As many people have probably known, I'm a huge fan of both movies and music. I often feel that it's a pity that people my generation no longer appreciate art. I'm referring to all kinds of art, from paintings, sculptures, ballets, operas, classical music, etc. The list will go on forever. Of course, the definition of art is a rather subjective one; I consider many things artistic, even film scores. A film score has been seen as music that accompanies a film, when in fact, it could mean more than that. The link above shows John Williams' performance in conducting the film score medley during the 2002 Academy Awards. How many of these scores have you ever listened to? Some of them are pretty recent ones (e.g. My Heart Will Go On - Theme from Titanic) , while some others are now considered classic (e.g. As Time Goes By - Theme from Casablanca). The sad thing is when people are talking about film music, the most famous theme everyone knows is My Heart Will Go On. Many people have forgotten or are not actually aware of loads of other film scores that used to be really famous, some of which can even be included in the classical music repertoire of the 20th century. Below are a few music scores that I have come to love and cherish.
I fell in love with film scores when I first heard John Williams' Theme from Schindler's List (link above - I cried many times whenever I listened to this emotional performance by Itzhak Perlman - one of the greatest living violinists of all time). It affected me emotionally, not only because the movie itself was so touching, but also because the score is something I have been listening forever (I'm a big fan of strings - violin and cello, in particular). Since then, I have been buying and downloading many film scores, some of those are really old ones from classic movies. I started off with the violin-rich scores from The Red Violin, Ladies in Lavender, before moving to explore older movie themes. I have to admit that I'm mostly attracted to film scores that are heavily orchestrated.
My next self-educating adventure with film scores occurred when I encountered classic movie themes from Gone with the Wind, Casablanca and Doctor Zhivago. They are as classic as they can get and you can easily find them in any music stores. Many older people would probably know them when they listen to the tunes. Personally, I find Max Steiner's Tara's Theme from Gone with the Wind (link above) unforgettable - beautiful scores that are perfectly orchestrated. It still reminds me of certain scenes from the movie whenever I listen to this. Max Steiner is an excellent composer when it comes to composing scores for epic films. In fact, I think I purchased the scores first before watching the movie. Yes, that's how much I love film scores.
The last film score I wanna briefly discuss here is Bernard Herrmann's Theme from Psycho (link above). I see this one as a different type of film score - it's almost too masterful and horrifying to listen to. I personally think that audience's perception of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho wouldn't be the same without this theme. In a way, this theme reminds me of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring - very experimental and haunting. Herrmann's long collaboration with Hitchcock is very similar to Stravinsky's collaboration with Diaghilev in staging ballets. This is a kind of music piece that would stand on its own, regardless of its purpose as an accompaniment for a movie. Although people working in relevant fields and film buffs might know of the theme, people in general are probably no longer aware of this theme or the composer himself. It's sad, isn't it? A film score is a type of music that deserves a better recognition both as a music form and as an art form. I wanna explore the history of film music more. I'm looking forward to finding a suitable book and learning more.
No comments:
Post a Comment