I'm glad this thread keeps calling attention to Mr. Hurwitz. Also that's he's paying unsnobbish attention to film music. There's a long history of condescension that still needs to be expunged from the discussion. However, his knowledge of film music is less extensive than our own. Rarely do I learn anything new from him about a movie score. He's at his best on the standard classical repertory, where he knows the music from the inside. He's actually played the great works. That makes his comments useful, in spite of the buffoonish hi-jinks and opinionated views.
Great post, Rozsaphile, and you’ve basically summed up my own attitude towards Hurwitz.
He’s also far more enjoyable to read than to listen to, to be honest. His books on appreciating the music of Sibelius, Shostakovich, and others absolutely helped me to fall more in love with those composers than I already was.
I'm glad this thread keeps calling attention to Mr. Hurwitz. Also that's he's paying unsnobbish attention to film music. There's a long history of condescension that still needs to be expunged from the discussion. However, his knowledge of film music is less extensive than our own. Rarely do I learn anything new from him about a movie score. He's at his best on the standard classical repertory, where he knows the music from the inside. He's actually played the great works. That makes his comments useful, in spite of the buffoonish hi-jinks and opinionated views.
I agree, but it's useful to note that his audience is classical fans who might have a dismissive attitude toward film music. To the extent that he's helping to encourage classical fans to consider the merits of great film music he's doing us a service.
Yes, the readers/viewers do stand to gain. A corollary is that the YouTube discussions of his posts are often quite stimulating. YouTube posts in general are a dismal universe. They make even the wildest ravings here at FSM seem positively Aristotelian. But because Hurwitz's followers love classical music, some degree of education can be assumed.
Hurwitz gives a broader perspective on film music because he has more detailed insight into classical music and its influences on film music. As his film music videos are rather on the short side he has not that much time to go deeper into the stuff he's presenting. Anyway I usually enjoy most of his videos and I like to hear his opinions even if I wouldn't share them. His kind of humor is fun for me but not everybody gets or likes it.
I think the main take-away from the Elmer video is: Aaron Copland started it all with his Western style music (he talked more about Copland than Elmer which was odd). The comments below his vlogs are also insightful at times.
If I had to pick my favourite Elmer score it wouldn't have been The Magnificent Seven. I think I would have chosen "Gold" instead just to stirr the pot.
I agree it's a very good top 10 (better than these usually are). I'd swap in El Cid for Ben-Hur (these days), The Sea Hawk for Robin Hood, To Kill a Mockingbird instead of The Magnificent Seven, Captain from Castile instead of Airport (easily, even though I do love the latter), and Roy Webb's Sinbad the Sailor instead of friggin' Max Steiner.
And as much as I do like Chaplin's music, I'd swap it out for Huppertz's Metropolis or Die Nibelungen, to represent the silent era.
Was Jerry Goldsmith's Planet of the Apes really "the first 12-tone film score" as Hurwitz claims? I suspect he's wrong about that (and his knowledge of film music isn't nearly as wide as his knowledge of concert music, even though he appreciates it).
Well, The Cobweb is a 12-tone score (Rosenman was a pupil of Schönberg), and pre-dates Planet of the Apes, so it was before. But it doesn't matter, good score list and good points.
I agree it's a very good top 10 (better than these usually are). I'd swap in El Cid for Ben-Hur (these days), The Sea Hawk for Robin Hood, To Kill a Mockingbird instead of The Magnificent Seven, Captain from Castile instead of Airport (easily, even though I do love the latter), and Roy Webb's Sinbad the Sailor instead of friggin' Max Steiner.
And as much as I do like Chaplin's music, I'd swap it out for Huppertz's Metropolis or Die Nibelungen, to represent the silent era.
Was Jerry Goldsmith's Planet of the Apes really "the first 12-tone film score" as Hurwitz claims? I suspect he's wrong about that (and his knowledge of film music isn't nearly as wide as his knowledge of concert music, even though he appreciates it).
Yavar
You've swapped most of his list. How dare you!
It's a list for "Beginners", not to forget. It's not an all-time best-period-list (focusing on Hollywood film music only).
Anyway, I'd rank Goldsmith higher than Williams in such a beginners list and I'd leave out Chaplin to be replaced by Tiomkin's Lost Horizon.
Hurwitz will do another beginners list focusing on classical composers doing film music. I suspect you will find Vaughan Williams, Walton, Shostakovich and Prokofiev on it. Maybe something by Honegger, Auric and Copland, too?
10 ESSENTIAL FILM SCORES for BEGINNERS by Major Classical Composers
1 Copland: The Red Pony* 2 Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé 3 Britten: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra 4 Shostakovich: The Gadfly 5 Hindemith: Im Kampf mit dem Berg (In Conflict with the Mountain) 6 Arnold: The Bridge on the River Kwai 7 Walton: Henry V 8 Honegger: Les Misérables* 9 Bernstein: On the Waterfront 10 Vaughan Williams: Sinfonia Antartica (Symphony No. 7) => Scott of the Antarctic*
*Hurwitz previously did also a seperate mini-review of that score.
It's very solid list, for any beginner.
I'm very pleased to see that Hurwitz put up there the Hindemith score which is as good as he says. I have the BMG/RCA as well as the Koch recordings. But it seems to me that most people who are into film music just ignore this particular work. Oh, it's not a Hollywood film score. They really don't know what they are missing here.
10 ESSENTIAL FILM SCORES for BEGINNERS
1 Charlie Chaplin: Modern Times 2 John Williams: Jaws 3 Miklos Rózsa: Ben Hur 4 Alfred Newman: Airport 5 Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Robin Hood 6 Max Steiner: King Kong 7 Franz Waxman: Sunset Boulevard 8 Jerry Goldsmith: Planet of the Apes 9 Elmer Bernstein: The Magnificent Seven 10 Bernard Herrmann: Psycho
