A surprise find on Amazon today: it looks like RCA is reissuing six classic film score compilations recorded by Charles Gerhardt and The National Philharmonic Orchestra.

The American conductor, who made a name for himself as a producer/compiler of LP box sets sold through Reader's Digest, founded The National Philharmonic Orchestra, a crack team of London session musicians, in 1970. Within two years, the unit was earning high marks in the film world for "The Classic Film Scores" series, meticulously arranged and re-recorded suites and cues from great films that could often stand toe to toe with the original recordings. The series, a staple of RCA's discography from 1972 into the 1980s, included recordings of music by Max Steiner, Miklós Rózsa, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Waxman, Bernard Hermann, John Williams and many others. (Gerhardt's approaches to each film in the original Star Wars trilogy are essential to any fan of Williams' work for the space series.)

Many of these titles had been released before, but it appears that another issue is planned for October 19, putting six of these albums back in print for film score fans who deserve a good compilation or two. Check out the pre-order pages here and find details for each set after the jump.

Charles Gerhardt and The National Philharmonic Orchestra, The Sea Hawk: The Classic Film Scores of Erich Wolfgang Korngold (RCA LSC 3330, 1972)

1. Suite from "The Sea Hawk" (Main Title/Reunion/Finale) - 6:53
2. Nora's Theme (from "Of Human Bondage") - 4:21
3. March of the Merry Men/Battle (from "The Adventures of Robin Hood") - 4:01
4. Love Theme (from "Juarez") - 1:48
5. Main Title (from "King's Row") - 1:39
6. Tomorrow (from "The Constant Nymph") - 6:02
7. Overture (from "Captain Blood") - 2:58
8. No Father, No Mother, No Name (from "Anthony Adverse") - 2:39
9. Main Title/Mother and Son (from "Between Two Worlds") - 5:30
10. Main Title (from "Deception") - 1:33
11. The Death of Emily Brontë (from "Devotion") - 4:05
12. Suite from "Escape Me Never" (Main Title/Venice/March/Love Scene/Finale) - 8:14

Charles Gerhardt and The National Philharmonic Orchestra, Captain from Castile: The Classic Film Scores of Alfred Newman (RCA ARL1-0184, 1973)

1. 20th Century-Fox Fanfare with CinemaScope Extension/Street Scene (from "How to Marry a Millionaire") - 4:22
2. Pedro and Catana/Conquest (from "Captain from Castile") - 6:20
3. Cathy's Theme (from "Wuthering Heights") - 2:51
4. Hornpipe (from "Down to the Sea in Ships") - 1:56
5. Prelude/The Vision (from "The Song of Bernadette") - 7:49
6. Main Title (The Hunters) (from "The Bravados") - 3:04
7. Main Title (from "Anastasia") - 2:45
8. London Calling (from "The Best of Everything") - 2:51
9. Main Title (from "Airport") - 3:13
10. Suite from "The Robe" (Main Title/Elegy/Caligula's March/The Map of Jerusalem) - 8:32

Charles Gerhardt and The National Philharmonic Orchestra, Casablanca: The Classic Film Scores for Humphrey Bogart (RCA ARL1-0422, 1974)

1. Suite from "Casablanca" (Main Title/The Immigrants/Morocco/"Sam, I thought I told you never to play..."/As Time Goes By/Flashback/Rick Remembers Paris/Love Scene/The Airport/Major Strasser's Death/The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship) (Music by Max Steiner) - 8:36
2. Rescue at Sea (from "Passage to Marseille - Music by Max Steiner) - 3:55
3. Suite from "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (Main Title/The Trek to the Gold/Fool's Gold/The Letter/Finale/The Gold Scatters in the Wind) (music by Max Steiner) - 7:46
4. Love Themes (from "The Big Sleep" - Music by Max Steiner) - 2:41
5. March (from "The Caine Mutiny" - Music by Max Steiner) - 2:33
6. Main Title/Martinique (from "To Have and Have Not" - Music by Franz Waxman) - 1:43
7. Suite from "The Two Mrs. Carrolls" (Main Title/The Embrace/The Storm/The Poisoned Milk/The Window/Geoffrey's Madness/Finale - Music by Franz Waxman) - 4:26
8. Main Title/The Larrabee Estate (from "Sabrina" - Music by Frederick Hollander) - 4:26
9. Love Theme (from "The Left Hand of God" - Music by Victor Young) - 2:37
10. Main Title (from "Sahara" - Music by Miklós Rózsa) - 2:36
11. Stagecoach/Love Scene (from "Virginia City"- Music by Max Steiner) - 4:15
12. Suite from "Key Largo" (Main Title/The Bridge/McCloud and Mrs. Temple/Reminiscence/Morning/Finale) (Music by Max Steiner) - 5:12

