I never had much interest in the “sword and sandal” genre. Regardless of whether the setting was ancient Greece or Palestine, or if the producers were American or Italian, most of those movies were inevitably stilted in casting and historically dubious.
A standout among sword and sandal pictures, Ben-Hur was remarkable in its silent and talking iterations (1925, 1959). Both had expensive spectacle to spare, the proverbial cast of thousands and—most memorably—a dynamic and dangerous chariot race choreographed with real horses and drivers. They couldn’t cheat with CGI.
The 1959 version had a score by one of Hollywood’s most esteemed composers, the prolific and two time Oscar winning Miklos Rozsa. The Hungarian-born composer worked in France, the UK and Italy as well as the U.S. and was responsible for music from The Thief of Bagdad, Spellbound and The Lost Weekend. In 1948 he signed with MGM, the studio with the grandest budgets and the glossiest vision.
The complete music for Ben-Hur, including many bits that had been left off the soundtrack albums, has been recorded by the City of Prague Orchestra and released on CD. Rozsa composed for that film in two modes: barbaric Oriental grandeur and airy tones meant to evoke the story’s spiritual dimension. Conductor Nic Raine employs a full symphonic arsenal—an 80-voice choir along with massive batteries of strings, brass and woodwinds for an aural spectacle in keeping with the images on screen.
