THE TWELVE CHAIRS

Quartet Records, in collaboration with JAY Productions, presents the premiere CD release of John Morris’ score for his second collaboration with Mel Brooks, THE TWELVE CHAIRS (1970), starring Ron Moody, Frank Langella, Dom DeLuise and Brooks himself in the role of Tykon. Other scores by Morris include YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, THE IN-LAWS, THE ELEPHANT MAN and CLUE.

Based on a 1928 Russian-language novel by Soviet satirists Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, THE TWELVE CHAIRS is a bittersweet comedy about 1920s Soviet Russia, when a fallen aristocrat, a priest and a con artist search for a treasure of jewels hidden inside one of twelve dining chairs, lost during the Revolution.

After their success together a few years earlier in THE PRODUCERS, the Brooks-Morris duo reunited here, allowing the composer to work on arrangements of the song composed by Brooks (“Hope For the Best”), based on a popular melody previously adapted by Brahms. Morris provides an emotional score, not without hints of parody, and frenetic passages of comedy à la russe.

Morris’ masterful score was orchestrated and conducted by Stephen Sondheim’s longtime collaborator Jonathan Tunick and recorded at CTS Studios in London by John Richards. No album was released in 1970, and only four cues were included in a Warner Bros. Records compilation in 1976 in Australia, along with a selection of themes from THE PRODUCERS and BLAZING SADDLES. The score was first released on vinyl in 1983 by Varèse Sarabande for the US and Canada, and TER for the rest of the world. This is its first CD release. 

Mastered by Chris Malone from the master provided by JAY Productions, the package includes detailed liner notes by film music writer and historian John Takis.

Hope For The Best – Main Title 2:38

The Little Chair-Chase 1:31

Vorobyaninov’s Theme 2:43

The Big Chair-Chase 2:13

The Band Aboard The Boat 1:42

The Little Sad Train Goes To Big Happy Moscow 2:33

Hope For The Best – Instrumental 2:38

Cafe Music 1:48

The Walk Across Russia 3:17

The Circus Band 1:16

Finale – Hope For The Best 3:59

Total Disc Time: 26:27