In Jerry Goldsmith's long and varied career, many films have come, gone and been forgotten. Both films on this acclaimed and highly anticipated soundtrack release by Varese Sarabande, are films now only known by fans of the genre or fans of the versatile music of the composer. The Mephisto Waltz, a film directed by Paul Wendkos in 1971, dealt with a number of occult themes, such as witchcraft, the transmigration of souls and satanism . Based on the novel by Fred Mustard Stewart, the film told about a journalist, Miles Clarkson, whose admiration for an old musician, Duncan Ely, borders on the excessive. Ely, played manically by Curt Jurgens, recognizes the hands of a great piano player on Clarkson. He befriends his interviewer with more than a casual interest, as Ely knows his life will soon come to an end. Jerry Goldsmith based his score on The Mephisto Waltz by Liszt, and took it from there to very unconventional musical sensations. He basically employed strings, piano and percussion, and added jagged violin solo's for the musical interpretation of Mephistopheles. A number of amplified instruments and bells and gongs add an eery atmosphere to the already very tense musical themes. While thematically Goldsmith's cues are unique in style, the highly tense violin music can be best compared to Bernard Herrmann's Psycho Murder theme, but where Herrmann only used strings, Goldsmith added a lot of uncanny elements and heavy dissonance to simulate the dark goings-on of witches dabbling in the supernatural. The sound quality on this release is superb and the liner notes and artwork are exemplary. A highly recommended score for Goldsmith fans, but perhaps not for all general film music listeners. The Other was a notable film of roughly the same time about twin boys, one good and one evil. The film was directed by Robert Mulligan and received a very touching and lovely main theme, which is offset by the darker side of the boys. Where Mephisto Waltz dabbles a lot with musical dissonance, The Other enjoys a more straightforward musical approach: the rural aspect is almost reminiscent of Goldsmith's music for THE FLIM FLAM MAN, THE WALTONS and the like, while the playfulness of youth is also adequately expressed by joyous and jaunty themes. For the mother of the twins, Goldsmith composed a slightly more melodramatic theme with a somewhat heavier strings section. However, the strings dominate the score once the darkness of the tale sets in. In places one can almost hear a precursor to Goldsmith's mid-seventies masterpiece THE OMEN. Unfortunately, when the film was edited, a lot of Goldsmith's music was omitted and the film died a silent death at the box office. The sound quality is a little less than that of The Mephisto Waltz as there is a little ambient noise on the recording but overall, the sound is quite good. With both of these titles from Goldsmith's past, Varese Sarabande have succeeded in bringing two wonderful scores back to the audiences. My compliments to everyone involved; this Varese release deserves accolades for such a daring undertaking. Amidst all the modern releases of scores and rerecordings, it is a treat to be able to listen to the original recordings for the first time in thirty years.