I'm not really qualified to comment on modern classical music despite eight years of piano lessons, but I thought it would be fun to do a post on the most common modern classical music, the film score. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of purist haters out there when it comes to movie music, and if you want a discussion on the technical quality of the stuff, you're going to have to go somewhere else (and I have people to recommend should you wish it). I only know that I really like it because it's evocative, playful, and quite visual.
Right off the bat, to get an idea of what I'm talking about, go to your iTunes Radio section, click on Ambient, and listen to the "Gotradio - The Big Score" channel. It plays movie scores 24/7.
Next, a few of my favorite film score composers.
Ever since I realized that the scores of Little Women, The Green Mile, and Finding Nemo were all written by the same composer, Thomas Newman has been one of my favorites. His music is subtle and playful, and I appreciate his extensive use of the piano, strings, and woodwinds. Typically I don't like a lot of brass because it's so often too bombastic, but Newman uses it instead to invoke anthems of joy, such as in "Orchard House (Main Title)" from Little Women. What I love most about Newman, however, is how he composes so beautifully with tension and pain. His signature almost-solo piano themes in movies like The Shawshank Redemption and American Beauty are breathtaking. Below is an example from The Shawshank Redemption.
I'm usually pretty good at identifying patterns in film scores, so after I watched Mona Lisa Smile, I realized that the music sounded incredibly familiar to me. Turns out that score was composed by Rachel Portman, who also did Emma and Chocolat. Portman was the first woman to receive an Oscar for Best Original Score for Emma, and rightly so. It's no surprise that I like her music, because like Newman, she also loves piano and strings. Her compositions are romantic and evoke a lot of nostalgia. Here's the main title from The Cider House Rules.
I'm a big fan of underdogs, and as you can see, my favorite composers don't usually show up on any "Big 5" lists or anything, although Thomas Newman is quickly getting more recognition for his work with Pixar. John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Howard Shore, Hans Zimmer, and others are all very good, but so many of the big names are known for their soaring, rallying anthems or tense, adrenaline-driven suspense marches (Star Wars, The Mummy, Gladiator, anyone?), and I usually prefer quiet, emotional subtlety in my music. One of the top dogs I've found to be a master of subtlety, however, is James Horner. He's done some of the most recognizable soundtracks in history, including Braveheart and Titanic. Some of it might be a little tacky, but what really got me was the soundtrack written for Legends of the Fall. That movie was one of the most melodramatic, depressing things I've ever watched, but the score is a masterpiece of heart-wrenching beauty. Here is "The Ludlows" from the film.
I don't own nearly as many film soundtracks as I'd like, so here are two different Top 3 lists. Oh, and while I'm at it, let me clarify the distinction between a soundtrack and a score. A soundtrack is composed of individual pop/rock songs written by various artists. Sometimes they are written specifically for the film, but usually they're pre-existing, having been written for commercial purposes. Most comedies and romance movies only have soundtracks. A score, on the other hand, is a comprehensive orchestral piece composed specifically for a film. Most dramas and historical fiction movies have scores. I could write a completely new post about soundtracks, but for now I'm focusing on scores. Note that this can be really confusing because "soundtrack" can also just be a general word for the background music of a movie, whether it's pop songs or classical compositions or a mixture of both, and they often label all-classical film scores as "original motion picture soundtracks."
Top 3 Film Scores I Already Own 1. Little Women, composed by Thomas Newman. Highlight tracks: "Orchard House (Main Title)," "Under the Umbrella (End Title)," and "The Valley of the Shadow." 2. Pride & Prejudice, composed and performed by Dario Marianelli and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Highlight tracks: "Liz On Top of the World" and "Your Hands Are Cold." 3. Gladiator, composed by Hans Zimmer. Highlight tracks: "Elysium," "Honor Him," and "Now We Are Free."
Top 3 Film Scores I Want to Own 1. Finding Nemo, composed by Thomas Newman. (Okay, secretly I own half of this one already, but I'd like to complete my collection. Highlight tracks: "Wow" and "Fronds Like These." 2. Braveheart, composed by James Horner. Highlight tracks: "Main Title," "A Gift of a Thistle," and "Wallace Courts Murron." 3. Legends of the Fall, composed by James Horner. Highlight tracks: "The Ludlows" and "The Wedding."
I really like a guy named Jon Brion. Some of his scores were for Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, and I Heart Huckabees. He incorporates a lot of unusual instruments and sounds, but he uses them to flesh out the feelings of the movie really well.
The best score from last year was There Will Be Blood, by Jonny Greenwood (better known as the guitarist from Radiohead). He only used instruments that were available at the time when the movie took place (early 1900s), and the music basically serves as the protagonist's tumultuous inner monologue.
