I decided to start a series which will uncover as many of briillant filmscorelike works as possible from everywhere so that everyone gets a chance to enjoy them.
Never heard of him. I will check it out though, as it sounds right up my ally.
Though the way you describe the music combined with it being for wind ensemble makes me think of Nigel Hess -- there's two fantastic CDs of his on Chandos that I think people on this board would love.
I'm not generally a big fan of band music, although there are exceptions. If the band is really good, it can give new life to music that is usually held together by strings.
But I absolutely love Oscar Navarros' hyper-romantic score for LA MULA -- which is a film set during the Spanish civil war(??). I've had the soundtrack forever, and played it plenty of times, but I never really explored his work otherwise.
La Mula has indeed brilliant romantic music, but the focus is sadly on comedy music which i´m not the biggest fan of.anyway,oscar navarro is just getting started.he has a demoreel and some selections from his filmscores on his official youtube channel.very promising.
Guys don´t be shy post your recommendations please.Here is a list of incredible must have nonfilmscore filmscorelike music: Kevin Kaska-Tone Poems David Roylance and Bob Galvin-The Tall Ships Suite David Roylance and Bob Galvin-Battle for the Atlantic Suite Andrew Pearce-Cinema Symphony Arturo Rodriguez-From Earth to Mars Jean-Philippe Vanbeselaere-Masters of Lights The Last Crusade Richard Harvey-The Plague and the Moonflower Johan de Meij-Lord of the Rings Symphony Johan de Meij-The Big Apple Johan de Meij-Planet Earth Symphony Johan de Meij-A Symphony Of Songs (and everything else he has ever done) Nigel Hess-The Winds of Power Nigel Hess-New London Pictures Jack Gallagher-Orchestral Music Jack Gallagher-Symphony Nr2 Ascendent Jeremy Moross-Symphony Nr1 Oscar Navarro-Concert Band Collection/ El Arca de Noe Oscar Navarro-Music and Life Oscar Navarro-El Olimpo de los Dioses Oscar Navarro-Las seita trompetas de la apokalypsis (youtube) Oscar Navarro-Legacy (youtube) Oscar Navarro-Latent Emotions (youtube) Dimitri Shistakovitch-The Fall of Berlin
i didn`t include classic music that inspired filmmusic like holst the planets, vaughan-williams,sir william walton...not the obvious ones.this thread is for finding the hidden treasures, so that everyone gets a chance to listen to them.please updated it every time you find something and share it.some of my favorite music of all time is in that list (planet earth symphony, tall ships suite) i will be posting details about each of them very soon and if you can find them on youtube or spotify, as well prices and availability.
Delightful though it always is to see Shostakovich referenced on these pages, for the sake of accuracy I should mention that The Fall of Berlin is a 1950 Soviet film
And were it not for your "no classical music" stricture, I might have mentioned his 7th, 11th and 12th symphonies which have passages that could be mistaken for ultra-high-quality Golden Age film score.
Since you requested some assistance, here's my list
West & Asia:
- Aion - Annales of Atreia (Inro Joo & Czech National Symphony Orchestra) - Symphony: The Hero With Great Eagle (Fu-Tong Wong) - Elliot Goldenthal - Othello Ballet - Peter Pan: A Symphonic Tale by Keito Sato - Christopher Tin: Calling All Dawns - Symphonic Sondheim - The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra plays Sezen Aksu - Joel McNeely: Shadows of the Empire - Echoes of War (Eminence Symphony Orchestra) - Score: Videogame music with the Swedish Radio Symphony - Mike Batt: Watership Down (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) - The Wing Commander Orchestra Project (George Oldziey) - Symphonic Shades: Chris Hülsbeck in Concert (WDR Radio Orchestra & Choir) - Joly Braga Santos: Symphony No. 4 - Music of Richard Addinsell (Royal Ballet Sinfonia) - Tolga Kashif: The Queen Symphony (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) - Long March Symphony (Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra) - Jean-Michel Damase: Silk Rhapsody
Japanese Gaming Industry:
- Falcom Neo Classic (London Symphony Orchestra) - Orchestra Game Concerts I-V - Koichi Sugiyama: Dragon Quest Symphonic Albums (London Symphony Orchestra) - Walkure Story FOR ORCHESTRA (Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra) - Final Fantasy Orchestra Album (Filmharmonic Orchestra Prague) - Dairantou Smash Brothers DX Orchestra Concert - Final Symphony (London Symphony Orchestra) - Monster Hunter Orchestra Concerts - Symphonic Fantasies (Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus) - Biohazard (Resident Evil) Orchestra Album (New Japan Philharmonic) - The Orchestral Saga: Legend of Music (FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague) - Tales of Orchestra (Toyko Philharmonic Orchestra) - PRESS START: The 5th Anniversary (Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra) - Nobunaga's Ambition 30th Anniversary (Kanagawa Philharmonic) - MYTH: The Xenogears Orchestra Album - Gradius in Classic I (London Philharmonic Orchestra) - The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony Album - drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura (WDR Radio Orchestra) - Granblue Fanatsy Orchestra (Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra)
