Film Score Friday 10/30/98
by Lukas Kendall
Yes, Sony Legacy has delayed again the release of their Star Trek:
The Motion Picture/Inside Star Trek 2CD set. Apparently it is so as
not to conflict with the release of Star Trek Insurrection coming
up soon. The latest we hear now is spring.
Most fans are stark raving mad about this latest in a long line of delays.
Well, it ain't our record! This is, by the way, why we don't announce our
Silver Age Classics CDs ahead of time. There's something we've been meaning
to get out for at least, but you guys don't know about it, so you're not
upset! That's the way to operate, I tell you.
AMC recently ran a poll on viewers' favorite film composers and soundtracks
(http://www.amctv.com/ at the Cafe
section of the site), but apparently it's no longer there. An AMC production,
The Making of The Movie Album with Neil Diamond and Elmer Bernstein
is scheduled for November 4 on AMC.
A 55-min. documentary, "A Portrait of Lalo Schifrin", airs
on the UK's Channel 4, at 4.25 next Monday morning. I've seen this before,
it's good.
The Last on the Different People Named John Williams
From: Michael Matessino <mikem@sharplinearts.com>
I doubt anyone else will come up with these... I have just received
a copy of the "simplified accompaniment" edition of the Episcopal
Church's "Hymnal 1982." A Mr. JOHN E. WILLIAMS is credited as
"Editor, for the Standing Commission on Church Music" of this
volume and the preface states that he lives and/or works in Stratford,
Connecticut. While I'm at it, I should point out that one of the tunes
in this hymnal, identified as "Tony-y-Botel" (a.k.a. "Ebenezer")
was composed in 1890 by THOMAS JOHN WILLIAMS (1869-1944). He is sometimes
credited as T.J. Williams. And if you will permit a stretch... in my research
on the above I also came across a JOHN G. WILLIAMS, an Anglican priest
and broadcaster who had a long-running BBC radio talk show in the '50's
and '60's. And the adventure continues...
Sketches vs. Scores
From: spsaudiomixers@webtv.net (Steven Schwartz)
Since you invited further comments about the much restated clamor
over the questionable re-orchestrating job in the new SUPERMAN CD, and
even more to the point, it's necessity due to not being able to find the
original score or parts, I have this observation:
Out of the multiude of recorded (both audio and later, videotape)
interview shows, programs about movie music, soundtrack composer profiles,
etc. that I have collected in my library (gong back to over 30 years of
such taping), I thought I remembered, and now just found, and re-listened
to, the audio of an in-depth interview I taped off the air back on June
16, 1983 (only audio--before home VCR's were prevelent) of an ABC-TV 20/20
profile of John Williams.
It included a tour of some of his home, in which in one room he
points out to interviewer Bob Brown a bookcase wall filled with all of
his personal copies of his scores! The interviewer says, and this is an
exact quote: "...the musical scores he's written...have been carefully
bound and fill 4 rows of bookshelves in his home"...
While I can't recall exactly which score titles I saw in that piece
while the camera panned along the row of neatly leatherbound scores, I'm
sure SUPERMAN would have been among them since they even discussed the
music. By the way, others interviewed on camera about Williams and his
music were Lional Newman, Andre Previn, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas.
The point is, why wasn't his "leatherbound personal copy"
of his score from his own home library avalable to the producers of the
new CD? Where was it, or what happened to it? Incidently, while SUPERMAN
is unquestionably a masterpiece, I still almost prefer his score (composed
the very same year!) for 'THE FURY', but that's probably just my opinion.
I'm guessing that Williams's personal collection contained his sketches,
which is what the Varese producers used for their album, and not the final
orchestrated pages (which for that film would have been mostly by Herbert
Spencer). The difference between the sketch and the orchestrated page is
that the sketch is the first thing written, and has the music on 8-10 lines
(or whatever) in an abbreviated form. The orchestrated page then fleshes
it out for each and every instrument with all of the other markings clearly
marked. Williams writes very complete sketches, but there are still some
things that the orchestrator needs to interpret in order to fill out the
score.
Good Intentions...
From: BillRossVLogic@webtv.net (William Ross)
In reply to Steve Harris's letter of FSM September, First, When
I saw Angie, I found the film unpleasant. The music, however, was enchanting!
It made me thing of being rocked to sleep. What a joy it was to see the
soundtrack listing at the end. I ran right out for it, at full price.
