Film Music Interesting? Responses
1M1: 7/20/99... Part 2
Compiled by Jason Foster
Continuing our letters
column from yesterday:
>From <kurkoskt@oit.edu> (Tim Kurkoski):
"Well, on your scale, I would be stuck somewhere between the
Moderate and the Pro. I've been collecting for almost six years, and a
number of my favorite scores are post 1990, but more and more pre-1980
scores keep popping up in my selection as I read FSM/FSD and other online
sources. I think I would rate a Pro if I only had more money to spend on
scores.
Film music today, I've noticed, is largely crap. I'm sure that every
composer working today wants to write a great score for every film, but
when you're under the pressures of time, money, and a director's preconceived
ideas of how his film is going to sound, I don't think the success rate
is very high.
In fact, the most successful composers that have started working
during the Blockbuster era (post Star Wars) seem to be the ones that have
taken chances to create the kind of score they want. Danny Elfman's quirky
sound brought him success in film scores as it did in rock and roll. James
Horner's emotive skills with the orchestra sent him into a domino pattern
of big budget action films. Carter Burwell is earning praise for his distinctive
sound. Hans Zimmer won an academy award blending synths with the orchestra,
rather than opposing the two forms.
Of the composers from the older eras that are alive today, many
have produced excellent film music in the past twenty years. Williams,
Goldsmith, Barry and others are still producing some great works. I'm listening
to Morricone's "The Mission" right now, which I love. I spent
more time listening to Bernstein's score than watching the special effects
when I saw Wild Wild West last week, and I can't wait to hear it separate
from the images. (btw, on this thread, I think E.B.'s sensibilities were
great for a western, but too old for a modern SFX driven film.)
So all is not lost in the land of film scores. I think you are right
that we do not seem to be getting our share of great music like we used
to, and it seems especially disproportionate to the greater number of films
that are being produced today. I think, though, there are enough composers
out there to keep the art thriving, and the really astounding, really great
scores will pop up when they are ready. And time breeds familiarity. How
would Herrmann, Morricone, or Bernstein have reacted if you told them when
they wrote Pyscho, Good/Bad/Ugly, and Mag7 that those would be some of
the most well known themes in 1999?"
>From <miawemfam@worldnet.att.net> (Eric W.):
"A big "amen" to your article in today's (7-14-99)
FSD article. Man, I was starting to think I might be the only one who feels
that way. Even though I am only 23 years old, by your definitions, I am
almost a film score veteran, but lean more towards pro. For me, it seems
that this invisible line got crossed, and any score produced after 1990-1992
at the latest was a considerable step down from what had come before. I
mean, really, nothing has ever touched the output of awesome opuses that
came out in the late 70's to early 80's, and I like you, have practically
come to stand still when it comes to buying scores. For me, it's a lot
like you said: I got TPM and the Mummy, and that's it! The two supervise
sleepers from last year that I liked were both by Trevor Jones: Merlin
and the Mighty, which I highly recommend. I could digress a lot and say
that art in general (music, movies, TV's, books, etc.) has been on a considerable
decline in this past decade, with only a few gems to come out. Some people
would say that is cynical, but really, compare our movies to today to the
classics that came out just 15 years ago. There's no comparison. A quick
example I can give, at least in my opinion, like it or hate, compare TPM
to the original Star Wars films. Forget about it! Where's that magic? And
as good as Williams score was for TPM, the only reason everyone is swooping
it up is because it has his name on it, it has the Star Wars name on it,
and because compared to its peers, it is some of the best stuff we have
heard in a while. Now, if I take John Williams by his own standards that
he set for himself, TPM starts to look pretty shabby... "
>From <BrownJ@usa.redcross.org> (James G. Brown):
"I have 300+ soundtracks and have listened to and love to listen
to movie scores since 1960. There are some really wonderful new scores
but often from films one only finds in the video stores, ie. "A Thousand
Acres", "Washington Square". One of my favorites of last
year is "American History X". I do admit that I find listening
to Ben-Hur more enjoyable of late than the current stuff. Of the 300+ CD
soundtracks, I have only purchased four new scores this year."
>From <01270767@3web.net> (Brian Martell):
"I would fall into your "Film Music Pro" category,
and have been collecting scores for...22 years now. Is the music of today
less "interesting" than the days of yore? No. Less entertaining?
Maybe.
Like many, the score to STAR WARS turned me on the scores in 1977,
and John Williams (not surprisingly my favorite composer of film music).
