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


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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?

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.

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!

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.

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