Film Score Friday 1/11/02

Our first new CDs for 2002 are now available! They are a David Shire doubleheader, Farewell, My Lovely / Monkey Shines, and a classic Biblical score by Franz Waxman, Demetrius and the Gladiators! Follow the links for more information including sound clips.

Rhino's upcoming releases include King of Kings (2CD set), in stores March 5th; Silk Stockings (musical) in stores April 16th; and first quarter Rhino Handmade (i.e. limited/mail order only) releases of Ivanhoe and Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Future projects include Raintree County, Prisoner of Zenda (1952 Salinger version of '37 Newman score) and Mutiny on the Bounty (Kaper 2CD set).

There will be a 70th birthday concert celebration for John Williams at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles on Sunday February 24 at 1:30 p.m. Williams will conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with soloist Yo-Yo Ma. Among the pieces to be performed are J.W.'s Cello Concerto and "The American Journey" (for Spielberg's Millennium film). See http://www.laphil.org

Last week we mentioned that the popular trailer music to Lord of the Rings is a piece called "Gothic Power" by Christopher Field. FSM reader Christopher Field wrote in to say it's not him! Which I was actually wondering myself.

Film music was mentioned on Leno recently -- how about that? Kevin Spacey was on, discussing The Shipping News on the January 2nd Tonight Show:

Leno: I love the soundtrack...I love that haunting music.
Spacey: That's Christopher Young, he was nominated for a Golden Globe.

Music Behind the Scenes is a new six-part documentary series on movie music produced in England now airing on some far-away channels that I can't watch. For complete information, see http://www.nbdtv.com/frames_main/product.asp?ProductID=330. There is a formidable array of composers and filmmakers interviewed. The producers interviewed me amongst many, many other people last spring, but I might have ended up on the cutting room floor. That's right, me and Biggs, together at last! Uh, if anyone sees this, let me know if I'm in it.

This year's film music-related nominations are below. As we say every year, the Grammy calendar does not correspond to the actual calendar the Oscars use, so some 2000 productions are in there:

Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media

Bridget Jones's Diary, Various Artists, Island.

Moulin Rouge!, Various Artists, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp./Interscope Records.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Various Artists, Lost Highway Records.

Shrek, Various Artists, DreamWorks Records.

The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs, Various Artists, Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax.

A. I. Artificial Intelligence, John Williams, composer (John Williams), Warner Sunset/Warner Bros.

Chocolat, Rachel Portman, composer (Rachel Portman), Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tan Dun, composer (Tan Dun), Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax.

Men Of Honor, Mark Isham, composer (Mark Isham), Motown Records/Fox Music/McKnight Entertainment.
Planet Of The Apes, Danny Elfman, composer (Danny Elfman), Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax/Fox Music.

Traffic, Cliff Martinez, composer (Cliff Martinez), TVT Soundtrax/USA Films.

Boss Of Me (From Malcolm In The Middle), They Might Be Giants, songwriter (They Might Be Giants). Track from: Malcolm In The Middle, Restless; Publishers: Fox Film Music Corp and New Enterprises Music.

A Love Before Time (From Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Jorge Calandrelli, Tan Dun & James Schamus, songwriters (CoCo Lee). Track from: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax; Publisher: Parnassus Prod. Inc..

My Funny Friend And Me (From The Emperor's New Groove), David Hartley & Sting, songwriters (Sting). Track from: The Emperor's New Groove, Walt Disney Records; Publisher: Wonderland Music Co., Inc.

There You'll Be (From Pearl Harbor), Diane Warren, songwriter (Faith Hill). Track from: Pearl Harbor, Hollywood Records/Warner Bros.; Publisher: Realsongs.

Win (From Men Of Honor), Brandon Barnes & Brian McKnight, songwriters (Brian McKnight). Track from: Men Of Honor, Motown/Fox Music/McKnight Entertainment; Publishers: Universal/Polygram Int'l Pub., Cancelled Lunch Music, Universal/Songs Of Poly-gram Int'l, Inc., Brandon Barnes Music and Fox Film Music Corp.