Charles Gerhardt and The National Philharmonic Orchestra, Gone with the Wind: Max Steiner's Classic Film Score (RCA ARL1-0452, 1974)

1. Selznick International Trademark/Dixie/Mammy/Tara/Rhett (Main Title) - 3:04
2. The Twins/Katie Bell/Ashley/Mammy (Opening Sequence) - 2:13
3. Driving Home/Gerald O'Hara/Scarlett/Tara - 2:48
4. Charleston Heel/Toe Polka/Southern Belle Waltz/Can Can (Dance Montage) - 3:26
5. Grazioso/Mammy/Ashley/Ashley and Scarlett/Scarlett/Ashley and Melanie Love Theme - 5:00
6. Civil War/Fall of the South/Scarlett Walks Among the Wounded - 5:19
7. True Love/Ashley Returns to Tara from the War/Tara in Ruins - 3:15
8. Belle Waiting - 2:24
9. Reconstruction/The Nightmare/Tara Rebuilt/Bonnie/The Accident - 7:05
10. Mammy and Melanie's on the Staircase/Rhett's Sorrow - 2:29
11. Melanie's Death/Scarlett and Rhett/Tara (Apotheosis) - 6:24

Charles Gerhardt and The National Philharmonic Orchestra, Captain Blood: The Classic Film Scores for Errol Flynn (RCA ARL1-0912, 1975)

1. Suite from "The Adventures of Don Juan" (The King/Main Title/Don Juan/The Brocade/Don Juan's Serenade/Parade Into London/Don Juan and the Queen/Final Scene) (Music by Max Steiner) - 9:35
2. Suite from "The Sea Hawk" (The Albatross/The Throne Room of Elizabeth I/Entrance of the Sea Hawks/The Orchid/Panama March/The Duel/Strike for the Shores of a Dover) (Music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold) - 8:08
3. Ship in the Night (from "Captain Blood" - Music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold) - 2:08
4. Suite from "They Died with Their Boots On" (Morning/The Farewell Before the Battle/Preparation and March/The 7th Calvary/Garry Owen/The Sioux/The Battle of Little Big Horn/Custer's Last Stand) (Music by Max Steiner) - 8:41
5. Suite from "Dodge City" (Warner Bros. Fanfare/Main Title/The Open Prairie/The Iron Horse/Surrett/The Comrades/The Covered Wagon/Grazioso/Abbie and the Children/Wade and Abbie/The Blarney/Abbie's Theme) (Music by Max Steiner) - 7:56
6. Parachute Drop (from "Objective, Burma!" - Music by Franz Waxman) - 2:16
7. Prologue (Solenelle)/The Lights of Paris (from "The Sun Also Rises" - Music by Hugo Friedhofer) - 4:42
8. Suite from "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (The Archery Tournament/Escape from the Gallows/Robin and Lady Marian/Coronation Procession) (Music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold) - 12:20

Charles Gerhardt and The National Philharmonic Orchestra, Lost Horizon: The Classic Film Scores of Dimitri Tiomkin (RCA ARL1-1669, 1976)

1. Suite from "Lost Horizon" (Prelude/Foreward Card/Riot in Baskui/Mob Scene at Refueling Station/Morning After the Plane Crash) - 5:46
2. Arrival of the Caravan/The Journey Over the Mountains (from "Lost Horizon") - 2:56
3. Entrance Into Shangri-La (from "Lost Horizon") - 2:26
4. Nocturne (from "Lost Horizon") - 2:25
5. Riding Sequence/The Waterfall/Chinese Children's Scherzo (from "Lost Horizon") - 2:38
6. Bell Sequence/Funeral Cortege of the High Lama/Escape from Shangri-La/Return to Shangri-La (from "Lost Horizon") - 7:02
7. Prelude (from "The Guns of Navarone") - 2:21
8. Suite from "The Big Sky" (Prelude/Forest at Night (Nocturne)/The Wide Missouri (Epilogue)) - 8:08
9. Overture (from "The Four Poster") - 2:33
10. Love Scene in the Barn (from "Friendly Persuasion") - 5:34
11. Choral Finale (from "Search for Paradise") - 3:31