One of my many film music-related hobbies is making mix CDs, and my current project is making CDs that focus on every Oscar-nominated score and song, year by year, which had led me down some strange collecting paths -- such as buying an LP by the forgotten band "Springfield Revival" just to obtain their version of The Little Ark's nominated song "Come Follow, Follow Me."

One of the perks of this is getting the chance to listen to Golden Ages scores I was not as familiar with, and one thing I've come to realize in replaying the Oscar-nominated music from 1936 to 1952 (so far) is that Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an absolutely amazing composer. I know, this should be obvious to anyone who has ever heard his music, but though my favorite Golden Age composer will always be Bernard Herrmann, Korngold's scores truly exemplify what is best about the more traditional Golden Age style. There is something genuinely joyful about his music that makes it still fresh, more so than with some of his colleagues.

In the modern era, one of the scores and composer choices that disappointed me the most was Rob Reiner's selection of Mark Knopfler for The Princess Bride, especially since (if memory serves) Reiner wrote in the liner notes that Knopfler was the only composer he could imagine scoring that film. I don't think is score is all bad -- I like Diego Montoya's theme -- but his distinctly non-symphonic approach seemed to be the exact opposite of what the film needed. Given the film's delicate balance of humor, romance and adventure, I can understand Reiner's desire to have a score that wouldn't overwhelm the film, that wouldn't constantly nudge the audience about how hilarious and romantic everything is, but overall the tech elements are consistently disappointing -- it's a surprise that a film shot by Adrian Biddle (Aliens, Willow) and designed by Norman Garwood (Brazil, Glory) should be so dull looking.

As a huge fan of author William Goldman, I'm happy that the film has developed such a devoted following, which I think is due both to the strength of the material and some of Reiner's better casting choices, especially Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin and Wallace Shawn, who bring everything those roles require and more (Robin Wright is perfectly fine in the title role, but I would not have guessed she'd be capable of the kind work she's done on House of Cards). But it only just occurred to me recently who would have been the ideal choice to score the film -- Georges Delerue. Delerue had a strong melodic sense that lasted literally until the very end of his life -- Rich in Love is as beautiful as any of his scores, and he passed on almost immediately after finishing it -- and though he could write in a large-scale symphonic vein, there was always a lightness of spirit about his music that would have been perfectly suited to Goldman and Reiner's mix of comedy and genuine romantic spirit.