Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Music From The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1988 Re-recording of 1938 Score)
Michael Curtiz's 1938 Technicolor swashbuckler, with Errol Flynn embodying the title character's mythic heroism and grinning charm, makes good the movies' tradition of action-driven spectacle, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold has magnified that irresistable force as well as become the template for generations of filmmakers emulating its stirring, virtuosic sweep. Like other transplanted European classicists creating the musical backdrop for Hollywood's swiftly evolving screen artistry, Korngold brought meticulous craftsmanship and a deep grounding in centuries of compelling, programmatic symphonic music.  Soundtrack buffs know that Korngold, working under tight schedules, raided his own oeuvre to pluck the title hero's vivid main theme, and freely employs anachronistic Viennese waltzes, bombastic marches, and brilliantly scored, intricate orchestrations to animate this medieval legend.  Anyone who's ever been thrilled by the irresistible film, or its glorious music, should care less: This is the mother lode for decades of exciting symphonic scores, still felt in John Williams's epochalStar Warstrilogy andIndiana Jones, among dozens of other indelible soundtracks.--Sam Sutherland