The contents of this disc comprise three film scores, for
Son of Frankenstein (1939),
The Invisible Man Returns (1940), and
The Wolf Man (1941), that were composed by
Frank Skinner and
Hans J. Salter or composed by
Skinner and orchestrated by
Salter (
Son of Frankenstein). The music is inherently interesting, not only on its own terms, but because of the rich source that it represented for dozens of pictures that followed in
Universal's output. One can find the
Son of Frankenstein material repeated verbatim in features as different as
Tower of London and
The Scarlet Claw, among many others, although it says something about the wealth of talent -- and the way of doing business -- at
Universal's music department that the
"Wolf Bane" theme, the most lyrical and memorable part of
The Wolf Man, was written by neither
Skinner nor
Salter, but by
Charles Previn; and that the second most memorable theme,
"The Kill," was a collaboration between
Salter and
Previn. The
Son of Frankenstein music is the most accomplished here, an intense, brooding creation made up of dark, demonic themes, punctuated by sweeping and starting harp glissandi and sinister passages for oboe, as well as off-kilter harmonies on the brass.
The Invisible Man Returns is more lyrical in nature, and far more subtle, but also less interesting, and
The Wolf Man, dominated by the sounds of hunting horns and gypsy violins, stands between them as the most accessible body of horror film scoring here, though most of it is not as accomplished as music; the exceptions are
Skinner's extended cues
"Bela's Funeral" and
"Sir John's Discovery," two of the most finely developed pieces of music in the
Universal library of that era. The former track is a major piece of music restoration, written for a scene that was subsequently cut from the movie; the latter has dazzling flashes of melodic inspiration and extraordinary scoring, although it resolves itself too easily in a routine and predictable Hollywood convention.
William T. Stromberg and
the Moscow Symphony Orchestra have outdone themselves in presenting this music with scope and dignity, though they perform
Jimmy McHugh's
"Universal Pictures Signature Theme" with too much dignity and restraint. ~ Bruce Eder
