Hamlet Gift

My family has become well-versed in my Hamlet fascination.  A recent shopping trip led my brother to pick up an item for the ever-growing Hamlet collection.  (Thanks Nick!)  It was a vinyl recording entitled Sir William Walton Conducts His Great Film Music.  (Not exactly the pithiest title ever.)  The collection includes excerpts of the music from Sir Laurence Olivier's Shakespearean films:  Henry V, Hamlet and Richard III.

The album represents a very short collection of music.  Side One, the Richard III excerpts, runs 17:52.  Side Two, the Hamlet and Henry V excerpts, runs 19:25.  The Hamlet portion, all 4:16 of it, consists of the Funeral March that appears in both the opening and the closing of Olivier's film.  It is an excellent recording, albeit very brief.  I guess that might be expected, though.  As the album liner notes state, Walton's score amounted to only approximately 50 minutes of the 150-minute film.

All in all, Walton's album is a welcome addition to the collection.  If nothing else, pristine, roughly forty-year-old vinyl with a Hamlet connection is a great find.