In 1910-1912, Robert Falcon Scott made a voyage of discovery to the South Pole. The journey was disastrous. After reaching their goal (unfortunately a month after Roald Amundsen), Scott and four fellow travelers were killed. Scott of the Antarctic is a 1947-48 feature film about the expedition. The film is still worth seeing and is still occasionally broadcast by the BBC. The film score was by Ralph
… Vaughan Williams. Afterwards, Vaughan Williams gave the soundtrack a second life as his Seventh Symphony. The music, of course, is a stark painting of blizzards and ice fields, backed by a wind machine and icy vocalizations by female voices. However, the music also demonstrates psychological growth, namely stoic resignation in the face of unmerciful natural violence. Conductor Martyn Brabbins manages to capture both sides well. With him, the scenes with the penguins by no means sound like a droll caricature. (HJ)more