Second, I propose a way to satisfy many collectors. If someone starts
a website catering to those who want to see more releases, people could
"vote" with their credit cards. If enough people pay $15, $20,
$25, or whatever the price is, and the studio minimum is met, they can
release any old soundtrack the collectors want. This could also determine
how long the CDs are. If no minimum is met, no one gets charged. I would
imagine we collectors could subsidise many issues.
This is a brilliant idea, but not brilliant enough. For one thing, it
would be a logistical nightmare--we've found it hard enough taking credit
card orders when we actually have the CD to sell. Also, it's not hard to
figure out the choice titles to produce - it's just a matter of getting
the license and doing it.
Also, even at $25 each, you'd still need to get hundreds of collectors
to sign up to generate enough money.
And imagine this nightmare: you just barely fall short, and then a few
hundred people have to be disappointed, and their money returned (or card
info discarded)... and then they hate us the way they hate Sony Legacy
for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
The Edge
Responding to a question from
last week:
From: Michael Schuermann <mschuermann@bigfoot.com>
I was curious about [unreleased music in The Edge] at first as well,
as I personally feel it's on of Goldsmith's best in recent years (and the
film is wonderful as well!) Anyways, I sat down and watched the movie and
then compared it to the CD. Seems to me that most of the music not on the
CD is a lot of the action music involving the bear. And most of this is
pretty repetitive and similar. The CD is a very good representation of
what's in the film. The only thing that's not on the CD that doesn't involve
the bear sequences directly (that I can remember) is the bear motif right
before the surprise party towards the beginning of the film. Hope this
helps!
A Nice Long Letter
From: Steve Kennedy <stev4uth@hotmail.com>
I have been reading some of the commentary regarding film scores
as used in a film and as stand-alone music. I have found this fascinating
reading mostly because of the depth of emotion involved with the arguments.
As a musicologist, I often wonder if the debate was so furious over Mozart's
latest string quartet as it is with each new film score!
In particular, there has been much discussion here and elsewhere
regarding two scores from 1997, "Titanic" and "Amistad".
Having recently reviewed these films again as videos, my impressions have
changed somewhat regarding the music for these films.
As to "Amistad", there seem to be a lot of Williams fans
who hunger for the wonders of a "Raiders" or "Star Wars"
score but not the style of say, "The Reivers", or "The Cowboys",
two more Coplandesque scores (a common criticism of the "Amistad"
score). I must admit that when I saw "Amistad" I had mixed feelings
about it as a film, and the music seemed very recessed and inappropriate,
but I listened to the disc quite a bit and enjoyed the music apart from
the film.
Upon seeing the film reduced to TV size, I have a higher appreciation
of the film and the use of the score. One can see how "Saving Private
Ryan"'s score would become that background presence in that film in
a way that makes you forget it is there. "Amistad" excels at
this. It underlies characters as themes begin to weave between the African
and American elements in the film in very subtle ways. Williams has an
uncanny ability to have musical presence in a film so that when you get
to the end titles you go, "Wait, I think I heard that a minute or
two ago." Goldsmith often has that same ability as do all the great
film composers. I think what disappointed people with the film is they
thought they were going to see a slavery ship film and what they got was
a melodrama about the legal system, a kind of allegory to be applied to
our own time. (A film that comes to us post-Simpson trial.) At any rate,
a score that deserves debate.
Then there was "Titanic". When I first saw this film,
I was overwhelmed with the visual distinctions of class that Cameron took
pains to point out. The final 30 minutes was overwhelming emotionally-how
could it not be. Moved to the small screen, it plays like a bad melodrama
without any social commentary bite. But what struck me the most was the
music. I could not understand why there was all this celtic music playing
or influencing the music of the film. The main characters were not Irish.
The only thing I picked up was that they left from Ireland and there are
scenes with Irish people representing the "lower classes". Then
up popped the synth sounds and it seemed so out of place in the film. I
am sure listening to the score is a great experience if you like celtic
music, it was just bad for this film. (Here come the letters!) That style
of music was fine for "Braveheart", another over-rated film and
score, just not great for this film. Again, this did not strike me as much
in the theater when I first saw either of these films.
Way off the beaten path, I rewatched "Star Trek VI". Cliff
Eidelman's score was always attractive to me because it reminded much of
Holst's "The Planets", which Eidelman admits was his model for
the opening theme of the film. Like much space opera, you are aware of
the music throughout the film, it's not distractive, it's just there and
you expect it to be there. Apart from the film, I will admit to this being
a guilty pleasure in the same way that David Arnold's score for "Tomorrow
Never Dies" makes great travel music during rush hour..hehe In both
of these scores, the music plays well apart from the film mostly because
characterizations are common to us and we know the story lines and expectations
better. It is "pop" music in a way that the Horner and Williams'
scores above are not totally intended to be (i.e., their popularity or
lack thereof is incidental to the film).
