On Saturday, September 6, 2025, a podcast will become available. It will be on the above subject with a focus on the description below:
Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
In 1920, composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold was attacked by Vienna’s music critics for a symphonic work they called “too modern” and “too difficult.”
So, he must have found it particularly satisfying when—two decades later—he won the Oscar for his score to The Adventures of Robin Hood—which recycled much of that forgotten earlier work.
The story behind that is movie material itself—a series of dramatic turnabouts, with an unforgettable cast of characters, from Hollywood bigwigs to Nazi storm troopers.
You may tune in, at that time, by way of this address:
www.capradio.org…
— Karl
This broadcast, easy on background, heavy on music (including various “interpretations”)… and the show- delicately hosted by Stephen Peithman…
Written back in 1920, Sursum Corda- (Lift Up Your Hearts) was roundly rejected at the time as TOO modern, but came to be recycled almost 20 years later into an Academy Award winner for the Best Music Original Score of 1938.
Korngold described his film scores as opera w/o singing but there’s a bit more to it then that- as one writer observed:
“What made Korngold’s Hollywood music so successful? More than any other music used for film before, Korngold’s film scores were precisely tailored to their stories. His music created a deep emotional connection between the pictures, the narrative, and viewers. It provided an almost tangible dimension, because it made viewers not only see and hear, but feel what was going on. The music drew viewers into the story and made them experience what the characters were psychologically going through. Korngold’s music powerfully bridged the gap between fiction and reality.”
Give this program a listen- you will, indeed, be uplifted yourself.