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Don't get me wrong, because I love John Scott's music as well and collect almost every soundtrack of his.
You're mistaking epic sweep for quality. THE SHOOTING PARTY is probably Scott's greatest score, meticulously crafted and superbly refined. It was composed in 1984. Also, GREYSTOKE is a magnificent score that only pales because of some tracked-in classical music in the film. Also, some of the COUSTEAU scores offer splendid music.
I agree with you that KING KONG LIVES isn't one of Scott's finest hours, it's mostly loud. And who could blame him ...
And the old man is STILL at it, at 85!
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That's great bobb. Pleased for you on meeting your musical hero.
Hope you have a great chat together...and you get him to commit to score your first feature, which hopefully ain't far down the line.
Don't forget to report back here with the highlights of his stories and anecdotes.
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Hi,
I have the Movietrack Classics CD of "Mountbatten", and I would like to know if the Varese limited CD has a better sound.
Thanks
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KING KONG LIVES isn't one of Scott's finest hours, it's mostly loud.
This is an incorrect opinion, I'm afraid.
No, it's not. KING KONG LIVES! is far from Scott's best work. It's well-liked by fans because of the genre, the sweep, and the fact that it's loud. But it's nowhere near as sophisticated as his best work, of which GREYSTOKE makes a good comparison, another "jungle adventure". THAT one is brilliant and superbly detailed and sophisticated.
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I really don't think so. I haven't heard it for some years, as I had the LP and don't own a turntable any more, but I reviewed it at the time, in comparison to those many mid-1980s Scott scores, his most prolific period. We rated it 7 out of 10, compared to Greystoke and The Shooting Party with 10/10 each, and Man of Fire with 8-9. King Kong Lives! is not a bad score, there's no truly bad John Scott acoustic score at all, but there are SO many better ones, including the mentioned Antony and Cleopatra. The Cousteau scores, each and every single one, have more ideas than King Kong Lives.
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Posted: |
Feb 3, 2016 - 5:40 PM
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By: |
bobbengan
(Member)
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KING KONG LIVES isn't one of Scott's finest hours, it's mostly loud.
This is an incorrect opinion, I'm afraid.
No, it's not. KING KONG LIVES! is far from Scott's best work. It's well-liked by fans because of the genre, the sweep, and the fact that it's loud. But it's nowhere near as sophisticated as his best work, of which GREYSTOKE makes a good comparison, another "jungle adventure". THAT one is brilliant and superbly detailed and sophisticated.
The end title alone disagrees with you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znuECQodI2o
Revisit this one, my friend. I think you'll love it this time around.
Are you familiar with his gorgeous, brilliant and unreleased HAREM from the same year? This might almost be neck-and-neck with Antony and Cleopatra. It's that good. Check it out:
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=112392&forumID=1&archive=0
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Posted: |
Feb 7, 2016 - 1:25 AM
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By: |
bobbengan
(Member)
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I had lunch with John yesterday and it's truly been one of my most cherished experiences in some time.
John's just such a model of humility, good grace, wry humor and intelligence. I've met plenty of "important" filmmakers and earth movers in my short time in Los Angeles - Hell, I'm working with some of them at the moment - but getting to meet one of my musical storytelling titans was just such a rich and rewarding treat - and I'm happy to now call him a friend to boot.
We spoke for almost four hours about every topic imaginable, from film music of course to French literature (of which John's an avid reader) to the films we love and the non-film music that inspires us. There are no airs with John, nothing petty, no regrets for missed opportunities (of which John had several following SHOOT TO KILL that I don't feel it's really my place to disclose), and tremendous gratitude for those many opportunities he did have. He doesn't look down on any of the films he's scored, even the ones as dire as KING KONG LIVES and was simply blessed for such an opportunity to have come his way in the first place. There's no jealousy or animosity toward the many (largely less-talented) composers of higher profile, either amongst his contemporaries or of the younger generation.
He credits his incredible ear for color and orchestrational mastery (my words, not his, I don't think John would ever profess to being a "master" of anything) to his time playing as a session musician in London, where he learned simply by playing and listening closely how best to balance 90 players of more simultaneously without any one voice getting lost. Clearly that time paid off more so than any formal musical education might have, of which John still seems chagrined that he never underwent (he served in the Army instead, where he really began to compose with serious interest). He had a great story about Bruce Broughton's jaw dropping in 2006 after hearing ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA performed live and not being able to wrap his head around how so many time intricacies in the music were so pronounced and clear without getting totally buried by the sheer size of the orchestra.
We spoke about his preferred process of working with directors, as this was one of the many reasons I wanted to sit down with John in the first place. He's a big proponent of broad conversations about themes, motifs and instrumentation, as well as doing "theme suite" demos for directors to show them what it'll look like in fuller forms. Spotting follows suit of course but what John is not a fan of, and where he and I got into a friendly clash, was about speaking through orchestration on a scene-by-scene basis. Being extremely sensitive to music in films and never more so than in my own, the thought of bypassing a conversation that in-depth worries me. John smiled at this: "Ah, we're getting in arguments already. Can't wait."
I'm thrilled to report that he's in incredible health, mentally and physically. He's a full sixty years my senior but we connected immediately, a testament far more to John than myself. Just such great company, this guy. Felt like an old friend from the first moment.
We walked around downtown LA for a bit after lunch, went into a few book stores, and finally parted ways, but not before John gave me a few CDs of unreleased works: Two string quartets, a saxophone concerto, an aria performed by members of the LA Phil that hasn't been released yet (he also has a recorded but unreleased double trumpet concerto he said he'd bring next time) and an opera based on a horror story called "Twilight Beguine", the latter of which he said he'd need back as it's a promo copy currently being shopped around to labels. That one was performed by the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra for free (!!!) as a favor to John.
He also mentioned that he has a 2-disc complete score to GREYSTOKE all pressed and ready to go - Over two hours of music, over half of which he says has never been heard because it was dropped from the film after substantial recutting - and that he'd bring that along for me next time, too.
We're going to continue to meet up regularly and, as I get closer to getting my first feature off the ground, begin to more seriously discuss his attachment to the project.
There were just so many fascinating anecdotes and I'll try to recap on a few choice that I feel might interest people on this board:
- He regards John Corigliano's ALTERED STATES as possibly one of the best achievements in film scoring ever, and Hank's LIFE FORCE as one of the most underrated.
- Of the working composers today, Michael Giacchino is his favorite.
- When I brought up PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT as a point of reference for a theme, he got a puzzled look on his face and said; "I scored a film called "The People that time forgot!?!?"
- John said his wife often calls him out on his music if it sounds too similar to others', and when I brought up my love for his theme from MAN ON FIRE, he asked me to whistle it aloud and then whistle the opening melody from RITE OF SPRING. Sure enough... It's undeniably very, very similar in its progression, albeit unintentionally.
- Stemming off of that, when I asked if his theme from YOR, HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE was "inspired" by Beethoven's pastoral symphony, he said, "Inspired? No, in that instance I just out-and-out stole."
- John's currently being considered for a very big UK-Chinese co-production along the lines of HERO that he can't say much about... Needless to say, I think we'll all keep our fingers crossed.
John believes with total conviction and sincerity that his best melodies and music are still ahead of him, and if I can do anything about it as a director, I hope to help bring those out of him!
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Thanks a lot for tell us your experiences
Do you know if Mr. Scott will release in CD (JOS Records) his Opera "Twilight Beguine" and "Greystoke" (2CDs)?
Thanks again
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