or countless soundtrack enthusiasts, the tunes that accompanied the monster movies produced at Universal Pictures during the 1930s and early 1940s represent the epitome of elegant and evocative horror music. Hans J. Salter wrote many of those melodies, and a recent recording devoted to the composer—part of Citadel Records' Legendary Hollywood CD series—spotlights a lengthy suite comprised of cues from four fearsome motion pictures, along with the complete score to Maya, a short-lived mid-1960s TV series.
The initial half of the album is dedicated to the Maya motifs. Filmed in India, this project afforded Salter an opportunity to build upon some of the ersatz ethnic compositions he'd previously penned for various Mummy films and run-of-the-mill adventure tales like Man-Eater of Kumaon (1948) and Bengal Brigade (1954). "Maya Goes on an Expedition" "Crowded City Bazaar" and "Kashmir Dancers" exude an exotic Asian ambiance, while cuts like "Bombay" and "Maya's Mud Bath" impart a lighthearted, slightly out-of-kilter air similar to the themes often heard on such less-than-serious SF television shows as Lost in Space (a program which, not coincidentally, also now and again featured numbers written by Salter).
Presented on the disc as a single track, "Horror Rhapsody" is a protracted work that intertwines selections from Son of Frankenstein (1939), The Mummy's Hand (1940), Black Friday (1940) and Man Made Monster (1941). Crammed with slinky bass, slithering strings, menacing horns and, in a couple of particularly spooky segments, tortured male voices, the composition runs for nearly 25 minutes and, as aptly indicated in the liner notes, wonderfully elicits "images of fogbound London streets at night, moonlight filtering through graveyards and shadows in the tombs of ancient Egypt."
Salter's peppery themes last
With a few arguable exceptions, it's doubtful that the melodies which enhance contemporary horror films will ever match the overall quality or sheer endurance of the vintage tunes fashioned by Salter. Along with frequent collaborator Frank Skinner, this monster-music maestro crafted cues that still give impressionable fans the willies. Legendary Hollywood: Music Composed by Hans J. Salter not only affords movie buffs a marvelous chance to be scared silly by the composer's unforgettable "Horror Rhapsody," but also showcases his musical wit and creativity through 19 entertaining Maya numbers.
Originally recorded in 1941 and remastered for this collection, Salter's chilling suite superbly summons forth images of strange, supernatural occurrences, half-remembered nightmares and "things that go bump in the night." The piece opens with clattering percussion and shrieking brass before introducing both mournful motifs (articulated by somber violins and subdued woodwinds) and exhilarating sequences replete with terrifying timpani and strident horns. Noteworthy sections include a formidable Black Friday theme and the ghostly chants of a "Chorus of Egyptian Priests" from The Mummy's Hand. All in all, it's a harrowing, heady and appropriately haunting harmonic journey.
The music of Maya also conjures up satisfying sentiments, especially the forlorn "Maya Theme" and the peculiar "Jungle," in which Salter generates a weird grating noise by running a rod across an animal jawbone. While not strictly horror or science fiction (though some mild mystical elements surely surfaced on occasion as part of the storyline), this series about a young English boy searching for his kidnapped father undoubtedly benefited from these mysterious, highly expressive tunes. However, for monster-movie aficionados the key component of Legendary Hollywood: Music Composed by Hans J. Salter is clearly the "Horror Rhapsody," a compelling work full of fearful themes that, six decades
after it was initially recorded, remains fantastically frightening and fun.
