Odessa File, The (1974)

Composer(s):
Andrew Lloyd Webber

Released in:
1974

Reviews

A steely Lloyd Webber soundtrack
by Damien Slattery (May 10, 2010)

The Odessa File was Lloyd Webber's second (and last) foray into the world of film scoring. The music is not the standard Webber fare and has licks of the avant-garde, particularly the Fugue segments that operate in a jazz-fusion/rock idiom. To compliment the abrasive style of this thriller Lloyd Webber utilises cello, orchestra and rock band, producing a very hard-edged, spare and muscular score.
This LP (released in 1974) was a precursor to his non-film VARIATIONS album of 1977, and it is a surprise to find that some of the Odessa music has seeped into the variations, most notably in the jazzy SOLOMON TAUBER'S DIARY, which shares melodic similiarites with Variations 6. Perry Como is heard crooning the only Rice/Webber song on the album: CHRISTMAS DREAM. This is heavily indebted to Elvis Presley's "Wooden Heart", right down to the German children's choir accompaniment. When the song is liberated from Tim Rice's bland/ridiculous lyrical contributions and presented in instrumental variations like CHRISTMAS DREAM (CAROUSEL) the tune really does take flight and is wonderful. Not all of the album is the work of Lloyd Webber, which is a pity as the various traditional/ethnic tunes are the least interesting on the disc.
The orchestral ODESSA ANTHEM is a thing of beauty, a pomp and circumstance march in Elgar mode with some winning orchestrations, that recall the gentler side of Jesus Christ Superstar. Astute listeners of Lloyd Webber's Evita might recognise the melody of "The Art of The Possible" appearing on this album as MILLER'S THEME, a very dark and effective piece highlighted by weird slidings on the cello. The composer enlisted his brother Julian as cellist on the recording and his performance is outstanding. Evita material again appears "Miller Joins the Odessa", a brief but pulsing track. The short track KIDNAP is another driving string-ensemble that recalls fragments of the Hosanna from the composer's later composition of "Requiem." It is a tragedy that the composer never ventured back to film music, as "The Odessa File" is proof that he was extremely gifted. Anthony Bowles conducts an unnamed orchestra, and the LP has yet to find release on CD.

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