Telarc Releases Concert Music By Film Composer Jerry Goldsmith On SACD

Super Audio Compact Disc Brings A New Musical Dimension To Ray Bradburyís ìChristus Apolloî

13-Mar-02

Telarc International, an industry leader in digital recording technology for 25 years, announces the release of Jerry Goldsmithís ìChristus Apolloî - with text by author Ray Bradbury and narration by actor Anthony Hopkins - on Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD).The SACD format, created by Sony and Philips, provides unprecedented sound quality in stereo and discrete multi-channel surround. To achieve its sonic performance, SACD employs a radically new digital encoding technology called Direct Stream Digital. DSD samples the musical signal at a phenomenal 2.8 million times a second; 64 times greater than traditional CD recordings. The result is an extremely smooth digital waveform with unparalleled frequency response and dynamic range. Telarc is now recording all of its projects using the DSD process.The potential benefits of SACD do not stop with its performance. The SACD format supports several disc configurations, including a Hybrid SACD designed to be completely compatible with the millions of CD players in the market today. Hybrid SACDs actually contain two complete layers of music information. One is the conventional CD layer, which can play on any standard CD player. The other, high-density layer contains both the original DSD two-channel recording as well as a DSD six-channel recording that can be played in the new generation of stereo and surround SACD players. Each of the six channels can be recorded separately with full 100 kHz frequency response and 120dB dynamic range across the audio band. Both the six-channel and the two-channel sound images have unparalleled resolution and transparency.With this technology, Telarc brings a new layer of sophistication to Jerry Goldsmithís musical interpretation of world renowned science fiction writer Ray Bradburyís poetic mix of science and spirituality. Goldsmith, composer of the scores to ìThe Mummy,î ìStar Trek: The Motion Picture,î ìAir Force One,î ìTwilight Zone: The Movie,î ìPoltergeist,î ìChinatown,î and many other popular films, leads the London Symphony Orchestra and The London Voices in world premiere recordings of his concert music. Featured is ìChristus Apollo: Cantata Celebrating the Eighth Day of Creation and the Promise of the Ninth,î set to a text by Ray Bradbury.Bradbury, author of ìFahrenheit 451,î ìThe Illustrated Man,î ìThe Martian Chroniclesî and numerous other award-winning novels, collections, and poems, wrote the text to ìChristus Apolloî in 1969. That same year, the California Chamber Symphony asked Goldsmith to compose a cantata based on Bradburyís text. The piece consists of four sections separated by narration. Hopkins, whose narration breathes life into the text, is an acclaimed stage and screen actor since the 1960s, won the Oscar for his portrayal of depraved serial killer Hannibal Lecter in ìSilence of the Lambs.îGoldsmith composed the compelling score to ìChristus Apolloî using the 12-tone system, which he found to be a liberating way of expressing his most heartfelt feelings when he was composing thirty years ago.Also featured on this recording are two other concert pieces by Goldsmith. ìMusic for Orchestra,î another 12-tone piece, was written in 1970 at the request of Leonard Slatkin for the Saint Louis Symphony. The year was not a happy one for the composer, as he was in the midst of a divorce and his mother was very ill with cancer. ìFireworksî (A Celebration of Los Angeles) was composed for the finale of Goldsmithís first concert series with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in 1999. Goldsmith calls it ìa grand celebration of my childhood, growing years, my years of maturity, and all the events that climaxed with my first appearance at the Hollywood Bowl.îTelarc currently has twenty-four titles in various genres ñ classical, jazz, contemporary jazz and blues ñ available in multi-channel (Hybrid) SACD. Approximately 36 titles will be available in the six-channel SACD format by June, 2001. Visit the Telarc website, www.telarc.com, for the most updated information on their new SACD recordings.

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