Kritzerland is proud to present a new limited edition soundtrack release – a classic score from the Golden Age:

BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF

Music Composed and Conducted by Bernard Herrmann

“You see it without glasses!” screamed the one-sheet poster for Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, right under the huge and new Cinemascope logo. Beneath the 12-Mile Reef was the third Cinemascope feature, following The Robe and How to Marry a Millionaire. Fox assembled a cast of young up-and-comers like Robert Wagner, Terry Moore, Richard Boone and Peter Graves, along with seasoned pros like Gilbert Roland and J. Carroll Naish. But the big draw where was Cinemascope, stereo sound, and spectacular photography, both under and above the ocean (Edward Cronjager would win the Oscar for his photography), not to mention a brilliant score by Bernard Herrmann, sounding not quite like anything anyone had ever heard.

Herrmann’s score, in thrilling stereophonic sound, immediately drew audiences into its unusual musical soundscape, weaving an evocative spell with its incredible orchestral colors. The film may be standard issue drama, but it was those underwater sequences that held audiences in thrall. That and the completely unique Herrmann score.

To evoke the underwater world of Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, Herrmann employed nine harps, each with its own separate part. The score perfectly captures the mysterious underwater world – sinuous, hypnotic, flowing – a spellbinding tone poem that even today mesmerizes with its intense beauty. Since this was his first score to be recorded in multi-track stereo, Herrmann went so far as to include diagrams for instrument and microphone placement on his manuscript for the score.  Needless to say, the resulting score remains one of Herrmann’s greatest.

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef was available as an early Film Score Monthly CD. Several years ago it reappeared in the expensive Varese Sarabande Bernard Herrmann at Fox box, where the score had undergone an extensive restoration and remix by Mike Matessino. That box sold out very quickly and many fans missed out, so it’s a pleasure to rerelease this amazing score by one of the greatest of all film composers in superb stereo sound.

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef is limited to 1000 copies only and is priced at $19.98, plus shipping.  CDs will ship by the first week of May.  However, never fear – on average we usually ship two to four weeks ahead of the official ship date.