So maybe I should be hooking you up with my nephew...of course he would scoff at any of your musical choices that include voices. He's pretty anti anything that isn't purely orchestral, but he would definitely talk your ear off about scores. So how do you feel about an 18 year old? I mean, he will grow up. That's only 5 years younger after all ;)
What a great post! Your top 3 film scores are also three of my favorites, as I'm sure you already know. Some other ones I like are The Mission by Ennio Morricone, The Princess Bride by Mark Knopfler, and Sense and Sensibility by Patrick Doyle. I also love the music from the BBC series Cadfael, by Colin Towns.
Thanks for sharing about the iTunes radio station. I think I might have fallen in love with it. :)
James Horner did Field of Dreams too, which is straight out of our childhood.
Absolute top picks: -Braveheart by James Horner. -Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End by Hans Zimmer (if that sounds cliche, listen to the first one (by Klaus Bedelt), and then the second (by Hans Zimmer), and then marvel at how he brings both prequels together and then lets it grow into something new without divorcing itself from what it's been.....I hate it when series use different composers and you can just tell ten minutes in, and it totally changes the whole tone of the movie, or when a composer just reuses the music he wrote for the first one--so I applaud Zimmer for so far doing the opposite). -The Village by James Newton Howard. -Serenity by David Newman.
By the way, for all the prelude music for our wedding ceremony, Casey and I are compiling a playlist of songs from movie soundtracks.....it's not finalized yet, but some of my favorites that will [most likely] be on it are: -"Gift of a Thistle" (Braveheart) -"The Kiss" or "Promentory" (Last of the Mohicans) -"Across the Stars" (Star Wars: Episode II) -"The Gravel Road" (The Village) -"Love" or "Funeral/Rebuilding Serenity" (Serenity) -something from Gladiator And I'm walking down the aisle to "The Heart Asks Pleasure First," which is from the movie The Piano, which I've never seen--but it's a beautiful piano piece that you should definitely hear......I learned how to play it, and some of Casey's earliest memories of getting to know me are of me playing it, so when I first suggested to Casey that we stray from the traditional pieces for the ceremony, he voted for that one, and now that we finally booked a musician (yesterday), it's decided for sure.
Yeah, I absolutely love movie soundtracks. Favorite music genre ever.
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I really like a guy named Jon Brion. Some of his scores were for Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, and I Heart Huckabees. He incorporates a lot of unusual instruments and sounds, but he uses them to flesh out the feelings of the movie really well.
The best score from last year was There Will Be Blood, by Jonny Greenwood (better known as the guitarist from Radiohead). He only used instruments that were available at the time when the movie took place (early 1900s), and the music basically serves as the protagonist's tumultuous inner monologue.
So maybe I should be hooking you up with my nephew...of course he would scoff at any of your musical choices that include voices. He's pretty anti anything that isn't purely orchestral, but he would definitely talk your ear off about scores. So how do you feel about an 18 year old? I mean, he will grow up. That's only 5 years younger after all ;)
What a great post! Your top 3 film scores are also three of my favorites, as I'm sure you already know. Some other ones I like are The Mission by Ennio Morricone, The Princess Bride by Mark Knopfler, and Sense and Sensibility by Patrick Doyle. I also love the music from the BBC series Cadfael, by Colin Towns.
Thanks for sharing about the iTunes radio station. I think I might have fallen in love with it. :)
James Horner did Field of Dreams too, which is straight out of our childhood.
Absolute top picks:
-Braveheart by James Horner.
-Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End by Hans Zimmer (if that sounds cliche, listen to the first one (by Klaus Bedelt), and then the second (by Hans Zimmer), and then marvel at how he brings both prequels together and then lets it grow into something new without divorcing itself from what it's been.....I hate it when series use different composers and you can just tell ten minutes in, and it totally changes the whole tone of the movie, or when a composer just reuses the music he wrote for the first one--so I applaud Zimmer for so far doing the opposite).
-The Village by James Newton Howard.
-Serenity by David Newman.
By the way, for all the prelude music for our wedding ceremony, Casey and I are compiling a playlist of songs from movie soundtracks.....it's not finalized yet, but some of my favorites that will [most likely] be on it are:
-"Gift of a Thistle" (Braveheart)
-"The Kiss" or "Promentory" (Last of the Mohicans)
-"Across the Stars" (Star Wars: Episode II)
-"The Gravel Road" (The Village)
-"Love" or "Funeral/Rebuilding Serenity" (Serenity)
-something from Gladiator
And I'm walking down the aisle to "The Heart Asks Pleasure First," which is from the movie The Piano, which I've never seen--but it's a beautiful piano piece that you should definitely hear......I learned how to play it, and some of Casey's earliest memories of getting to know me are of me playing it, so when I first suggested to Casey that we stray from the traditional pieces for the ceremony, he voted for that one, and now that we finally booked a musician (yesterday), it's decided for sure.
Yeah, I absolutely love movie soundtracks. Favorite music genre ever.