[Fmpro] Where are the Distinctive Voices In Scoring?

[Ted Peterson]

So what are you saying? Is the composer of a commercial jingle. . .  
say, the "Oscar Meyer Hot Dog Song" the same as Berlioz? After all,  
both are composers and both are creative? So why quibble over the style?

We aren't discussing creativity here but intent. The intent is to say  
anyone who writes music is an innovative composer? I hate to be a wet  
blanket here but composers copy all the time. All of classical music  
is copy in a way but copy and expansion. That expansion is important  
is is what makes classical music classical in the sense of genre. I  
have seen people come to concerts from all over the world to see the  
staging or hear a specific piece. I have met Americans and Chinese in  
Europe and South America and Europeans, Japanese, Russians and  
Chinese here for specific concerts. Do you think a concert of film  
music would bring the same audience? No.  Williams puts on a nice  
concert of film music at the Hollywood Bowl every year. I went. It's  
boring.

So, music is music is music. I went to hear Radiohead and actually  
talked with a couple of the players after the concert. They stated  
that they were influenced by The Beatles "Revolution" track,  
Stockhausen and the works of Schaeffer and Henri. So they are doing  
similar stuff as was done in the past and the rock critics are  
calling it new, innovative and cutting edge. Yet it isn't. In film  
music we have the same thing. Composers skillfully using well known  
materials to highlight a film. People who don't know about the  
history of music or about what was done when, think that the scores  
are "new" and that the  composer is breaking new ground and being  
really innovative. Such is not the case. But a historical, musically  
based, perspective is required.

There is a documentary about Star Wars where Williams is interviewed.  
He indicated that he had taken a couple of approaches and finally  
settled on the "Bucollic" music finally used for the film. Was that  
innovation? I don't think so any more than I think the movie is  
innovative. Back in the '50s a movie was made called "Forbidden  
Planet" which featured a score called "Electronic Tonalities" by Bebe  
and Louis Barron. Very clever. The score is used in the movie right  
at the beginning of the electronic music age and still stands up. But  
the piece wasn't written for the film. It was written as a sort of  
decontextualized (word from the art world) music and edited into the  
film where appropriate. It's why the music has continuity in a way  
that most film scored don't.

So to me, the nature of film and music is one where the music takes a  
lesser role in the film. Overscoring can kill a film too as  
"Jurassiac Park" is a fine example. Eisenstein used Prokofiev's music  
in his films and he edited to the music because he thought that  
Prokofiev had found the right emotional tone and pacing for the work.  
You can even do comparisons of the score and the cinematagraphy to  
see where lines in the film follow lines in the score. It's eye  
opening to say the least.

Ted Peterson

On Jun 1, 2008, at 7:35 PM, <bipcress at comcast.net> wrote:

> Excellent argument Evan. And I just wanted to add to this thread that
> comparing film composers to those writing for the concert hall is  
> not quite
> kosher. The two systems are divided by enough practical  
> dissimilarities to
> make connections ephemeral and academic, and not useful as viable  
> qualifying
> points. For instance, the value of what John Barry accomplished for  
> the
> James Bond film series is monumental - without a doubt these scores  
> are the
>