Music composed and conducted by Dimitri Tiomkin.
Music Editor: George Korngold.
Two-Disc Deluxe DVD Edition. Film running time = 179 minutes.
Disc One:
Film Feature
Feature Commentary with Bill Bronston and Mel Martin
Rome in Madred: 1964 Promotional Film
Original Theatrical Trailer
Filmographies
Still Galleries
Disc Two:
Film Feature Concluded
The Rise and Fall of an Epic Production: The Making of the Film
The Rise and Fall of an Empire: An Historical Look at the Roman Empire
Hollywood vs. History: An Historical Analysis
Dimitri Tiomkin: Scoring the Roman Empire
Genius Products, Inc. The Miriam Collection. The Weinstein Company, 2008.
DVD 80397WRP1
Rating: ****
Filmed in Ultra-Panavision and Technicolor, this is the most visually impressive and intelligently written of all the Ancient Roman Empire epics of the 1960s. Naturally there are historical inaccuracies and they are discussed in the bonus features.
The monumental score by Dimitri Tiomkin with over two hours of music is
among his finest achievements
[listed at No. 20 on Top 100 Essential Film Scores].
Some may find his score a bit over the top but I believe it adds significant impact to the static scenes with legions of costumed warriers on horseback as well as the dramatic dialogue scenes. The acting is top notch with such accomplished actors as Alec Guinness (Marcus Aurelius), James Mason (Timonides), and Christopher Plummer (Commodus). And the beautiful Sophia Loren (Lucilla) and handsome Stephen Boyd (Livius) add appeal as the lovers in conflict with the deranged Commodus. This massive epic film was produced by Samuel Bronston and directed by the still somewhat underrated Anthony Mann.
The opening Overture and Main Title music is one of the most unusual of any from an epic film. It begins with a festive antiphonal brass franfare lasting less than a minute that at once sets the mood for this film. Tiomkin makes ample use of one of his distinctive devices, the flutter-tongue technique in the trumpets. Then the pipe organ comes in for the Main Title as if beginning a Bach prelude or fugue, accompanied by the huge orchestra of about 130. Tiomkin call this main theme, "The Fall of Love, " and there were lyrics written for this theme by Tiomkin's collaborator and Oscar-winner for HIGH NOON, Ned Washington. This song is sung by a subdued Italian choir at the Intermission (end of Disc One). To my surprise nobody has yet mentioned the similarity of Tiomkin's theme with the opening melody of the aria"Una furtiva lagrima" from Donizetti's opera, L'Elisir d'Amore. Just listen to it and compare it to to Tiomkin's love theme in THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. I don't know if he intended to quote it or if it was merely a coincidence (which I suspect it is). But in any case, Tiomkin's main theme is absolutely gorgeous and still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it...so majestic and yet at the same time melancholy -- some have mentioned the Slavic flavor of this theme.
Though Tiomkin was raised and musically trained in Russia,
he rose to the top in Hollywood, known for his unforgettable melodies, including hit songs such as "Do Not Forsake Me" from HIGH NOON and "The Green Leaves of Summer" from THE ALAMO. There is no film composer today, with the exception of John Williams, who can write such consistently memorable film themes.
This DVD has sharp images and the colors are beautifully rendered. The sound is also top notch, with the music very much up front and not ashamed to show itself off
in all its orchestral splendor.
As far the bonus features on Disc Two, all of them are worth watching but the one concerning Tiomkin's film score is of the most interest for music fans. Lasting about 20 minutes, it features perceptive comments from several authorities, including film music historian Jon Burlingame,
and conductor John Mauceri.
The composer's widow,
Olivia Tiomkin-Douglas, also adds a few complimentary comments. This is one of the most extensive DVD features yet released devoted to a composer and just shows how significent and important
Tiomkin's music was to this epic film.
Christopher Palmer in his wonderful biography, Dimitri Tiomkin: A Portrait quoted the composer's comments
about this film score:
"I decided I must dismiss all idea of giving this picture quasi-documentary-style music. I excitedly started to block important dramatic and lyrical passages and found myself, to my great surprise, involved not with characters from eighteen centuries ago but with characters whose problems were remarkably like our own and practically co-incidental with all human drama. They were amazingly alive, close to me...and then the melodies started to come."
The melodies that did come from Tiomkin for this film are remarkable in their dynamic rhythmic flow and their emotional power.
Besides the main theme there is the highly memorable "Pax Romana" theme and a spiritied Tarantella used near the end of the film, which quotes the main theme.
The LP soundtrack album was
a best-seller when it was first issued
on a Columbia LP in 1964.
THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE LP
It was also later released on a Varese Sarabande CD.
Also a CD of music from the original soundtrack on Cloud Nine/Silva Screen titled,
MORE MUSIC FROM THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
These CDs have now become collector's items
commanding high prices.
The composer's widow mentions that this film was a most enjoyable working experience for Dimitri Tiomkin and was one of his favorite film scores.
I believe THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
is one of his great masterpieces
of film scoring.
For fans of past epic films and especially for Tiomkin fans,
this DVD deluxe edition is a must have for your collection.
Now, when do we get a restored complete CD soundtrack for this film?
Hopefully soon, because Dimitri Tiomkin's score is one of the finest for any epic film.
-- Roger Hall, 1 May 2008
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