Japanese Film and Television:
- Akira Ifukube: Godzilla ~Symphonic Fantasia~ - Akira Senju's Symphony II - Thousand Nests (Cracow Radio Symphony Orchestra) - Mobile Suit Gundam 08th MS Team ~Symphony~ (Czech Philharmonic) - Symphonic Luna Sea II (Members of the Roma Santa Cecilia Orchestra) - Hana Ki Sou (Akiko Shikata & Moscow International Symphony Orchestra) - Hikaru Genji Orchestra Version (Czech Philharmonic Orchestra) - Shiro Hamaguchi: Girls und Panzer Herbst Musikfest (Tokyo Philharmonic) - Koichi Sugiyama: Ideon Symphony - Sinfonia Tytania (Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra) - Air Symphony: Shinwa e no Izanai (Czech Philharmonic) - Kaoru Wada: "Echoes of Japan" (WDR Radio Orchestra) and "The Time of Evocation" (Japan Philharmonic) - Inuyasha ~Wind Symphony~ (Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra) - Toru Fuyuki: Ultra Seven Symphony - Yamato Symphony 2009 - Suzumiya Haruhi no Gensou (Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra) - Toshihiko Sahashi's Gundam Symphonies (London Symphony Orchestra) - Joe Hisaishi: Ghibli Image Symphonies - Melodyphony (London Symphony Orchestra) - Ultraman [Towards the Future] (Adelaide Symphony Orchestra) - Symphonic Suite "From the Northland" (Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra)
Lets start the show with Kevin Kaskas Tone Poems, which you can get for 13 dollars from amazon.com or incredible 1.80$ used.There is also a digital version but as far as i know there was a glitch which caused you to pay money for the samples, not the actual full tracks.at least that was a year ago.
Tone Poems is a collection of lenghty works for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Choir and one for the London Symphony Orchestra.As always with Kaska, it mimics John Williams to perfection, both his old style pre 2000 and when he changed later on.There are 7 tracks on it. Battle for Atlantis is basicly 12mins of pure Star Wars Action Prequel style (though i like it much more than the original compositions) Scherzo for Strings is propably based on Raiders of the Lost Ark Basket Chase The Lake Isle of Innisfree is 15mins of incredibly emotional celtic meets americana music with strong build up and payoff. Ocean of Forms is more like Catch me If you can Romanza for Piano and Strings is kinda selfexplenatory, though the theme is stunningly beautifull. And then we have Mount Vesuvius.I think this is by far his best work.Though written in the style of Williams it does not remind me of any williams work.It describes the last day of pompeji until its annihalation when the volcano errupted and the aftermath. its an incredibly powerful piece of music, also 12mins long. The Album closes with the LSO´s performance of The Golden Falcon, which sounds like Williams scoring The Mummy.A gorgeous egyptian love theme.you can find this one easily on youtube.
Its extremely enjoyable filmscorelike music.I highly recommend it (i think this sentense will be at the end of everything)
The Tall Ships Suite by Dave Roylance and Bob Galvin
12.44$ used and new on amazon.com, but 0.69 used from amazon.co.uk which is the best price for quality music you can imagine.you can find it on youtube. Tall Ship Suite is a composition performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, inspired by a legendary regatta. The music describes the journey of the ships.It is a three movement symphony.there are also two other seafaring related works.imagine the most noble and pleasing music for adventure on sea, without becoming swashbuckling.there are similar sounding parts in Christopher Gorden Moby Dick, especially the Main Title.All three pieces are lenghty for a final runtime of 55mins. If the second movement does not give you goosebumps, nothing ever will.
It is extremely enjoyable filmscorelike music.I highly recommend it.it is one of my all time favorites.There is also a "sequel":
Battle of the Atlantic Suite by Dave Roylance and Bob Galvin
2.50$ used on amazon.com.Again, incredible price. This one is performed by Hallé Orchestra and Hallé Choir.a six part symphonic suite based on the journey of an allied convoy in ww2.it is much darker and more militaristic at times than the Tall Ships Suite, maybe with a dash of Ron Goodwin.The Final piece is a chilling hymn for orchestra, choir and a female singer, very patriotic.
it is extremely enjoyable filmcorelike music.I highly recommend it.
