• Composed by Henry Mancini
• Kritzerland KR 20015-0 / 2010 / 45:48

The great Henry Mancini was nearing the end of his incredible career when he scored Arthur Hiller’s comedy Married To It in 1991.  Hiller has worked with a remarkable roster of composers on his films – as well as Mancini (four times), there’s Goldsmith, Bernstein, Jarre, Williams, Rosenman… not bad.  In the roster of Mancini greats, Married To It might not feature terribly highly, but it’s a charming little score, really – and proof (as if it were needed) as to why Mancini is one of a tiny number of film composers to have truly broken through into the public consciousness.  It’s a relatively minor score to a relatively minor film, but the melodies, the effortless charm – so delightful, so infectious.

In fact, the tune heard over the opening and end titles isn’t by Mancini – it’s an instrumental version of Joni Mitchell’s song “The Circle Game”, which plays a key part in the film (and also appears in vocal form on this album) – that’s a lovely tune too, and Mancini’s arrangement of it is exquisite!  Then his own compositions – mostly light, with a small orchestra, a variety of soloists and an unusually high (for this composer) reliance on electronics – but it’s all lovely.  You obviously have to be in a certain demographic to really appreciate it, and it’s a real treat if you are in that demographic.  Tuneful, easy-going, delightful music like this just isn’t written for film any more and, while it’s clearly not one of this composer’s most important scores, it’s great to have it, thanks to Kritzerland’s CD.  ***

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