Wolfen - The Unused Score

Before young James Horner scored classic 1981 Michael Wadleigh horor movie with Albert Finney, filmmakers engaged also-young Craig Safan to tackle the music. He responded with an incredibly intense, complex orchestral score. Tiny three-note germ anchors work, expands into variety of complicated musical ideas—but always stays within reach. Neat, sophisticated musical architecture! Highlights are many but deserving special attention is massive build-up to final confrontation on Wall Street ("Wall Street And Wolfen Finale").

Safan engages all of his advanced harmonic vernacular, follows path already forged, then instead climaxes in closing moments with series of powerhouse fortissimo major chords, lending brief heroic feel to the hour-long work. A goosebump moment! Safan composes a major work with such strong shape that it plays like a massive concert piece for large orchestra. All film music should be so lucky!

Another asset: extremely well-performed, crisply recorded sessions are presented in dynamic stereo from original three-channel stereo masters courtesy of Warner Bros. If you're a fan of Horner's exciting score (also released on Intrada), enjoy its "big brother," born first from the pen of Craig Safan. Craig Safan conducts. Intrada Special Collection release available while quantities and interest remains!