Film Score Friday 4/7/00
by Lukas Kendall
The big news is that Film Score Monthly has released THE
OMEGA MAN on CD -- the cult classic Charlton Heston sci-fi film with
a great score by Ron Grainer. Join the Family! Check it out!
The Hollywood Reporter and the Society for Composers and Lyricists are
teaming up for their annual one-day conference on music in the movies.
It's this Saturday, April 8 at the Director's Guild of America building,
7920 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Scheduled guests and speakers include
Marilyn and Alan Bergman, Don Davis, Marc Shaiman, David Zippel, George
S. Clinton and more. Register online at www.hollywoodreporter.com/film/conference.asp
or call 323-525-2112. Registration includes breakfast, lunch and post-conference
cocktails.
Hollywood Book & Poster Company is doing a book signing for the
Sherman Brothers, Richard M. and Robert B., this Sunday, April 9, 12-3PM,
at their store: 6562 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood CA 90028; phone 323-465-8764.
The Shermans wrote the songs for countless famous Disney productions and
have penned a new book, Walt's Time: From Before to Beyond, that will be
on sale at the store. Also at the event will be a live band of Disney alumni
playing the Sherman Brothers' songs.
Mail Bag
See the article
about Golden Age composers and their respective Oscar nominations and
wins.
From: Ranger7774@aol.com
It should be pointed out that a large number of the Newman films(those
he worked on as MD or conductor) were musicals and many of those do not
have any original music by Newman. About half of all he worked on were
in that category. A large number of those in the 1930's and 1940's were
in that category, and few later on also. On things like Roman Scandals
he did add some original score and adapted some of the music for orchestra.
On many films he did adaptations but did not add any original music.
From: Preston Jones <pjones@fulpat.com>
William Snedden is to be thanked for crunching all those numbers
for us. He's also to be thanked for NOT drawing any conclusions therefrom
as to the identity of "the greatest Hollywood composer," his
title to the contrary notwithstanding. As we all know, the Oscars are never
to be used as an arbiter of quality one way or the other. What's more,
faced with musicians of such quality and accomplishment, singling out one
as "the greatest" would be both fatuous and meaningless. However...
If we WERE to choose one champion, for my money, the field of candidates
for that honor would have to be expanded beyond the "magnificent seven."
Numbers Eight through Eleven would be Alex North, Elmer Bernstein, Jerry
Goldsmith and John Williams. And number Twelve would be the space where
one can write in his favorite undersung hero, be it Friedhofer, Raksin,
Young, Salter, Skinner, Gold, Fielding or whomever.
(For the record, Hans J. Salter received six Oscar nominations --
not one of them for a horror score, though clearly his monster music is
the work for which he will always be remembered.)
From: Corey C. Witte <galt1138@prodigy.net>
This is getting a bit picky, but William Snedden's article mentions
that John Williams is 12 nominations shy of Alfred Newman's record of 45
nominations. But, since Newman's total includes his song nominations, it
only makes sense to include Williams' song nominations. That brings Williams'
total nominations to 38, making him just 7 shy of matching Newman's record.
Given his potential slate of films in the next few years, it's very conceivable
that Williams will match and possibly exceed Alfred Newman's nominations
record.
From: Reginald D. Garrard
I cannot fathom that the great Bernard Herrmann only had one Oscar
to his credit! Wait a minute! That makes sense. Alfred Hitchcock never
won one either. That sums up the intelligence of the Academy!
To this day Ennio Morricone has won zero Oscars. He more than any other
composer right now is deserving of an Honorary Oscar, like the one awarded
to Alex North in the 1980s. -LK
From: "Terry Brown" <tbrown@mabts.edu>
While I enjoyed William Snedden's celebration of the magnificent
seven of Golden Age Hollywood film scores--plus John Williams--his essay
contained at least two bloopers. First, he claimed that Franz Waxman "was
handed two Oscars, the only composer ever to win the best original score
in consecutive years." Not true: after all, Alan Menken who, in the
1990s garnered the most successful decade award-wise of any film composer
with eight Oscars, also won back-to-back statuettes in 1991 and 1992 for
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and ALADDIN. Second, Mr. Snedden indicated that John
Williams had received 33 "other nominations" besides his five
Oscars. But, add the wins to the "other nominations" and Williams
actually possesses a total of 38 Academy nominations, only 7 short of Alfred
Newman's record 45.
