FAVORITE SELECTION: “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini”
ABOUT THIS ALBUM: This soundtrack album is from the movie, “Somewhere in Time,” a 1980 American romantic fantasy drama film directed by Jeannot Szwarc. It is a film adaptation of the 1975 novel, “Bid Time Return,” by Richard Matheson, who also wrote the screenplay. The film stars Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer.
Reeve plays Richard Collier, a playwright who becomes obsessed with a photograph of a young woman at the Grand Hotel, a hotel located on Mackinac Island, Michigan. Through self-hypnosis, he wishes himself back in time to the year 1912 to find love with actress Elise McKenna (portrayed by Seymour), but comes into conflict with Elise’s manager, William Fawcett Robinson (portrayed by Plummer), who fears that romance will derail her career and resolves to stop him.
Nearly all of the film was shot on location at beautiful Mackinac Island, Michigan.
The original musical score for the film was composed and conducted by John Barry, who was suggested by Jane Seymour, a personal friend. The producers had been considering a score based on the 18th variation of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” which is used in the film several times. In lieu of a fee, Barry took a percentage of the royalties on the soundtrack, which went on to become his best-selling film score.
The film was not a success at the box office and a very limited run above promotional copies of the album was pressed with very limited circulation. Universal Pictures used “Somewhere in Time” as a test bed for soundtrack sales and did not expect it to do well at all. It was cable television the following spring where the film garnered a huge fan audience and interest in the music was tremendous. So many requests were made at record stores across the country that Universal pressed 500,000 more copies and the soundtrack, now into several pressings, still sells well on CD. The music became one of the most requested at weddings for a decade after the film’s release.
Barry wrote the score at a creative and prolific time in his career, scoring the music for films such as “Raise the Titanic,” “High Road to China” and the highly acclaimed “Body Heat” all within an 18-month period, yet the score for “Somewhere in Time” is considered to be among the best of his career. The music from the film is often credited for much of its success by invoking a deeply emotional pull for the viewers. In the years since the film’s release the music has become as famous as the film, if not more so, with many hearing it first, then viewing the film.
WHY I CHOSE THIS ALBUM: This is one not to be missed. The album features some of John Barry’s finest work, along with Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody” mentioned above. I highly recommend both the film and the soundtrack album. In fact, I wore out two or three cassette copies of this music before obtaining a digital copy.
Principled Thoughts 