QB VII - A BEAUTIFUL SCORE

As was the case for many people, I'm sure, my Christmas holiday's kicked off yesterday (Friday, December 20th) -- my place of work was intense enough that great relief came my way in the late afternoon. When I got home a received an email from a friend of mine: The City of Prague Orchestra, under conductor Nic Raine, re-recorded music from the 1974 television mini-series QB VII. Veteran composer Jerry Goldsmith wrote and recorded a beautiful score for that highly acclaimed small-screen event.

For those of you under a certain age, QB VII was a book written by best-selling author Leon Uris, and published in 1970 (info here); the six-and-a-half hour video adaptation began airing on April 29th, 1974 and starred many noted actors of the time including Ben Gazzara, Anthony Hopkins, Leslie Caron, Lee Remick, Juliet Mills, Anthony Quayle, Milo O'Shea, and John Gielgud. Directed by Tom Gries (father of actor Jon), QB VII went on to win six Emmys.

For years I've been meaning to watch QB VII. I ignored it when it first ran... understandable as I was perhaps too young to appreciate its significance. (The original book by Uris is yet another book that I should read.)

As for the mini-series' score, well, it's gorgeous and moving. I seem to remember that it was performed in New York City in memory of the events of "9-11".

I find this music, "Theme from QB VII - 'A Kaddish for the Six Million", befitting of the start to my holiday break -- and my crying was somehow fitting....


Prometheus Records and Tadlow Music present

The World Premiere Recording of the Complete Score to
QB VII
Composed by
JERRY GOLDSMITH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcSIwQaaxl4

The re-recorded score on disc...

http://www1.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/26540/QB-VII-COMPLETE-2-CD/