Even thought it wasn't expanded to have it's own track, I think the Love Theme from THE GHOST IN THE DARKNESS is one of his most Passionate and Beautiful. It's best heard on the GHOST AND THE DARKNESS CD on Track 12 WELCOME TO TSAVO at 1:08, It sort of has that John Barry timing and style but I think it is Pure Goldsmith and very Lovely. I look forward to an Expanded GHOST AND DARKNESS CD just for a longer and complete version of the Love Theme.
My other Fave's of his Love Theme's are from PLAYERS and MAGIC before it gets all twisted with the Fat's stuff. I also really like the LOVE THEME from MASADA best played in his Concert MASADA SUITE with those awesome builds. For those who have been lucky to have heard it from a TV Broadcast of the Movie, you might agree with me that his LOVE THEME from his First Film Score BLACK PATCH is very beautiful. To me it has a strong Alex North influence. It's definately one of the Hi-lights of that early score. And it's a Western Love Theme to boot. THE WIND AND THE LION'S "I Remember" and UNDER FIRE'S "A New Love" are also tops for me.
Please share your Fave LOVE THEMES of the Maestro.
Zoob
Almost forgot ISLANDS IN THE STREAM who's Main Theme is undeniably filled with LOVE and Great Passion.
Actually, those are some that I had not thought about for awhile. The "Under Fire" is quite good and a little different. We read now and again that Goldsmith was not great at love themes, but I've never felt that to be the case.
Probably my own favorites would begin with Ilia's theme from STTMP. The Wind And The Lion would figure in there somewhere as well. And I always loved what Goldsmith did for "Forever Young". Although in similar vein to "The Russia House" theme, it has quite a different structure. I think the use of soprano sax kind of links them together more than anything else, but I've always thought that FY was beautiful.
I don't think anyone was as interesting as Goldsmith in creating simple cues that seemed to understand the mature relationships between men and women, affectionate ideals and complex little asides that put things at a slight remove, so it was more than the surface affect, it was the inter-connections between people that created a sense of flux and told a story. There are as you know so many. I like The Apology from Inchon, and what Page Cook described as an overblown theme in Under Fire. And then there are the themes between men in Hour of the Gun and Papillon, L.A. Confidential, and I could keep going.
I think the love theme from LOGAN'S RUN is gorgeous, especially during the film's finale when it becomes an anthem for humanity.
That is my all-time favorite of his love themes. It stuck with me as a kid when I didn't know squat about film music.
I know this isn't a love theme, but it would always tickle me when JG would create a chipper, upbeat closing theme to a grim horror flick. Like Leviathan or The Swarm. The end credits of both are the highlights of each album and totally flying in the face of the preceding experience. It's as if he was scoring the victory at the end rather than the film as a whole.
I think it's an often-quoted misconception that Goldsmith didn't come up with great love themes, presumably because people tend to think of action music when they think of him.
But boy, that is wrong. Even on things like Powder, Love Field, Angie, etc, all the minor works of the 90s, he came up with killer themes; but I would concur with the above nomination of Logan's Run. "The End of the City" is a stunning piece.
I like the Morton Stevens "concert" arrangement of THE RUSSIA HOUSE (Love Theme) found on THE OMEN: THE ESSENTIAL JERRY GOLDSMITH CD collection.
There is a similar arrangement of this theme on THE FILM MUSIC OF JERRY GOLDSMITH CD - like MASADA, this arrangement features the "magic" of BOTH, Jerry Goldsmith and Morton Stevens - a very nice piece, indeed...
