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Posted: |
Nov 8, 2011 - 1:24 PM
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By: |
JSWalsh
(Member)
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Sarge,
This is such a fine tribute.
My favorite film music composer, by far, is Jerry Goldsmith. I still feel a pang sometimes when I think about him not being in the world, composing music. I have every one of his scores that I've been able to get my hands on, and still find great riches in scores I thought I knew completely. In fact, that's why I like his music so much--because it is so layered, and I keep finding new things to appreciate in it. I suspect I will continue mining his works for the rest of my life. Goldsmith had a long life, and created a massive library of work. So though he's gone, I really can't complain. We all die, but few of us leave behind so much for folks like me to enjoy.
Poledouris is high on my list of favorites, too, but I confess to a different kind of feeling when I think about him. His music is, frankly, some of the most emotionally-engaging of all film music. Whether it's the ones everyone knows--Conan, Lonesome Dove, Robocop, Blue Lagoon--or lesser-known works--like It's My Party, Amerkia, For Love of the Game, Wind, Jungle Book--Poledouris scores have a massive sound that's the equal of Elmer Bernstein's biggest scores, and an emotional power that is never in danger of going over the top. It's this controlled power that made me think he was going to be the next Williams in terms of popular impact.
That didn't happen, and I've never figured out why he never seemed to get the breaks other composers got. In that sense, he's like Goldsmith. I won't elaborate here, on a tribute thread, because it's pointless. But this bothers me when I think of him.
I'm even more disturbed, though, by his last decade or so. I've read only one or two pieces about this period in his career, and I don't really know what happened, but he seemed to have been turned off by the Hollywood game. I didn't keep up with FSM much in that period, and I wondered what happened. I would buy Poledouris CDs as they came my way, and I was still wowed by such scores as The Touch. Why wasn't this guy scoring things like Lord of the Rings or The Matrix? He was writing symphonic scores that were supple and powerful, and he always seemed to be in touch with contemporary film--he wasn't too old, he wasn't overwriting.
I'm not trying to bring the thread down. In my weird way, I'm just saying that his music is still wonderful, still entertaining, and he was taken decades too soon. He had so many more scores to write, and I guess I'm just angry that I was deprived of all that music. It sounds selfish that way, but it's what I feel. But I also feel for the man, as best I can about someone I never knew personally. I won't go on, but I think there is a book to be written about how this particular artist worked in Hollywood, and why his career went as it did. I'm not saying he was a failure, because he wasn't, but I think a talent such as his could have been used better than it was. So it's not a story of just one person.
This note is a little more self-serving than I'd hoped, but...it's honest, and I don't think it's a bad way to express myself on this anniversary, because in the end it's saying I enjoyed his life's work and I wish he were here to continue his unfinished creation.
When I listen to one of his CDs, which I do weekly, I feel a mix of anger and sadness. Then I listen to the music that inspired those thoughts, and I am soothed by its beauty. That's a pretty staggering achievement in itself.
If this is too much of a downer for the thread just say so and I'll delete it, no problem.
Ramble over.
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I don't think Mr Poledouris could have gotten more emotional than in It's My Party.
Simple & heartbreaking.
He is missed.
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Posted: |
Nov 8, 2011 - 1:50 PM
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By: |
Zoragoth
(Member)
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Also CONAN THE DESTROYER, when Arnold is fighting the monster at the mirror's room. The music is so rousing and heroic.
Great choice. The music in that scene is some of my all-time favorite music by Basil!
My favorite sequence is where Conan and his gang read the prophecies from the Scrolls of Skellos. Suddenly, the film climbs up a notch in quality, reaching towards the poetry of the first film. Mysticism, beauty, and a sense of wonder and humanity, all present in this nicely crafted scene, but greatly enhanced by Poledouris's underscoring. I really like the whole score, but it is here that I feel like Poledouris sort of bestirs himself and says to the film, "Now you're talking!"
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Weird, I just randomly listened to Starship Troopers this afternoon.
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uh ...
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... what we mean is -
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We'll raise you yer profound Ditto, Phil -