Lastly, although I am second to none in my appreciation of Alfred
Newman's various accomplishments, in the field of original score, Newman
won the Oscar only twice. The leaders in that field are Williams, Menken,
and John Barry with four awards each. So, in this particular, but critical,
for some, criterion, Newman falls behind.
Sender: "Mike Schramm" <mschramm@ftw.nrcs.usda.gov>
The article on the Golden Age Hollywood composers caught my attention.
Regretably, Hugo Friedhofer was once again sidelined, a composer who deserves
more recognition. His superlative gifts as a dramatic composer and orchestrator
are in the same category as Herrmann and Rozsa. Just because we can't buy
much of Hugo's music doesn't mean that it's not to be coveted; in fact
I'm more intrigued by Friedhofer's imagination than that of Steiner and
Tiomkin, who are in reality minor composers that had the good fortune to
be assigned to many splendid films.
The number of Oscars and nominations awarded to a composer are not
at all indicative of a composer's abilities. Much has already been said
of the classic 1950's 20th Century Fox films Herrmann scored as well as
those for Hitchcock and Schneer/Harryhausen that were completely overlooked
by the academy. Then too, consider this: Newman worked on approximately
450 films (though many of these Newman had a minor role in), many which
were musicals. These films lend themselves to memorable melodies that academy
members will remember first. Also, 45 nominations out of 450 films, that's
10 percent of Newman's output. For Herrmann, 5 nominations out of 50 films,
same percentage.
From: Feigenblatt.RobertL@BAPCO.bls.com
I would like to point out a few gaffes in this article: Steiner
received 26 nominations, not 25.
Tiomkin garnered 24, not 23. Alfred Newman did not work on 450 films.
It works out to around 255. Steiner did far more titles, well over 300
as is stated.
Along with Rozsa, I would also add Hugo Friedhofer as a worthy candidate
for stamphood.
From: Kyle Beatty <lounge@appleogue.net>
Angela's Dialogue
From: Erik Chapin <dj_intrepid@yahoo.com>
I have read many letters from people saying that the Angela's Ashes
CD with dialogue is a big blunder by Sony. They say that the CD is dialogue
ridden but yet, they haven't actually listened to it. This closed minded
blasting upsets me deeply.
First of all, it isn't dialogue ridden. There is very little dialogue
included on the CD and what is present is artistically done. I find the
dialogue to be interesting and it complements John William's absolutley
beautiful score quite well. It is an extra touch of beauty in my eyes(and
ears).
Second of all, don't say anything negative about something if you
haven't even heard it or seen it. Opinions of that nature aren't worth
being considered.
On a final note, at least they didn't plague the Angela's Ashes
CD with a lot of dialogue and sound effects like the horrible release of
the Apollo 13 soundtrack. That was inexcusable.
I hope you listened to the annoying sound effects first before calling
it names.
A Bug's Question
From: Don Chapman, DJdeBronco@aol.com
I recently picked up a copy of Randy Newman's "A Bug's Life,"
which I highly enjoy. I noticed on the back cover that there is print that
says, "Edition Number:", after which there is no print. I was
wondering if there is supposed to be a number there, and if so, what does
that mean if there is not? Would this copy be considered "rare"
for any reason? I hope you might be able to answer this question for me.
I don't have this CD -- can someone take a look and write in?
Magnolia
From: Kirk Henderson <kirxworx@hooked.net>
There are slight spoilers ahead for those who have not seen Magnolia.
I disagree with Jonathan
Kaplan's assessment of the score to Magnolia. Jon Brion's score was
perfect for the film and is a compelling listening experience on CD. Though
people were highly mixed in their reaction to P.T. Anderson's film, it
seems to have stirred deep emotion on both sides. As for the score, it
was used unconventionally in that it didn't relate to individual scenes
or characters but for whole sequences and became a force that brought forward
the thematic nature of the film. Amee Mann's songs also did this (the extended
version of the song "One", and the climactic "Wise Up"
- which has the cast members singing along to - being two examples). This
unconventional method of scoring an intense drama like Magnolia was a fresh
approach that many people responded to. The passacalia-like, cyclic nature
of Jon Brion's score perfectly suited the story about characters caught
up in self-destructive cycles. The coincidental nature of life and Bibical
reference in the film spoke to many who see the major theme, the sins of
the father, as being urgently relevant to American society. Also, the nearly
epic cue lengths and expansive, determined, nature of the score allowed
the ensemble cast to work on us as a single piece instead of as disjointed
stories. Both the film Magnolia and score remain high on my list of the
best of 1999. Just a different opinion.
