This exclusive release charts the development of the ‘Hollywood sound’ over two decades of epic film-making from the 1960s to the 1980s. Featuring the iconic music from such classics as Cleopatra, Psycho and The Godfather, this release offers a unique opportunity to hear some of the 20th century’s most dramatic music, recorded in a live concert setting. Included on this release is music from Lawrence of Arabia, for which the LPO recorded the original soundtrack.

The composers of these scores put their undeniable talents to use in the creation of iconic film scores, which allowed them to use the most avant-garde musical techniques to underline the dramatic effect of each film, as well as the kind of lush romanticism largely shunned by the generation of contemporary concert composers whose ‘high art’ music had left much of the audience behind.

Distinguished American conductor John Mauceri arranged and edited most of this music for concert performance, using his experience and expertise to create a truly coherent set of pieces which work as well in the concert hall as they do on screen. A number of the arrangements on this release are appearing on disc for the first time, having received their London premieres at the live performance captured here, including Mauceri’s arrangements of music from The Godfather and Psycho, which he himself conducted. In particular, this is the first ever release of the Cleopatra film music.

These recordings were taken from a live concert performance at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in November 2013 as part of the Southbank Centre’s 'The Rest is Noise' festival, based on Alex Ross’s book 'The Rest is Noise'.