UNSEALED

The action of Hawaii takes place during the period of the coming of the Christian missionaries to the Islands. This was a traumatic culture clash in which much of Hawaiian traditional culture was destroyed. The music begins with a sense of ancient Hawaii, but very soon becomes a more contemporary interpretation of the feeling of the Islands and the severe beliefs brought by the first missionaries. Presented here as a 2-CD Deluxe Edition, the release of Hawaii represents a triumphant film music event. Disc one features almost the entire score, over 75:00 of music, in mono. Disc two features the contents of the original soundtrack album release, in stereo.

"Hawaii" (1966) is an epic saga based on James A. Michener’s (1907-1997) over 1,000-page novel of the same name. George Roy Hill’s lavish 189-minute production starred Julie Andrews, Max Von Sydow, Richard Harris and Gene Hackman in the cinematic telling of Michener’s sprawling, multi-generational adventure. Von Sydow played Abner Hale, a Yale student who, on the day after receiving his diploma (in 1819), hears Hawaiian Keoki Kanakoa (Manu Tupau) speak to a group of fellow brothers who have been studying for their ministries at the University. Kanakoa makes a plea for the group to supply missionaries to bring Christianity to the islands and save the souls of his people. When Abner and his friend John Whipple (Hackman) later volunteer themselves for such service, Hale learns that he must first find a wife before he can be accepted into the program. The University’s Reverend Thorn (Torin Thatcher) (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad) arranges for Abner to meet his sister’s daughter. The 22-year-old girl, Jerusha Bromley (Andrews), is thusly courted and married in short order and Abner Hale, now accompanied by his new, young wife soon leaves Boston for the remote, mystical, almost mythical, land of Hawaii.

To score his immense new production, Hill reteamed with Elmer Bernstein, who had scored the director’s film immediately prior to Hawaii ("The World of Henry Orient,' 1964) and would go on to score the director’s following picture ("Thoroughly Modern Millie," 1967), which would earn the composer an Academy Award. Bernstein’s vast musical panorama for "Hawaii" displays a near ecstatic degree of energy and enthusiasm. It’s a jubilant and rapturous work which makes frequent visits to Bernstein’s well of melodic invention. The score is, without question, one of the composer’s most, magnificent opuses.

DISC ONE

01. Overture (4:12)
02. Prologue (2:14)
03. Main Title (2:04)
04. Pastoral Letter (1:04)
05. Grace (:33)
06. Parting (:57)
07. Proposal (2:20)
08. Departure (:20)
09. Quiet Harbor (2:03)
10. Drunken Sailor (1:44)
11. Storm (1:17)
12. Hawaiian Welcome (2:10)
13. Alii Nui (3:39)
14. Procession (1:01)
15. Noelani (1:57)
16. Farewell (1:57)
17. Surveyor (:42)
18. Same Old Girls (1:42)
19. Baby Coming (:49)
20. Battle (1:10)
21. Chance Meeting (2:17)
22. Civilizing the Natives (2:20)
23. Sailors and Women (2:45)
24. Mano (1:59)
25. Abner’s Fever (2:20)
26. Entr’acte (3:35)
27. Malama’s Death (4:14)
28. Whistling Wind (1:40)
29. The Old Gods and the New (1:57)
30. Prayer for Vengeance (2:32)
31. Natives Lose (3:18)
32. Hoxworth’s House (1:33)
33. The Old Man (1:22)
34. Abner Alone (3:38)
35. Abner’s Reward (:35)
36. End Credits (:40)
37. Exit Music (2:54)

DISC TWO

01. Main Title (4:12)
02. Prologue (2:30)
03. Hawaii (2:13)
04. Pastoral Letter (2:32)
05. Abner and Jerusha (2:16)
06. Malama’s Death (4:13)
07. Hawaiian Welcome (4:21)
08. Quiet Harbor (2:18)
09. Sailors and Women (2:47)
10. Keoki’s Tragedy (2:25)
11. Abner (3:32)
12. Promise Kept (1:54)

SYNOPSIS - "Hawaii" hadn't even begun filming when director Fred Zinnemann was replaced by George Roy Hill; similarly, the role intended for Charlton Heston ended up being played by Richard Harris (though Heston would eventually star in the 1970 sequel "The Hawaiians"). Based on James A. Michener's best-selling novel, the time frame of which was spread out over several centuries, the film concentrates only on the years 1820 to 1841. Still, Michener's basic point, that the virginal sanctity of the Hawaiian islands was forever shattered by the incursion of the White Man, remains intact. Max Von Sydow stars as an imperious minister who settles in Hawaii with wife Julie Andrews. While Von Sydow expects the islanders to adapt to him rather than the other way around, Julie goes out of her way to understand and appreciate her new neighbors. She eventually seeks comfort in the arms of her former lover Richard Harris. Despite the lush location footage and such spectacular highlights as pagan ceremonies and an outsized typhoon, the scene most filmgoers remember is Julie Andrews' agonizingly convincing childbirth sequence. All told, it took seven years to translate "Hawaii" from script to screen--and almost that long to make back its $15 million cost. In the early scenes of "Hawaii," Bette Midler plays a bit part as a ship passenger--in the 171-minute version, rather than the 151-minute reissue. Also stars Carol O'Connor and Gene Hackman. 1966