Oscars
From: "Luis Miguel Ramos" <mikeramos@telcel.net.ve>
It may be true that this year's Oscar nominations went to quieter
scores, but I can tell you this: The score for The Red Violin deserved
the win for best original score big time. In my opinion, John Corigliano
wrote a very subtle, yet terrific score. In fact, I consider it the best
score of 1999. And so did the Academy, when they granted him the award.
I have been humming Anna's Theme for the past two weeks because it has
touched me ever since I bought the CD.
Corigliano might have defeated John Williams and his beautifully
melancholic score for Angela's Ashes. I found most of the letters I have
read from your web pages towards The Red Violin unpleasant. The tastes
are definitely different. And even though mine tend to favor Williams,
Corigliano's score is great.
From: Arthur Lintgen <ablintgen@home.com>
Thought I'd weigh in on The Red Violin winning the Oscar. Some readers
are certainly correct in saying that the Academy often feels intimidated
by classical composers, and tends to automatically recognize people like
Corigliano or Glass whether they deserve it or not. However, I think they
got it right this year. The Red Violin is the best of the nominated scores
( I still think that The Phantom Menace is the best score of the year,
but that is another matter ). The classical composer rule does not always
hold though. Corigliano's Altered States lost to Fame in 1980. The most
egregious example of a classical composer losing was Leonard Bernstein's
monumental score for On the Waterfront losing to Tiomkin's The High and
the Mighty in 1954. The felony was compounded by the fact that Waxman's
The Silver Chalice also lost in 1954. They really don't get it right very
often.
Name That Tune
From: MikeJOLoughlin@aol.com
Years ago (about 30) I used to watch a syndicated television show
about a man and his children sailing around what I believe I remember as
the south seas and having all sorts of adventures. The name of the sailing
ship they were on was called "The Seaspray".
I believe that the name of the show was "The Adventures of
the Seaspray". It was an ITC syndicated show like The Punisher. The
theme song was wonderful. I've looked for it quite often but have never
been able to find it.
Can you or anyone at FSM help me? I might have the name wrong, or
maybe they never released a soundtrack or included it on a compilation.
Anyway, please let me know if you have any thoughts on this. Thanks!
I told Mike I had no idea but that hopefully someone out there in soundtrack-land
can write in with the answer. Please help!
Super CD
From: mstevens@usavgroup.com (Mark Stevens)
I have been somewhat surprised more baby boomers like myself haven't
checked in to comment on the recent Varese release of Original Music from
the SUPERMAN 50's television series. It is an incredible trip through time
for anyone over 50 who grew up on television's golden age.
To hear these great Mutel Library cues, a fixture in every other
half hour mystery or adventure series from 1952 through 1956, in their
"unsliced-and-diced" form is to relive a vast part of one's childhood
fantasy life. Not only SUPERMAN and the other series mentioned in producer
Paul Mandell's splendid liner notes, but such series as BOSTON BLACKIE,
CHINA SMITH, MR. & MRS. NORTH, and, especially, TERRY AND THE PIRATES
spring back into one's memory upon hearing these gutbusting action and
suspense cues.
Mandell and all concerned have done a superb job in restoring these
almost 50-year old cues to such a listenable state. If you have any memory
at all of SUPERMAN and SKY KING and the above mentioned shows, you will
marvel at how all this music has been sitting in the back of your mind,
waiting to be recalled by this terrific release. This is my favorite CD
of classic underscore since Monstrous Movie Music resurrected THEM and
BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS from undeserved obscurity a few years back.
I hope others will weigh in with their opinion on this great CD.
Thank you to everyone who wrote in with their letters this week. Have
a nice spring weekend!
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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