estination Moon, released in 1950, was the first major science-fiction film to showcase space travel in a realistic manner. Producer George Pal worked with numerous scientists, engineers and artists to bring an authentic feel to the picture--adapted for the screen by Robert A. Heinlein from his novel Rocket Ship Galileo--which fancifully chronicles humanity's first trip to the lunar surface. This daring tale also called for a similarly audacious score, provided by composer Leith Stevens and performed with élan by the Vienna Concert Orchestra.
The music--recently reissued on CD--is divided into only five cuts, and combines both subtle and spine-tingling passages. The brief opening cue, titled "Earth," uses taut horns and tense percussion to indicate the anxiety and anticipation experienced by the astronauts prior to the rocket's launch. With a running time of nearly 20 minutes, the next tune, "In Outer Space," is by far the album's lengthiest work, showcasing an ethereal elegance that cleverly hints at the strange, weightless environment aboard the spacecraft. "On the Surface of the Moon" incorporates thrilling fanfares and shimmering sounds to suggest a foreboding lunar panorama, while "Escape from the Moon" opens with a mellow motif that slowly intensifies as the ship and its crew struggle to take off from the moon's surface. The disc concludes with "Finale," a subdued yet joyful selection signifying the successful completion of the mission.
Along with reasonably informative liner notes, the foldout CD cover also includes a few sentences penned by Pal in 1979 about the composer. A half-dozen stills from the movie liven up the packaging, which contains two different cover art options: a vintage drawing of the film's spaceship or a more contemporary interpretation of a moon rocket.
A fantastic debut of the fantastic
Although his name has never been terribly well known to most science fiction fans, throughout the 1950s and 1960s Stevens created outstanding melodies for a variety of speculative adventures. His tunes accompanied When Worlds Collide and War of the Worlds, plus myriad episodes of Irwin Allen's famed SF TV shows (Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants). Destination Moon represents the composer's first foray into SF film music, and as such serves as a majestic and highly memorable prototype for his future accomplishments in the genre.
"In Outer Space" is a superb number that marvelously emulates weightlessness. Soft violins waft throughout the work, generating a comforting, easygoing serenity that's offset by erupting horns and mysterious woodwinds. Now and again, anxious strings punctuate the suite, accenting sequences where the hazards of the cosmos are emphasized, including the dramatic rescue of a crew member who has ventured outside the ship. "On the Surface of the Moon" spotlights a slightly more sinister ambiance, adding
scampering percussion and a sonovox--an early electronic instrument--to the mix. It's an emotional, exhilarating cut that magnificently captures the perils and possibilities of the dangerous and at-the-time-unexplored lunar landscape.
In fact, the only real complaint concerning the collection is that, with a total running time of about 43 minutes, the CD is simply too short--the themes are so enchanting it would be ideal if the album could last twice as long! Regardless, Stevens' archetypal compositions clearly augment the drama
and excitement of the film, rendering the Destination Moon score genuinely impressive, invigorating and influential.