Cast Away (End Credits), Alan Silvestri, composer (Alan Silvestri). Track from: Cast Away - The Zemeckis/Silvestri Collection, Varese Sarabande.

Communion, John Patitucci, composer (John Patitucci). Track from: Communion, Concord Jazz; Publisher: Iccutitap Music.

The Eternal Vow, Tan Dun, composer (Tan Dun). Track from: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Soundtrack, Sony Classical; Publisher: Parnassus Productions Inc.

Oren (Pray), Gonzalo Rubalcaba, composer (Gonzalo Rubalcaba). Track from: Supernova, Blue Note Records.

Theme From "Blonde", Patrick Williams, composer (Patrick Williams). Track from: Blonde - Soundtrack, Playboy Jazz; Publisher: Greencourt Music.

See the letter in last week's Film Score Friday:

From: Fabrice Roux <fabrice@hans-zimmer.com>

In response to the first Anti-Zimmer letter as described by his author, i write there not to defend a composer I admire but to argue to a fact that form the background of filmusic composing.

As said before, it is not a surprise to see in the reprise of a maybe theme composed earlier by Ennio Morricone the fact already known by fans that Hans Zimmer is a large admirator of the italian filmmusic composer. To counter this kind of interpretations we can say that Zimmer has also been one of the most copied filmmusic composer in his action style . But, i won't say it is in a way a fact that will save Hans Zimmer for being responsible of that reprise (if it is really a reprise) and if there is reason to save someone. How easy it is to find a formal relation between two scores when we don't bear in mind that filmmusic composing is a business full of obscur parts. Who are we to claim that a copy of copy of copy is a shame, who are we to argue with others that James Horner is losing his talent by taking themes already composed by him or classical composers? Nobody will take John Williams for a loser because one found that Schindler's List is in some of its themes an inspired-of partition. Business is business, stop taking filmmusic for something it is not at the begining.

I am not there deserving the job of people giving me pleasure when looking and listening to their partitions but only focusing the attention on things that have always been rejected in the interpretations of the works. The final music is only the emerge part of the iceberg. Thinking in terms of innnovation is not the best way to speak about filmmusic. By doing this, the partitions will be judge not for what they are (music around images) but as if it was an art form born with his own language, constructing its history day by day, year by year and evolving on different level. If movies have got their history going from finishing nineteenth century to coming days, mixing between technology and human science evolutions, filmmusic is not working in the same way. Filmmusic art (as a praxis) is a part of the business reacting to the demands of the industry. If Hollywood want to have one kind of music in his movies, it will happen. All composers agree with that. Temp track is the best exemple. They do what the producers need, rarely what directors want (listen to comedy works and action works you'll understand). Everyone is able to make connexions between works because we are not talking about art-for-art but art as a musical praxis between a global process leading to the distribution of a product (it is now impossible at the begining of twenty-first century to use the term of "film"). If we are loving some compositions (love is the right word), it is not in terms of novelty but feellings, sensations and impressions. I don't remember listening to a score like Planet of The Apes (to take one of the most transgressiv composition) and saying to myself "wow, Jerry Goldsmith is a genius, what a new kind of music it is (he may be a genius but not in the traditional terms people use it)", he is the first to say what everyone whispers : it is not new but inspired by the vast library of modern music. By losing his support, fimmusic is losing its essence, its attachements to diegesis, to the story included in the sequences shot before. If we talk and try to extract the essence of work it is by rejecting most of the time the best part of the process. We must bear in mind that kind of things, we must accept the inclusion of other works in the partition even if it's not fair, even if it is not what people may hope. Just if it is good for the movie, it is good for the music even if this is not art. Hans Zimmer and all other composers are involved in the same process. In some way their are linked together because they are part of the business. They do their job as good as they can.

