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Charade

Encouraged by how much I enjoyed his album The Big Band Sound Of Henry Mancini (aka Combo!), I bought a few more Mancini LPs, always very cheaply, finding some of them less to my liking, but others that I thought were delightful. My favourite among them must be this soundtrack to the 1963 movie Charade, which, as the cover states, starred Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.

The opening 'Charade (Main Title)' begins with insistent woodblock, joined by other percussion until the memorable theme kicks in. The Parisian setting of the film is reflected by musical Gallicisms such as the third track 'Bateau Mouche'. The coolly jazzy 'Mégève' is a highlight. 'Bye Bye Charlie' is a mournful cue for string quartet, By sharp contrast, it's followed by the sound of a mechanical 'orchestrion' or something resembling one, in 'The Happy Carousel'.

The variety of sounds and styles is balanced by a judicious use of reprised timbres & musical motives, making for a satisfyingly coherent whole. Calliope-like tones crop up a few times. The main theme is re-stated in 'Charade (Vocal)' and again in the closing 'Charade (Carousel)'. All of the tracks are brief and to the point and the album breezes past in about half an hour. I was a little disappointed, when I belatedly saw the movie (somehow I'd avoided it until a few years ago) that the music wasn't a more prominent part of it.

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