Potter... Well nice Music... in Fact the only Place where you can hear it on YOUTUBE... but...

[ewaf88]

The musis would have gone very well with the attack on the Death Star sequence from Star Wars. I may edit it on to see what it looks like. By the way have you noticeed how the opening fanfare sounds like part of the Superman theme by John Williams? (although predating it by 10 years)

[tomenicus]

"Is there everything up? No Reserve? THat's what I told to prime minister..."

[Elitist20]

@tomenicus

'Is everything up?'

'The lot, sir.'

'Reserves?'

'None.'

'That's what I've just told the Prime Minister.'

[LockAndLoadp]

@Elitist20 Come in Blue 2...

[NonInflatable]

Fabulous music from Walton.

This and the sight of Susannah York in a man's shirt are the absolute highlights!

[TheMightyHartley]

Wow, fantastic, thanks for posting.

I've always enjoyed Walton's contribution to 'The Battle of Britain', and seeing it played live by an orchestra is terrific.

Thanks again!

[marcosnardon]

Indeed! A great show that BBC Proms! The audience enjoyed very m,uch, as we can see. And Sir Richard Attenborough´s words about Bafta were very interesting. As we may be tired of Hollywood aesthetics, it´s great to watch those British productions.

[yabunchacunts]

Excellent film - most excellent piece - thanks for sharing marcosnardon - thanks for composing Mr Walton.

[marcosnardon]

I enjoyed very much this BBC Proms! I wish BBC could produce a similar show but just with theater music. Wouldn´t be nice?