EMI Abbey Road Studios is an unimpressive-looking building in the quiet London suburb of St. John’s Wood – just down the road from the zebra-crossing made famous by the Beatles on the cover of their Abbey Road LP. Its ‘town-hour’ façade is deceptive though, for entrance to the interior reveals a multiplicity of individual recording studios and an awesome array of technology, designed to capture on tape or vinyl the sound of anything from a solo singer to the combined talents of the London Symphony Orchestra. This year alone the place has seen the recording of such prestigious movie scores as “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, “Outland”, and “Masada”, all in Studio One, the largest of Abbey Road’s facilities. This studio is a vast auditorium of cinema scale, with a screen at the far end. The scenes to be scored are projected onto this screen, while the composer/conductor guides the orchestra’s timing. August 20th saw the opening session of the recording of Jerry Goldsmith’s ambitious score for “Night Crossing” – a departure in style for the Walt Disney studios and the second time that Goldsmith has scored a Disney movie (the first was “One Little Indian” in 1974). “Night Crossing” tells the true story of a family who escaped from West Berlin using a huge hot-air balloon. The film supposedly abandons the usual twee cuteness of traditional Disney fare in favor of a more adult tone that heightens the excitement of the adventure. The recording on the first day begins at 2.00 p.m., with the composer arriving with his attractive wife Carol and entourage. The orchestra, the National Philharmonic led by Sidney Sax, have never seen the score before but are adept at sight-reading material and are soon playing Goldsmith’s music extremely ably. After a brief rehearsal the red recording light comes on and the scratchy black and white ‘work print’ of the scene to be scored is projected. The first section to be scored is strangely enough the very last scene of the film. The onscreen action is somewhat confusing to follow but Goldsmith’s exuberant and highly-melodic approach leaves us in no doubt that the ending is a happy one. The scene is ‘gone over’ a number of times and familiarity with the style of the music reveals distinct similarities to such past efforts as “The Blue Max” and particularly “The Great Train Robbery”. It is obvious that “Night Crossing” is getting a music score of exceptional quality. Goldsmith, wearing all white (Lois jeans, jumper, and plimsolls that match his silvery hair) paces up and down on the podium, chain-smoking and continually referring to his long-time workmate, the affable Arthur Morton, for advice and inspiration. Morton sits at a table just behind the podium, following the progress of the recording and occasionally making the short journey next door to the master control booth where the recording is being mixed. The next scene to be tackled allows for an impressively long piece of music that begins with a plaintive accordion melody and surges into a soaring rendition of the main theme in a fashion that fans of the composer know extremely well, embellished with the ‘wind machine’ effect that Goldsmith has used so effectively in the past. The power of the music is magnificent and Goldsmith gets so carried away with himself conducting that he breaks his baton! The rousing theme gives way to discordancy without breaking its momentum, then segues into some powerfully orchestrated ‘tension music’ full of the abrasive conflict that characterized “The Blue Max”. The orchestra attempt the same piece again as the images that it has been written to accompany unspool: possibly the early part of the aerial escape bit with John Hurt (the only face I recognized) at the helm of the giant balloon, in danger of being spotted by the authorities. Goldsmith is unsatisfied with the results. “I think this will end up in pieces,” he mutters. But as the afternoon stretches into evening the orchestra finally gets it all right and the composer seems well-please with the results. There is just time left to record one more portion of the score, a ‘busy-busy’ piece of accompany scenes of the family getting ready for their first flight in the balloon and the various problems they encounter – such as accidentally setting fire to it! The entire score was actually recorded over a period of five days, but I was unfortunately only able to attend the first session. However, from the quality of the work I witnessed it seems as though “Night Crossing” will prove very popular with Goldsmith fans: it has all the inherent rousing qualities that make up many of the composer’s best efforts; the tuneful melody at its heart is a pleasingly lighter shade of Goldsmith’s work on the shamefully underrated “The Other”.