Friends, and fellow new score lovers, introduced me to Goldsmith (not surprisingly
my second favorite); and I then re-experienced Rosza (BEN-HUR) and Bernstein
(TEN COMS.) etc. I have scores from "The Golden Age" and "The
Silver Age" as Lukas Kendall names them (what do we call the era of
scores from STAR WARS to TEMPLE OF DOOM, the "Bronze Age"? Seems
an insult to me. The Renaissance?), and, of course, STAR WARS to present.
In other words LOADS of CDs!
So, I still see loads of films, hear music that I find nice, interesting,
etc. I don't buy them, not because they're not "good" but because
I'll never have the time to listen to the ones I have now. I save my money
for new Williams, good new Goldsmith, or reissues, and that occasional
new score that grabs me."
>From <DrCochrane@aol.com> (Daniel Ball):
"I think you hit the nail right on the head with this article!
I think I'd fall into the range between Pro and Veteran, even though I
am only 15 years old. I have listened to film scores, basically, since
I was only 3 years old or so. That was just an LP and cassette of STAR
WARS: A NEW HOPE, but I've grown to incorporate more scores into my tastes.
You are more than right when you say that film music is at an all-time
low, today in 1999 and for the whole decade, pretty much. I tend to go
back in the past to look for new soundtracks more than I look for new scores
that have been released in the 1990s. I think I only have a very select
few from the 90s. My treasures are the scores from the late 1970s. Mainly
from John Williams. Like STAR WARS and SUPERMAN. There are a few exceptions
like STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, from Jerry Goldsmith. But as far as
today's scores, none of them can hold a candle to those older greats. Anybody
that uses LSO anymore is just wasting a great resource. If there is one
90s composer that I favor among anybody, it's Jerry Goldsmith. I don't
think he's going by "Horner's School of Scoring." I haven't heard
anything outside of Trek besides TOTAL RECALL and OUTLAND, but I think
Goldsmith is fairly original. He uses his own material a lot, but it is
considerably different from score to score. As far as Williams goes, I
am appalled by these scores that he's been releasing since about 1982,
including ET. I'm just generalizing most of the action scores like Indiana
Jones and JURASSIC PARK, but his music is no good anymore! It's nothing
that can cheer up a bad day like STAR WARS or SUPERMAN or THE EMPIRE STRIKES
BACK. Nothing great. Just a lot of crummy flutes and xylophone-like instruments
with no real motif. The difference between today and yesterday, is that
today, a normal punch is just a trumpet, flute, bells, and some drums;
yesterday, it was a great development of motif."
>From <kapetepek@hotmail.com> (Christian Pruks):
"Well, I am a music fan before being a film music fan, and
I believe that more and more the soundtracks are becoming just some music
that you hear in the background. I mean, in the film it works fine (but
never brilliant), but it is unbearable when you listen the CD. The most
recent soundtrack I bought (and which I found interesting) were: The Phantom
Menace, Armageddon (score) and the Babylon 5 scores (not all of them).
I believe that some classics are missing these days."
>From <JohnJTrent@aol.com> (John J. Trent):
"Okay, Jason, as you say, you're making a little stereotyping
in your article... Hey, don't forget that we, filmmusic collectors and
listeners, are human beings! It's possible to be a collector since less
than five years, and still like Mancini! I myself collect filmmusic since
almost twelve years, and, although I have my favourites composers, I'm
still continuing to listen and appreciate the new comers and their more
recent works. And believe me, much of my friends do the same: we're not
some old timers grumbling about the more beautiful past and the young generation
that ain't following their ancestors! You should stop the sociology: filmmusic
collecting is purely illogical! And The Mummy is a great score!
Hey, I forgot to answer the question: of course, film music is still
interesting. Examples? Apt Pupil, hard to listen to, but quite an experience...
In Dreams, sometimes grotesque, sometimes beautiful... Alexandre Desplat's
Une Chance sur Deux, a mix of action and humour... Bruno Coulais's Serial
lover, something crasy you should listen to... Elia Cmiral's Ronin... Everything
from Thomas Newman...The Phantom Menace and my heart pounding when I put
that one on my stereo... The same reaction when I received The Mummy, or
some rare John Barry's LP... Ho, yes, believe me: being a film music collector
is still quite exciting!"
>From <Gustav5th@aol.com> (Chris):
"Found your article on the internet to be very interesting.
