Got that one right on my shelf... God bless Rhino. Its visit to the film music genre was brief but groundbreaking, including (besides the above-mentioned Dr. Zhivago) an expanded The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the first OST release of Ben-Hur, the first full OST release of King of Kings, an expanded How the West Was Won and more. Lots of great music there, including a couple of dandy love themes previously mentioned.
I confess that I can barely stand to hear Lara's Theme anymore, so over-saturated were the air waves during the mid to late sixties with everybody and their brother's versions thereof... But I would like to thank everyone (so far) for not nominating the love theme from Love Story, probably the most cloying bit of schmaltz ever foisted upon mankind (especially in the vocal version). For me, the love theme from Romeo and Juliet is nearly as disturbing. I get cavities just from hearing it.
Some love themes not mentioned so far that I really love are from Hugo Friedhofer, especially for The Barbarian and the Geisha, The Rains of Ranchipur and One-Eyed Jacks, though there are more. Also I have to mention Dimitri Tiomkin's Friendly Persuasion (despite the entirely ungrammatical lyrics) and Giant love themes, and there are undoubtedly more, so great was his gift for melody. Not sure if High Noon's 'Do Not Forsake Me' is righteously a love theme, but it certainly changed the landscape of film scoring for a while there (introducing the obligatory title song), especially but not exclusively for westerns.
But, gotta say, Ben-Hur, El Cid and Spartacus top the charts for me.
Wow, so this topic is the one one should do to get a million replies in 24 hours. I'm envious!
It's obviously a very difficult proposition, because there are so many great ones. But I would maybe also fall down on this, as previously mentioned:
- Across the Stars by John Williams
For me, a love theme would need to have a tinge of sadness and some pastoral sweep to have some sort of impact. The wedding cue from WYATT EARP would be another example.
Sorry but nothing beats SPARTACUS..its not only a score of a lifetime but also a love theme that's a landmark...not only in film scoring but as a music piece itself.
Lotta people trying to answer this one for ALL OF US!!! It's subjective, baby! We don't need sermons on why it's gotta be from a Classic Film or only by a certain composer. If YOU love it the most, it's the Greatest Love Theme...period. If you wanna speak for the collective...Go Into Politics!!
acathla...re Close Your Eyes Love Theme from BUFFY. True story. I've got three nieces who are gapped 3 years apart in age and were massively into BUFFY during the 90s (due to my influence) and one time we were driving somewhere in my car and the BUFFY album was playing and when that last track came on (the one score track on the CD) the youngest burst into tears cos the music made her sad when she remembered when Buffy had to kill Angel. It's a fun, bittersweet memory.
That is an interesting story!
This cue made me a score "nerd"! I remember watching this scene over and over on VHS. Something just made me wanna watch it again and again and I didn't know why I kept returning. But I figured out it was the music, because this melody I could recognize from other scenes and just realized how AMAZING it was! So I was shocked the first time I listened to the OST and Close Your Eyes started! And I was so ecstatic and happy to have this on CD!
I kept playing the track over and over from my room and one day my father asked what that music was, cause he found it to be amazing too and wanted me to burn him a CD with just this track so he could listen to it in his car. After a couple of days he called me up and advised me to stop listening to it too much like he did, cause the theme will make you depressed! lol!
"...cause the theme will make you depressed! lol!" -------------------------------------- Yes, it certainly is lovely, but bittersweet. It was probably the first time I said to myself 'I'm gonna have to keep an eye on this Beck fella' But THIS is my All Time Favourite Beck cue...
(you can dance around for the first 40 seconds and then...Man...when the orchestra comes in!!!! (bumps n chills)
Apart from John Williams' love themes in general, I pretty much like "Ilya's Theme" in STAR TREK THE MOVIE. Jerry Goldsmith was inspired at that time. Otherwise, John Barry's love theme in "Dances with Wolves" called "We must be careful" is quite good too. Or KING KONG's cue "Waterfall". Or, or,or... There are so many "greatest" love themes, it's hard to choose.
I am really glad that I started this thread, there are some really wonderful selections here and it has opened the window to look into those which I had not considered. I guess the key is visit these once in a while, especially to ensure they keep that special place!
"...cause the theme will make you depressed! lol!" -------------------------------------- Yes, it certainly is lovely, but bittersweet. It was probably the first time I said to myself 'I'm gonna have to keep an eye on this Beck fella' But THIS is my All Time Favourite Beck cue...
(you can dance around for the first 40 seconds and then...Man...when the orchestra comes in!!!! (bumps n chills)
Thanx for reminding me of this album! I need to revisit it!
To everyone choosing Ilya's and Princess Leia's themes, I wanna ask you... is Yoda's theme a love theme? And is it because he's not a hottie?
Seems like Ilya and Leia, in their respective roles, are a lot more than just romantic interests, but perhaps it's the fault of Goldsmith and Williams, in deciding to musically represent them -somewhat- in those terms, that we're now, again, overlooking what else they have to offer? Or is there enough within those themes to make them distinct from, say, the strains of Han Solo and the Princess?
There's really no shortage of great love themes and it spans many composers over the decades. Those romantic bastards must've really digged deep into personal loss and rejection.
To everyone choosing Ilya's and Princess Leia's themes, I wanna ask you... is Yoda's theme a love theme? And is it because he's not a hottie?
Seems like Ilya and Leia, in their respective roles, are a lot more than just romantic interests, but perhaps it's the fault of Goldsmith and Williams, in deciding to musically represent them -somewhat- in those terms, that we're now, again, overlooking what else they have to offer? Or is there enough within those themes to make them distinct from, say, the strains of Han Solo and the Princess?
I would say Leia theme reflected Luke's romantic feelings towards the Princess. Little did Williams know at the time he was writing a theme of incest love.
One that makes me swoon is the Love Theme for "From the Terrace." Bernstein has me on this one. The score opens with it. Here you can catch a bit at approximately 1.25:
