A Man Called Peter is the story of preacher Peter Marshall, who was the Chaplain of the United States Senate as well as being pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. Based on the biography by his widow, Catherine Marshall, Henry Koster directed an excellent cast, including the fine British actor Richard Todd (Stage Fright, The Dam Busters, and The Hasty Heart, for which he received an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor), Jean Peters (Captain from Castile, Viva Zapata, Pickup on South Street, Broken Lance) as Catherine Wood Marshall, and also in the cast were Jill Esmond, Les Tremayne, and young Billy Chapin. And to write score, the head of the Fox music department, Alfred Newman, who’d worked with Koster on the religious epic, The Robe.

Alfred Newman’s score is a beauty. No other composer did this kind of film as well as Newman and he did many films with religious themes. It is emotional and passionate and filled with memorable music. You can always tell a Newman score within the first twenty seconds of hearing it – the extraordinary writing for strings, the harmonies and colors – he was simply unique and one of the greatest of all film composers, and his long and amazing career at Fox is really unparalleled. Add to that the brilliant work of his co-conspirators, orchestrator Edward B. Powell and vocal supervisor, the great Ken Darby, and you have film music magic.

The soundtrack for A Man Called Peter was previously released on CD by Film Score Monthly. The presentation there included all the source music presented within the score itself, as it appeared in the film. For this release, Mike Matessino decided to present Newman’s score by itself, and hearing it that way is extremely powerful and a great listening experience. All of the source music is included here, after the Newman program. The sound has been considerably cleaned up – a bit of wow and flutter still remains, but it’s minor now and the Newman score sounds fantastic in that classic Fox stereo. -KRITZERLAND RECORDS

1 Main Title 2:13
2 The Revelation 2:51
3 The Immigrant 1:17
4 Alma Mater 0:16
5 Catherine 1:08
6 Goodnight, Peter Darling 3:07
7 One Week Later 0:39
8 The Proposal / The Cedars Waltz / The Way of Love 6:21
9 The Marriage / The Honeymoon 1:26
10 Washington, D.C. 1:05
11 The Lincoln Memorial 1:05
12 The Church of the Presidents 0:40
13 Hospital Scene - Lullaby 1:11
14 Tuberculosis 1:04
15 Illness 0:38
16 Soliloquy 3:44
17 Faith and Recovery 2:00
18 Cape Cod 2:21
19 Prayers for Peter 1:03
20 Our New Chaplain 0:36
21 Peter's Death 2:34
22 Finale 2:19

Source Music
23 Johannes Brahms - Symphony No. 1 1:40
24 Loyalty and Courage (St. Catherine) / The Holy Trinity (Nicaea) 1:28
25 Jesus Christ the Lord (Diademata) 0:45
26 Joseph Haydn - God the Father 0:38
27 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Eine fest burg) 1:23
28 Felix Mendelssohn - O Rest in the Lord (From Elijah) 2:11
29 Felix Mendelssohn - If With All Your Hearts (From Elijah) 1:06
30 The Doxology (Old 100th) / A Mighty Fortress Is Our God 2:01
31 Annapolis Chapel - Eternal Father, Strong to Save (Melita) 1:54
32 Old Time Religion 0:49
33 Mairzy Doats 1:05
34 Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree 1:02
35 Comin' Thro' the Rye 1:24
36 Annie Laurie 1:03
37 The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond 1:36

Total length: 59:43