It gave me a lot to think about, one because I'm a young kid in his twenties
trying to break into the business, and two because I happen to be one of
Jerry Goldsmith's private students and your article had much to comment
on Jerry. I actually haven't seen the Mummy yet, although I did get to
see Jerry record the score to 13th Warrior down at Sony Pictures. I do
sometimes think about how I tend to be a little more fond of Jerry's older
work, although there are usually 2 or 3 scores he does every year that
I do like quite a bit. I don't know if you are a film composer also, but
I was thinking about the issue you raise, and I think that much of it has
to do with the fact that producers and directors these days tend to demand
more music, in a shorter period of time, and unfortunately for small pictures,
offering less money for the score. For example, Jerry's score to Basic
Instinct he had quite a good amount of time to work on. He's told me stories
about how Paul Verhoeven put his material through several rewrites because
there was ample time, and a well refined score is the product. Now something
more recent, take Air Force One for example. I thought it was a pretty
cool score...didn't blow me away or anything, but it worked pretty well
for the picture. What did blow me away was when Jerry told me he had to
write it in 3 weeks. Although Air Force One may not be one of his best
scores, it's pretty damn good work for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, directors
these days are expecting composers to crank material out so fast, and there's
not all that much that a composer can do about that, since if you can't
get the job done fast enough, they'll just hire somebody to take your job
who's faster than you. I've been in situations where I've taken all my
leisurely time to get a piece finished, and also in situations where I
had to write so fast that I don't know if I was really thinking about every
chord or nuance. And although I do know that if I had more time I could
have done those projects better, I don't regret doing them. Artists have
to make a living too, even Mozart who had to write a lot of stuff he didn't
want to for the Archduke. I dunno. You never get the "perfect situation"
on any job, and I guess the recent trend of directors asking for speed
produced music may be affecting the quality of the stuff that's put out
there.
Good stuff to be thinking about."
This was an interesting letter. I can't help but wonder if Goldsmith
will ever hear of last week's column, or the above letter. Probably not,
but you never know. In a way, it would be cool, but in another way it might
upset him a little. I know he probably couldn't care less, but still...
>From <brisco32@mycoupons.com> (Al Hamilton):
"The batting average may be low right now, but this is still
a great time to be a film music enthusiast. More music is released than
ever before, including many great scores of the past. We have great resources,
like FSM. Important scores are unlikely to go unreleased. So while it isn't
exactly a golden age, I'm pretty happy. I'm more concerned about the sad
state of television music. There was so much great music written for TV
in the past, especially in the sixties. Check out Jon Burlingame's TV's
Biggest Hits for a refresher. The best quick example is the Star Trek shows.
The original series overflowed great and memorable music. Composers on
the later series have been handcuffed by producers who insist that scores
be bland musical wallpaper (Even though orchestras are used, the style,
with its sustained string chords, sounds like studio keyboard music to
me). There are a few current TV composers who are doing good work now,
but most current television music is dull, dull, dull!"
>From <Bjmj2000@aol.com>:
"Is Today's Music Any Good? Believe it or not sometimes I hear
something in a film and it blows me away. THE ICE STORM had a fantastic
score. Sadly, only 1 or 2 tracks appeared on the soundtrack album; and
then they are filler for another 70's pop song album. Another score that
shocked me was A SIMPLE PLAN. Reminiscent of Mancini's WAIT UNTIL DARK,
Elfman created a tense atmosphere of 'things gone wrong.' This complex
work is eons from BATMAN. I'll be listening for his stuff in the future."
I liked THE ICE STORM and A SIMPLE PLAN. Both of these composers can
usually be counted on to produce something, at the very least, interesting
to listen to.
>From <garychu@netvigator.com> (Gary Chu):
"The answer is yes because the present of Ennio Morricone,
Dave Grusin, Michele Legrand, Lalo Schifrin and Lee Holdridge......but
international film music world is now a very far less exciting place to
be because the absence of Nino Rota and Mozart of Cinema, Georges Delerue!
It's very sad that film music market in USA is so limited and most of your
readers are so naive and only favor blockbuster film scores! I have to
admit that both John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith are very successful film
composers and they are very, very popular in the market, but please bear
in mind: popular doesn't mean good in terms of quality (music move your
heart) and unique style (composer's own orchestration-an integral part
of composition), of course, provided you guys agree and understand the
main key of a true great film score!" I would only classify John Williams
and Jerry Goldsmith as a successful and commercialize film musician!
As you are one of professionals and working in film music community/FSM,
I think it's really a right time for you all to sit down and think seriously
about this unhealthy trend that keeps on happening in Hollywood! Please
ask your colleagues in FSM, how many times FSM's been reported or published
JW and JG in FSM over the years??"
As always, thanks a million to everyone who took the time to respond.
The idea that much better scores are on the way seemed to be a re-occurring
theme in these letters, so it'll be interesting to see what unfolds. Perhaps
we are on the verge of another explosion of good scores like we got from
1975-85. If you feel the need to discuss it further, please take it to
the message board. Thanks!
Feedback: jgfoster93@hotmail.com
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