A well-known story to finish :

Walking in the forest, a man listen to the song of a nightingale saying how lovely it is, how the nature must be glorifed to have created things like that. Approaching the source of his enchantement, he saw a man imitating the song of the nightingale. "how stupid i was" he said. What he liked before lost his agreement just because he didn't accept to be cheated by what must have been highlighted.

So is human nature.

From: Bob, Amcnau@aol.com

re: Bob Brydens comments regarding Secrets of the Sahara' track 5 'Kerim' sounding similar to Gladiator track 4 'Earth Theme' -- sorry i dont hear any similarity to either pieces of music!

From: Miguel Angel Perez Perez <Mapperez@ua.es>

I had not seen Gladiator till last week. All I can say now is -apart from the fact that the script seems to have been painfully devised so that it can be understood by two-year-olds- that Hans Zimmer's music is simply dreadful, resemblances to the always interesting Morricone notwithstanding. Zimmer and his pseudo-school of acolates are changing the craft of film music into a sort of atmospheric dhiarrea which does nothing at all to enhance, support or comment on the visuals. On the contrary, this mixture of absurd sonorities amounts to sheer nothingness. I couldn't believe my ears when I saw The Rock and other films of that sort; now I see that much worse things are still to come. Ridley Scott should revise his classics, both visually and aurally, and never stop apologizing to Jerry Goldsmith.

From: "Roald van der Laan" <roaldvanderlaan@wish.net>

In 2002's First Anti-Zimmer Letter Bonb Brydens claims Hans Zimmer copied Ennio Morricone's Kerim (from his Secret Of The Sahara score) for his Earth Theme from Gladiator. This is not true. First Bob obviousley means the adagio-like theme which ends the opening battle scene in Gladiator and NOT the Earth Theme, which can be heard in tracks like Honor Him. There are some melodic and harmonic similarities between Kerim and the end of The Battle, but it's certainly not enough to speak of a copy. One melodic phrase is the same, note for note, but both pieces form a larger, complex whole apart from this one phrase. The claim that the theme is a note-for-note rewrite in it's entirely based on one melodic line is false.

I'm a fan of both scores and have played them many, many times. A may have noted a slight comparison in the past, but it was never enough to even think Zimmer lifted something from Secret Of The Sahara. Perhaps, because I have known Kerim for years is the reason I don't hear the similarities. I know Kerim is a totally different composition, which serves a different purpose. It's differently structured and therefor the melodic phrase both pieces have in common are still different.
 

From: Thor Joachim Haga <tjhaga@yahoo.com>

I just wanted to thank you for your review of (and consequently attention towards) Marco Werba's score to "Il Conte di Melissa", an underrated score from an equally underrated composer. Incidentally, you may read my own review of this score at my Marco Werba page - available at http://www.celluloidtunes.com/marcowerba.htm

From: "Michael Hammonds" <mgh1942@hotmail.com>

I just thought I would add to the many replies you've gotten about the Rozsa story. [see letter and explanation]

Many years ago Tony Thomas and I wrote some scripts together and he told me that story, but it was about Max Steiner and Victor Young. Tony and Rozsa were very close and I'm sure if the story had been about Rozsa, he would have told it that way.

As a matter of fact, speaking of Tony, you might think about doing a story on him--if you haven't already. He was a lovely man.

And I don't think you failed at all in your piece about Barry. Appreciation for a composer is completely a matter of opinion. When somebody says, "I don't understand how you can like that guy..." That is exactly the point. He or she cannot understand.

Here's a very good John Barry site -- I guess it's been up for a while, but it only recently came to my attention: http://www.playitagain.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/barrysite/home.html

Roger Hall has posted his best and worst of 2001 at Film Music Review; see http://hometown.aol.com/musbuff/page19.htm

Douglass Fake has written about our Broken Lance CD in his weekly column for Intrada; see
http://www.intrada.com/doug/doug0102.htm