MRH: Are the steps to commercially releasing library music fairly similar to releasing an original score album?

DL: Library music is easier to use, whether a commercial or a limited release. I looked at the possibility of using the [commercial song tracks] in this release, but the percentage costs were too much. I never thought I would secure a license for the Beatles track, but included the Bootleg Beatles version, which was secured before I decided to drop consideration of the other commercial tracks. It rounds off the set nicely.  

MRH: It's only in the last 10-odd years that music from various libraries have been licensed for CD collections (several coming from Italy), and I wonder if you think the composers, if not the library owners themselves, are surprised at the interest in material that has probably been idling in vaults for decades?

DL: I am not sure about this. I recall reading that many of the library composers in the 1950s and 1960s regarded their library music as being of minor importance and in some cases substandard.

However, as the library music has been used in film and TV productions as well as in advertising, I guess many composers have revised their self-assessment. The increase in the number of libraries may support the importance of off-the-shelf library music.

MRH: Do you think it's surprising that the music used for the series worked so well, or do you believe its success is due to the composers' skills, as well as the music editors who knew how to create a balanced score from various sources?

DL: Eric Mival and others have done a great job in choosing library music for The Prisoner. Good library music is supported by a good original soundtrack.  Unlike the main theme from many TV and film action productions which often jumps out and hits the audience like a ton of bricks and demands to be remembered, the psychology of incidental music is of a different order.

When done well, incidental music does not necessarily register with the audience with the first viewing. The visual and the subtle auditory experience combine to give the audience an affective experience. A bit like how the visual presentation of food and drink are combined with smell to enhance taste. Many wine and tea tasters are not aware of how much smell informs their science, as is the case with incidental music in film and TV production.

MRH: Was it hard to select music for this collection, or were there specific episodes you wanted to showcase?

DL: I didn’t have any choices to make. I wanted to include ALL the Chappell cues.

MRH: The music tracks in these libraries are very much snapshots of the sensibilities of the era, and I've always had the impression that, certainly in the case of jazz-styled scores from the fifties and sixties, a lot of good music is just sitting there. I gather one of the biggest challenges for a producer interested in releasing vintage library music is sifting through the mass of music?

DL: I have managed to obtain a considerable amount of library music; making time to listen to it is another issue, particularly with other demands, such as family and a full-time job not in the music industry.  

MRH: Lastly, what surprises me is how well a cue written for no specific film or TV series or scene could fit so well in The Prisoner. Were you also impressed?

DL: Eric Mival was fortunate to get hot-off-the-press new music coming Chappell's French subsidiary. Chappell librarian John Parry must take some credit in introducing Eric Mival to Chappell's vast catalogue.