Just a couple off the top of my head. Maybe you folks who are "Too OLD for FSM" will chime in.
Two Oscar-nominated Golden Age scores that immediately come to my senior citizen mind (and two of my personal favorites) are below.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (Miklos Rozsa) (1940) - especially FLIGHT OF THE DJINN ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOST HORIZON (Dimitri Tiomkin) (1937) - many spots in the score
Ron Burbella
I very much appreciate the supplement to the generally ahistorical submissions above. However, the original poster's rather strict exclusionary policies would likely dismiss THIEF for "Middle East" and "sand" and "religiousness." The earlier FOUR FEATHERS also has lots of sand. I haven't seen LOST HORIZON, but doesn't it have a quasi-religious aura?
A pertinent question is where did the tradition of vocal music as orchestral effect begin? There's a bit in the Nutcracker, but I think it was really Debussy (Sirènes, etc.), and Ravel (Daphnis)who inspired dramatic composers to unleash their timbral imagination. Film composers have more opportunities for this sort of thing. It's easy to call in some singers for a recording session. But no orchestra wants to hire a chorus that has only a few measures of actual singing. That's a sure way to guarantee your work won't be performed very often!
It's easy to call in some singers for a recording session. But no orchestra wants to hire a chorus that has only a few measures of actual singing. That's a sure way to guarantee your work won't be performed very often!
Prolly dats why there ain't no korus in the Dafnis and Kloweee Sweet.
I'm re-thinking Obsession (which was my spoiler-hidden entry above).
Why?
Because I wonder if BH would have used chorus had there not been a church used so prominently in the film. Please discuss.
Don't forget the large organ prominently separating the choral phrases. I think citing this score violates your own restrictive rules for this thread, both for "religiousness" and "afterlife." Not only does the main title play over images of a church, but Herrmann throughout the film invokes the mindset of a character who believes he is given a chance at redemption from someone who has returned from the dead -- regardless of whether it's true. That's why I didn't mention this one, even before you did.
GHOST STORY and POLTERGEIST obviously are disqualified from the OP's rules by virtue of being afterlife tales. And while Morricone's MADDALENA was cited earlier, that one also doesn't apply: Solo Edda Dell'Orso sings no lyric, but the chorus behind her vocal sings in Latin. (Even if it's not Latin -- which I don't speak -- the chorus IS singing words.) The film MADDALENA never got released in America, but I conclude from its LP jacket's poster art that the story involves a Catholic priest's struggles against a seductive siren's attempts to corrupt him... hence my perception of Morricone's background chorus singing in Latin.
But THE RED TENT fits the rules. The grand "Love Theme" that opens the album is one of Ennio's finest melodies and Dell'Orso performances (to me), even though her vocal is not heard in the U.S. version of the picture. However, the choral cue "They're Alive" definitely and effectively made the cut.
Ha! Thought of one you're (again) going to smack your forehead over.
But I'm not sure if they ever sang words in the film, so someone who knows the film better than I should confirm that they only had that one sequence, where they were wordless:
