Favorite Composer?
When I mention my hobby of
collecting and enjoying movie scores, one of the first questions I hear is,
“What are your favorite scores?” The answer to that is never easy, mostly
because it seems to change on a weekly basis. I go through phases with music,
enjoying one style over another. Some film scores I like for nostalgic reasons,
others I enjoy because they inspire my writing, others take me back into the
world of the movie.
So depending on when you ask me I may be in one of these periods where I explore
the work of one composer and try to get a well-rounded idea of what their work
is like. While I may shift my attention to one composer, it doesn’t mean stop
listening to a previous favorite or don’t listen to anything else. But I’ll
find myself revisiting a certain composer’s material over and over again.
Originally this was going to
be one post about my favorite composers, but the further I got into this, the
longer each entry became. I decided to just go ahead and make this a series.
So I’ll give some insight
into the composers who I keep coming back to, why I enjoy their work and give
you some samples of what I think is their most accessible stuff. As I’ve
mentioned before, my musical vocabulary is limited. This is not going to be in
depth analysis of styles, but a more general and yes, fan based, approach.
First up, is one of the most
famous film composers out there …
John Williams
My love of film music
started with my love of Star Wars
and so that means John Williams was the first composer whose work I really
explored. For a long time I really only had six soundtracks by him, the Star
Wars and Indiana Jones trilogy. And when you want to talk about the classic
John Williams sound, these are the scores that always get mentioned.
What is amazing about
Williams and is really obvious in these scores, is his ability to create
so many varied and memorable themes. These themes also perfectly fit the
characters and situations they are matched to. This creates a real fusion
between the visuals and the music. The result is that when you hear a track
from Empire Strikes Back or Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
you will most likely remember exactly what moment it is from.
While I love his material
from the late ‘70s and into the ‘90s, the man has not lost any of skills. His
work on the first three Harry Potter films
is truly magical and his music for Memoirs
of a Geisha is great stuff.
But Williams had a major
style shift at the end of the ‘90s. It revolved mostly around his action music
style (and doesn’t affect his dramatic work much). In his earlier work,
Williams could create action music that would work as it’s own set piece
telling a story in a clear musical way. Some of the best moments in this are
the Asteroid Field from The Empire
Strikes Back and the Desert Chase from Raiders
of the Lost Ark.
His later action music drops
the use of themes and ceases to create a story with the music. Instead it goes
for a more rhythmic approach, supporting the action with a wall of sound. You
can hear this in the Star Wars prequels. The music is still very much Williams
but it is less appealing to me than his earlier more theme centric material.
When it comes to film music,
I love the adventure scores. The combination of action, drama and usually a little romance is what I end up listening to the most. But Williams is very
adept at scoring dramas too. Some of his most dramatic scores are for
Spielberg’s films: Schindler’s List,
Empire of the Sun, War Horse and Saving Private Ryan. But for me, one of my favorites of his
dramatic writing is the excellent score for Memoirs of a Geisha. He infuses a wonderful Asian sound with his
typical style, great stuff.
Honestly I feel like I’m
leaving out some of his best work. I haven’t mentioned Hook, Jaws, Close Encounters of a Third Kind, Superman, ET or JFK. But I’ve got
to stop somewhere. The thing is, if you listen to some of Williams work and
enjoy it, chances are you’ll find plenty more to dig into and enjoy.
What’s the best place to
start with John Williams? It would probably be Raiders of the Lost Ark. Not only do you get the memorable main
theme (The Raiders March), but you also get one of Williams’ best romantic
themes with Marian’s Theme. His music for the power and majesty of the Ark is
revealed in the awesome cue; Map Room: Dawn. There is also one of the best
examples of Williams’ earlier style of action scoring in the track: Desert
Chase.
Check out the end credits
for the film below. It starts with Marian’s theme, goes into the Ark theme,
then unleashes with the Raiders March, Marian’s Theme again and a wonderful
reprise of the Raiders March. Adventure scores don’t come much better than
this.
Next month we head to the far East with one of my favorite Japanese animation composers: Yoko Kanno.
It's hard to do much better than that list of credits -- and the problem with the Star Wars prequels isn't really the music.
ReplyDeleteI have a nomination for the worst score of all time: The Mesa of Lost Women (1953). That it was possible to make this awful movie worse through music is amazing, but the filmmakers succeeded.
Yeah when you ask most people to name a film composer they either say John Williams or Hans Zimmer. And the reasons are pretty clear when you see which movies these gents have scored.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the prequels. For all their problems, the music is really not one of them. In fact, I actually think "The Phantom Menace" is William's most accomplished Star Wars score. There are a lot of layers in it, and they play off each other in an amazing way. But I still don't listen to it as much as I do the original trilogy of music - and that is mostly because the action tracks just aren't as appealing. Well at least for me, I've run into plenty of folks who love Williams newer action style.
I've seen "Mesa of Lost Woman" and it is a painfest! If I remember right, my wife actually left the room because the music was driving her crazy. I stuck it out - and man, was it not worth it. :) Rifftrax tackled that one recently, and I read a lot of folks saying the music nearly killed them, even with the top notch riffers on hand.