are film composers the modern equivilent of say a Mozart or a Beethoven?

[andycam]

I personally think that modern film composers like John williams, Ennio Morricone, Hans Zimmer, Danny elfman, John Barry, Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, Elliot Goldenthal,James Horner,James Newton Howard, Christopher Young,Gustavo Santaolalla, Eric Serra, Basil Poledouris, Giorgio Moroder, Clint Mansell, Maurice Jarre, David Arnold, Vangelis for example are just as fine.

Who do you like in the world of classical film scores?

[KalamityKel]

I'm a great fan of John Williams' stuff. If you happen to be sitting on the bus next to a young lass having Superman blasting through her ears... it's me :-$

[andycam]

I'm currently listening to Clint mansell and the Kronos Quartet, soundtrack to The Fountain. Highly recommend, not really head bopping music though, that one.

You can't beat a bit of Williams, so go there KalamityKel blast it. Try the theme to Jurassic Park, it's like a lullaby and gets stuck in your head.

[KalamityKel]

ahem... hardly anything to get excited about. I prefer the loud brassy themes ;-)

[Keef]

We have a local one. Joby Talbot who used to play with Devine Comedy wrote the music for League of gentlemen, and Hitchiker's guide to the galaxy.

[andycam]

Really? Joby talbot lives in Dulwich. That's very cool

[Keef]

Actually, he might be Camberwell, but near enough.

[Ladygooner]

Penalty in the 90 min? I hope it was deserved. Well I guess Mockney Piers is happy but I am sure Keef and Annasfield must be p@@ssed off!

[KalamityKel]

I quite like some of the stuff by Guy Woolfenden and Stephen McNeff... ;-)

[Cassius]

I like Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber that was used in Platoon - although that might be looking at it from the opposite way

[KalamityKel]

Makes me well up in an emotional state listening to that!

[Keef]

That is a piece that starts great then, for me, just gets a bit lost.

[bignumber5]

i may well be exposing a real anorak side of my self but i happen to love film scores, and own a couple of dozen.

taking a similar theme melody and using all other aspects of composition and performance (tempo, harmony, instrument choice etc) to adapt it to a variety of emotive situations is a real talent, and a disinctly different thing from traditional classical composition. Personal favourites are howard shore (the lord of the rings trilogy in particular) and hans zimmer (an enormous range over the years). in addition to anything evocative that the piece brings about in it's own right, they can take you back to the moment in the film that they are from, and i think that is a wonderful bit of escapism - they comes into their own (for me) when commuting!

adaigo for strings in platoon has a similar effect, as i think anyone who really enjoyed platoon automatically thinks of it when they hear the piece. I think the same can apply to any music (composed or contemporary) that has a strong association with a film moment: a few years ago, my wife and I were in Viet Nam and both had a rather overwhelming moment when we were looking over a rice paddy when we heard "what a wonderful world" by louis armstrong - played in "good morning vietnam" when they evacuate a rice paddy before napalming it - a film moment that didn't really register when watching it, but that suddenly felt quite tragic in the right place with the right track...

worth noting that listening to the score from pirates of the caribbean when in st.lucia didn't have quite the same effect!

[KalamityKel]

Could that possibly b coz u werent standing on a pirate ship dressed like a pirate? ;-)

[Keef]

I remember liking the score for Hand that rocks the cradle, some dodgy 90s thriller about a psycho nanny.

[annaj]

KalamityKel Wrote:

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> Could that possibly b coz u werent standing on a

> pirate ship dressed like a pirate? ;-)

How do you know he wasn't Kel? ;-)

[KalamityKel]

Ooo well each to their own... I'd rather not have that particular kind of image in me head right now tho... :p

*peeks over to her Bloom shrine behind computer for reassurance*

[annaj]

Really? You'd take Orlando Bland (of the Joey Tribianni school of acting) over the lovely Johnny Depp?

Well, as you said, each to their own.

But to stay on topic, I think that a great score can really enhance a film, but I don't tend to listen to them over and over.

[Alan Dale]

Keef Wrote:

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> Actually, he might be Camberwell, but near enough.

!

[KalamityKel]

Oh I don't like him for his rubbish acting skill! :-$

The music to the Lord of the Rings triology is very disappointing (not to mention boring).

[*Bob*]

There's a snootiness amongst many classical listeners when it comes to film score music.. or indeed any sort of 'modern' music.

If Bach were alive today, he wouldn't be writing for an orchestra.. he'd be doing CHOONS.

[KalamityKel]

he's been there done that... in his time :p

[*Bob*]

He did his best.. with the limited technology available at the time.

[KalamityKel]

And produced wonderful and demanding work :))

[paragon]

The Last of the Mohicans music is v. emotive. I go nuts for it.