I forgot about Interstellar, and I loved that one.
Yes, but the whole score features organ. KOYAANISQATSI has it only at the beginning and end. Very cool! FACCIA I FACCIA had a cool organ solo during the gunfight
Maybe it's cheating a little (since the music was sourced from other recordings, and not composed specifically for the movie), but the organ cues in THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES are quite memorable.
Mendelssohn's "War March of the Priests," which plays over the opening credits, sets the stage for the whole film.
The original (non-organ) part of the soundtrack -- by Basil Kirchin -- is equally weird & wonderful.
I can't think of organ in film scores without thinking of Carlo Rustichelli. I'm completely enamored with the way the shows up sparely in a Rustichelli score like "Antinea. l'Amante della Citta' Sepolta" (like it does in the cue "Profumi Notturni"), but also when he uses it full on like the intrumental beginning for the theme for "Io, Io, Io... e gli Altri" (before the theme goes into the "Brancaleone"-esque vocal part).
This is maybe not cool, but I am also very fond of the way Piero Piccioni uses organ, for example in the score to Lo Straniero, which is jaw-dropping throughout.
Lastly, though it is not cool at all, there's the cue "Solo Grida" from Ennio Morricone's score for Chi l'Ha Vista Morire, which is maybe one of the most devastating cues I've ever heard in a film score.
FACCIA I FACCIA had a cool organ solo during the gunfight
Morricone's use of organ - invariably performed by Bruno Nicolai - is very effective. It is prominent throughout Face to face but also very well used in Desert of Tartars, Queimada, For a few Dollars More, and a Professional Gun, among others.
Bruno on his Thomas 900 organ...
For a few dollars more indio duel...church organ at 3.10.
Marstro Giombini was a keyboard man and he also wrote well for organ. Theres a great organ track in Sabata.
Thank you for great topic. Pipe organ is one of my favorite instruments. Elevate everything in music if you can use it right. P.S. There is ton of Japanese soundtracks with use of organ. Japanese composers really like sound of organ.
Please don't forget the wonderful use of organ at the end of "El Cid". As the dead Rodrigo comes out on horseback to face the Moors, the solo organ is truly inspiring and unique. It come right after the narrator states, "And so the Cid rode out of the gates of history into legend." I remember as a kid I had goosebumps when I saw this the first time. The organ is also used at the very end of the film to great effect.
When Jerry brought in the organ @7:55, well … I'm sure at least some of the old folks here who were there that memorable opening night way back in '79 probably got goosebumps just like I did.