Bit random, this - but does anybody else think that some of the best new classical music these days is composed for film soundtracks?
Stuff like Schindler's List, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Da Vinci Code, Master & Commander, etc. - all had really awesome orchestral scores - almost, if not as good as traditional composers.
Anyone else have any feelings on this?
I'm not sure it's the best, and not all of it is classical; orchestral, yes, but not classical. The big guns who will be considered
classical from the 20th century will be names like Copland, Glass, and Cage. Even then, strictly speaking, they're not classical composers.
Movies frequently give us the best opportunity to hear orchestral music however that particular genre is called,
program music; music made to fit into a story being told. There are, and have been since movies began, some outstanding pieces of orchestral program music and even some non-orchestral, such as the entirely
electronic score by Louis and Bebe Barron for the classic masterpiece,
Forbidden Planet, made in
1956! Yes, before the transistor! It's a brilliant soundtrack that set the standard for eerie space music for decades to come.
However, give one of the greatest film scoring composers an electric violin, an electric bass, 2 theremins (treble & bass), test oscillators, vibraphone, 4 pianos, 4 harps & approximately 30 brass instruments, and you actually get an orchestral score that doesn't sound orchestral in the slightest! That's what the genius of Bernard Herrmann gave us in
The Day the Earth Stood Still. It is so enduring you even heard a few bars of it during the Oscars last night.
I adore film soundtracks precisely because they add so much unspoken emotion to films. Even what many consider to be the greatest film of all time,
The Passion of Joan of Arc, originally made without a soundtrack at the end of the silent era, is better with a score (done by Richard Einhorn).
Take 2 and a half minutes to listen to this. It's extraordinary.
