Va - Best Film-Noir Music Of The 1950s Vol.2 (remastered 2025) (2026)
 

"Best Film-Noir Music of the 1950s Vol. 2" is a continuation of the definitive anthology series dedicated to the golden age of noir. This volume features scores composed between 1954 and 1959, a period when noir music underwent significant stylistic shifts. The collection includes works by masters such as Bernard Herrmann ("The Wrong Man"), David Raksin ("The Big Combo"), and Elmer Bernstein ("Sweet Smell of Success"). Special emphasis is placed on the integration of jazz into film, vividly illustrated by themes from Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil" and the contribution of The Modern Jazz Quartet. The album brings together music from films by legendary directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and Nicholas Ray, offering a deep dive into the tense and melancholic aesthetic of post-war American cinema.
Tracklist
1-1 Main & End Titles - from Black Widow, 1954 (feat. Leigh Harline) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[2:14]
1-2 Main Title - Crime Wave, 1954 (feat. David Buttolph) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[1:05]
1-3 Main & End Titles - Suddenly. 1954 (feat. David Raksin) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[1:51]
1-4 Main Title - The Scarlet Hour, 1954 (feat. Leith Stevens) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[1:42]
1-5 Suite - Pushover, 1954 (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[5:46]
1-6 Main & End Titles - I Died a Thousand Times, 1955 (feat. David Buttolph) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[2:37]
1-7 Murder Among the Mannequins - Killer's Kiss, 1955 (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[3:15]
1-8 Rather Have the Blues - Kiss Me Deadly, 1955 (feat. Nat King Cole) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[2:54]
1-9 Main Title / Finale - New York Confidential, 1955 (feat. Joseph Mullendore) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[2:21]
1-10 Main & End Titles - Storm Fear, 1955 (feat. Elmer Bernstein) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[2:13]
1-11 Main & End Titles - The Big Combo, 1955 (feat. David Raksin) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[2:19]
1-12 Main Title - The Big Knife, 1955 (feat. Frank DeVol) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[1:31]
1-13 Prologue & Main Title - The Wrong Man, 1956 (feat. Bernard Herrmann) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[2:53]
1-14 Main Title - Desperate Hours, 1956 (feat. Gail Kubik) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[1:45]
1-15 Suite - The Harder They Fall, 1956 (feat. Hugo Friedhofer) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[3:27]
1-16 Main Title - A Kiss Before Dying, 1956 (feat. Lionel Newman) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[1:27]
1-17 The Street - Sweet Smell of Success, 1957 (feat. Elmer Bernstein) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[2:41]
1-18 Main Title / Finale - The Long Haul, 1957 (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[2:13]
1-19 Main Theme - Touch of Evil, 1958 (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[3:31]
1-20 Prelude - Odds Against Tomorrow, 1959 (feat. The Modern Jazz Quartet) (Remastered 2025) (Remastered 2025)[1:46]