“Times sure have changed for film composers,” writes Allan Kozinn of the New York Times. I’m not so sure.
Kozinn is of the opinion that film music is making massive strides in the concert halls. While it’s true that orchestras have embraced the profitability of performing film scores with showings of the actual movies, for the most part you’ll find music written for film relegated to pops concerts. And you’ll likely hear only the main themes. That’s not to say that all film music deserves to stand toe-to-toe with the world’s masterpieces. But judicious selections from the best would be at least as welcome as Berlioz or Liszt.
Part of the problem is that many of the composers themselves weren’t thinking of posterity. They were just churning the stuff out against deadline and then chasing the next paycheck. But when you think about it, so was Mozart.
Some of the music is derivative, certainly, but that can be gotten around. There is plenty of finely-crafted music from which to draw by composers with a strong, original voice. Miklós Rózsa, for instance.
Another part of the problem is that because of the nature of the film business, many of the scores weren’t even preserved. So many modern recordings have taken place only after painstaking reconstruction. If the actual, widespread rehabilitation of classic film music ever catches fire, it could be the biggest business since the period instrument movement.
Finally, it was comparatively seldom that film composers made usable concert arrangements, so that the music can be enjoyed separate from the images. There are notable exceptions: for instance, Bernard Herrmann’s “Psycho: A Narrative for String Orchestra.” Can you name another piece of orchestral music composed in 1960 that is as widely recognized as that written for the film’s shower scene? Herrmann’s suite contains 15 minutes of alternately driving, moody and chilling music.
On the other hand, sometimes composers are not the best judge of their own material. I cringe whenever I hear John Williams’ concert arrangement, “Adventures on Earth,” drawn from his score to “E.T.,” which completely subverts the perfection he achieved when writing for the film. The music was so good, director Steven Spielberg told Williams to just go with it when conducting and he’d edit the images to suit the music. That’s a show of respect rarely bestowed on the film composer. Yet rather than allow the music to speak as it did so eloquently in the film’s final 15 minutes, Williams’ concert arrangement jumps all over the place, grabbing a little bit from here and a little bit from there. Even judging from a purely musical standpoint, the end result is a much weaker statement.
Anyone who has ever listened to Sibelius’ incidental music to “The Tempest” understands the wisdom of taking the best moments and arranging them into concert suites. In the digital age, there are multiple recordings of the complete score for the curious. For the average symphony concert, I don’t propose programming the complete music from “King Kong,” say, any more than I would the complete incidental music to Mendelssohn’s “Oepidus at Colonus” (though I certainly believe there is a niche to be filled by some enterprising orchestra that would devote itself exclusively to just that – playing and preserving classic film scores in their entirety). Often the best bits are already in the concert suites, or even the overtures.
There is at least one positive development, in terms of respectability. Kozinn reports that London’s Royal College of Music is offering a new scholarship named for the composer John Barry. Barry was the winner of five Academy Awards, including two for “Born Free,” and one each for “The Lion in Winter,” “Out of Africa” and “Dances with Wolves.” The John Barry Scholarship for Film Composition, established by the composer’s widow, Laurie Barry, covers tuition fees for a two year period, as well as a student’s living expenses.
While this post has devolved into a rant about preservation and acceptance, what we really need in the present are educated film composers. I am so sick of Hans Zimmer.
But if the music is going to get better, one hopes so will the films, or at least the conditions, so that the composer is able to write something good. Writing music takes time, and time is money. In Hollywood, there has always been a tension between art and commerce. Over the decades, however, the shift has been decidedly in favor of the latter. Can independent films afford the expense of recording with a symphony orchestra? The ball, sadly, appears to remain in Hollywood’s court.
Here’s Kozinn’s article:
PHOTO: John Barry accepts his Oscar for “Out of Africa.”