Finally, a word on the debate over the "Superman" disc
which I intend to listen to this evening with luck. There is amazing polarity
in readers reactions, something I am getting used to from film score fans
(they are worse than us musicolgists!-hehe). I have been wondering about
the "too slow" arguments that are coming up. In many of these
"re-recordings/re-orchestrations", I would imagine that there
should be some discrepancy of tempo and sound. It is something one gets
used to classical music where there are multiple versions of a piece, something
which I am understanding as a luxury.
It would seem that film music fans suffer much from "authenticity"
in a way the Baroque and 18th-century music scholars suffer and agonize
over performance practice and "authenic period instrument" practice.
We are fortunate to have on film amazing performances of these composer/conductors.
Film music is a large body of music that is neglected even more so than
serbo-croatian symphonies from the 1750s! But, one can only hope that in
the coming decades we will see this music come to the forefront, after
all, us "classical music lovers" are pretty much done replenishing
our LPs, it's tiem to turn to another great body of music literature, that
for film!
Thanks for the space!
No problem!
Super Heresy!
From: "RomanDeppe" <roman.deppe@metronet.de>
I am surprised how much everybody is talking about the new SUPERMAN
- recording... I think that is a pretty lousy, lazy score. Something John
Williams seemed not to care much about when he wrote it... it's is just
like the main title-sequence from SUPERMAN: An endless, boring thing...
I mean, the whole movie sucks (though I think it has some of the best special
effects ever), there was nothing Williams could really stick to. No wonder
he didn't return to the sequels, though I think Part 2 is pretty good,
far above Part 1. That's really not the best score Williams wrote and probably
the worst and most boring action-adventure-score he ever wrote. I am surprised
that you, Lukas, like the music and the movie so much... but probably,
because you saw it as a small kid and were just impressed by it at that
time... such things can stick to you forever. But I am sure if the movie
was made today, you would hate it like all other summer-blockbusters. It's
a brainless, endless, completely un-exciting movie, just filled with f/x-extravaganza
and blaring music to hide that the summation of the movie is: Nothing.
Well, that's my opinion and it seems as if I am the only one with
that opinion... (I saw the movie when I was a small kid, too the first
time, and nevertheless thought it was boring).
Amazing. Apparently this is not a joke. I don't think Superman: The
Movie is the greatest piece of cinema ever, but it is terrific comic
book entertainment and the score is sensational. Roman may be the only
person in the world who thinks Williams's score is "lazy."
If you love reading more endless reviews of the new Superman CD,
just tune in next week, 'cause we've got more of them. Thanks!
Hisashi!
From: Riotengine@aol.com, Greg Espinoza
I feel the subject of Hayao Miyazaki's composer and collaborator,
Joe Hisashi deserved additional comment.
Joe Hisashi is a guy not many people know of, but if you've ever
watched the films of animator Hayao Miyazaki, you'd recognize his work.
He's scored (as far as I know) every Miyazaki movie from Castle of Cagliostro,
to Princess Mononoke (great score, BTW). Nausicaa, Laputa (Castle In The
Sky), My Neighbor Totoro, Porco Rosso, and Kiki's Delivery Service are
some of his best, and my favorites. He also scored some Takeshi Kitano
gangster movies (Sonatine, Hana- Bi), and his style's still unmistakeable.
Hisashi can write warm and melodic, but still compose great action cues.
Hisashi is to Miyazaki, what Williams is to Spielberg, or Morricone to
Leone; an indespensible collaboration whose contributions help the movie
soar.
Disney has obtained the rights to a number of Miyazaki films, and
has recently released Kiki's Delivery Service to home video, with (Laputa)
Castle in the Sky, coming next. Miramax will be releasing Princess Mononoke
to theatres in July. It is the most successful animated film released in
Japan, grossing $150 Million (U.S.) It was only recently displaced by Titanic.
Herrmann Site
Look for a new interview with Swiss conductor Adriano on Twelve
Mile Reef: Bernard Herrmann Online; Adriano's output includes Herrmann's
Jane Eyre, released in 1994 on the Marco Polo label. Discussed are a wide-range
of film music related topics including "his personal friendships with
Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock, his long conducting and recording career
with Marco Polo, his knowledge of obscure European film scores, etc."
The interview is at http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8407/Adriint2.html.
Check out our new poll question, on the home page! The results of the
last one were interesting, with the '80s overtaking the '70s at the last
minute. I voted for the '70s.
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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