Special Notes:

24-page colour booklet with liner notes by Jeff Eldridge / Limited to 2000 copies.

Although this George C. Scott – Susannah York version was made for TV, Capitol Records clearly heard the value in John Williams’ score and released the largely mono-thematic work on LP. LLL’s disc marks the album's third CD reissue, after two prior releases from Silva Screen.

Part of the score’s charm is its main theme, a mini-portrait of yearning and repressed emotions, and Williams’ flawless orchestrations contain all of his hallmark sounds, especially sweeping string passages with deep bass tones. Contrasting the main theme’s inherent tenderness are more stirring variations in cues like “To Thornfield,” with spiraling figures and twirling flutes set to a galloping rhythm; and mystical cues such as “Grace Poole and Mason’s Arrival,” which unravels like a misty cloud of abstract theme snippets, with gorgeous colours from sustained chords, undulating motifs, and Williams’ resonating bass hits which the composer would later use to greater effect in his chilling Dracula (1979) and The Fury (1978).

A duet with recorder and guitar (with brief accompaniment by violin) reinforce the score’s intimate design, whereas some electronic processing gives “Thwarted Wedding” a unique shrill effect. (The latter cue is also interesting for the sly way Williams borrows the grunting brass and dissonance from Jerry Goldsmith’s Planet of the Apes in a short segment, but Williams’ interest in experimentation would eventually come to fruition in his still-unavailable 1972 masterpiece, Images, which also starred co-starred York.)

As brief as Jane Eyre runs (a bootleg CD from 2000 contained three alternate cues), it’s a charming, engaging work which stands out among the disaster, thriller, and war films Williams would write during the seventies, and it’s no surprise fans regard this compact work as a favourite, causing it to come back into print every 10 years.

Each CD release has had to address the score’s less than ideal source materials which suffer from a slight hotness and muddy quality, and the flaws are still present. LLL’s release is taken from the origina 2-track ¼” album master, and is the best-sounding version, offering a slightly richer sound with more resonant bass. Jeff Eldridge’s lengthy liner notes give a complete picture of the score, the composer, and the production’s place within Williams’ massive C.V.

© 2013 Mark R. Hasan