9$ new or 6 used from amazon.com there is only an excerpt on youtube.Performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.It is a four part symphony, mostly a hommage to 80s and maybe 70s jerry goldsmith.4 lenghy movements, the third one is basicly action music.there are two more pieces, a very Williams-like Elegy for Violin and Orchestra and the badass Celtic Warrior: Prelude for Orchestra (which i love).This one is for everyone who was underwhelmed by Silvestris Beowulf.
It is extremely enjoyable filmscorelike music.I highly recommend it.
12$ used and much more expensive when new.this one is on spotify.two pieces and a 7 part symphonic suite depicting the race to mars.this album is an all out hommage.three different orchestras were used.unfortunately the one performing the main programm did make a few mistakes, which you can cleary hear in "the landing" at the beginning. Gates of Creation, the first track is a mix of horner and williams, with a bit of goldenthal.The suite itself is mostly a mix of goldsmith and williams.The final track, the 17mins el rostro de la luna is kinda like james horners interstellar.mysterious and beautifull sci fi music.very emotional.the whole album is for fans of 80s sci fi orchestral scores.Despite some performance issues:
Its extremely enjoyable filmscorelike music.I highly recommend it.
Masters of Light the Last Crusade by Jean-Phillipe Vanbeseleare
This one is only available through tadlow.its 20pounds including shipping.though it sounds expensive, it is totally worth it. Performed by The City of Prague Philhamonic Orchestra.This is a quasi filmscore.the composer wanted to write music for an epic medevil adventure, but its much more than that.Its one of the most varied albums in my collection.you get epic noble battle music poledeuris-style, michael kamen lethal weapon e-guitars, medevil traditional music,stuff that sounds like 80s sportsfilm finale kinda like hoosiers, a track very similar to final fantasy battle music...its crazy and its a lot of fun.you can find poor sounding excerpts on youtube.
Its extremely enjoyable filmscorelike music.I highly recommend it.
The Plague and the Moonflower-An Oratorio by Richard Harvey
Its 20$ new and 9 used and digital.Its also on spotify.this one has around 10mins of its 68mins of narration by sir ben kingsley and the main character is delightfully performed by sir ian holm.its a religious story about the plague demon who falls in love with a moonflower.the music is incredible.beatifull thematic orchestral music with lots of text driven choir for male, female, solo lady singer and children.stunning medevil music in a few tracks.hard to destribe.quite an experience.
It is extremely enjoyable filmscorelike music.I highly recommend it.
Symphony Nr1 The Lord of the Rings by Johan de Meij
15$ new or 1.31$ used from amazon.com.available digitally as well as on spotify, which has almost all of his works.
I dont own i anymore so i dont have a lot of details.It came before the peter jackson movies and i remember loving the gandalf music, which was noble and majestic.gollum had also appropiate music for his twisted mind and tortured soul, creepy and dissonant.it is simliar to the epic music of miklos rosza and elmer bernstein.
It is extremely enjoyable filmscorelike music:I highly recommend it.
4$ used and new on amazon, though also sometimes paired with lord of the rings and planet earth.its digitally available and on spotify.oh hell yeah i totally forgot how awesome this is.imagine a collaboration between horner, williams and leonard bernstein.the music depicts the various sides of new york and its residents, with recorded sounds of new york between the movements.lots of swagger and very suspenseful at times.
It is extremely enjoyable filmscorelike music.I highly recommend it.
Its paired with Johan de Meijs first two symphonies or the most expensive digital album i have ever seen.19$ wtf??!!! You can find it on spotify.Its a work for orchestra and choir, an companion piece for gustav holst the planets, which didnt include earth itself.it is also my favorite music of all time.starting with a few soundeffects, the music depicts in three movements the creation of earth (from a scientific point of view) and the rise of man.words cannot describe how powerful and moody this music is.several briilant thematic ideas run through it with stunning choral parts, from the darkness of space and nothingness to the richness of life on earth and the last movement explodes into an lenghty finale that rivals williams finale from e.t and close encounters of the third kind.its G L O R I O U S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is EXTREMELY enjoyable filmscorelike music.I HIGHLY recommend it.
Edit: make sure to get or listen to the version with chorus, the other one sucks.on spotify its the one with planet earth on the cover and two other works before it.
