John Scott: Cousteau / Papua New Guinea & The First 75 Years / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

ABOUT THE SCORE: For this upload I have combined the purely orchestral elements of two different Cousteau efforts penned by John Scott, “Papua New Guinea” (1989) and “The First 75 Years” (1986). These were released on separate twofer albums by the JOS label but seemed to make for one cohesive suite compilation here, as both scores contain a prominent pop/rhythm element that wasn’t to my personal musical liking. By combining the highlights of both, the resultant suite plays as a strong general overview of the John Scott “Cousteau Style” of documentary scoring - rich harmonies and musical set-pieces focused on terrifically detailed and affecting woodwind writing mostly, punctuated by occasional fanfares and flourishes for the larger ensemble. In this case both scores are performed by his usual go-to group, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and sound quality is homogenous enough across both recordings to allow for a relatively seamless marriage of the two scores. Bookending this suite is the chipper trumpet-led end title theme from the former score, a joyous piece titled “Gold for Future Prosperity”, and nestled between this exclamatory showpiece one will find much to love: A tender flute-driven title theme of innocent disposition for “My First 75 Years” is dedicated to Cousteau himself (1:56 and appearing several times thereafter) while a wistfully tragic and slightly dark theme memorializing a sunken WWII-era Japanese vessel (2:51) is redolent with the sublime sensitivity of Scott’s documentary oeuvre. At 10:18 one will find a wandering low string theme beneath a bed of higher, quietly oscillating violins that are a staple of this composer’s sound-world. Elsewhere playful ideas permeate (11:40 has some sublime swirling strings and woodwind harmonies before nervous tension overtakes the music briefly - replaced as a dynamic, driving idea overtakes the music (2:29). It’s all colorful, tuneful, exploratory music in that rich signature style of the composer, and things wrap up the way they started with a recapitulation of the “Gold for Future Prosperity” theme at the end. Superb music as always from the one and only John Scott. Enjoy! DISCLAIMER: I do not own the music included in my channel and make no claims as such. All videos have been uploaded for EDUCATIONAL purposes only to make the public aware of obscure and forgotten works by deserving composers who would otherwise find no online audience whatsoever. Please purchase the music on CD or via digital retailers or streamers whenever possible!