By Kristin Scheimer
Today’s “Kristin Rights” blog article will be a little bit
of a departure… in the sense that you won’t hear me ranting… too much. Enjoy!
I’ve recently started attending the symphony, something I
did quite regularly as a child. It’s so
interesting to me the reactions I get when I tell people this. I’ve been playfully called “bougie” (short
for bourgeoisie). I had one friend say
they’d go to the symphony on those nights when they can’t fall asleep; best cure
for insomnia. Some people thought it was
really cool, but not many expressed interest in joining me.
As I sit here listening to movie soundtracks on Pandora, I
have to giggle a little. “Classical
Music” gets a bit of a bad rap, but it’s so much a part of everyone’s
lives. Most people just don’t think
about it.
I absolutely guarantee you the movies we love so much
wouldn’t move us nearly as much as they do without their soundtracks, which are
made up of… what? You guessed it: Classical Music.
Who could imagine “E.T.” without this:
Or “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
Or “Star Wars”
But enough about John Williams.
How about Danny Elfman’s “Edward Scissorhands” theme
Or Fritz Reiner’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”
Or Nino Roto’s “The Godfather”
Or the iconic theme from "Star Trek" by Jerry Goldmsmith
Or the sweepingly romantic “Somewhere in Time”
Or the sweepingly romantic “Somewhere in Time”
without a little CLASSICAL piece of music called “Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini, Variation
18” by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
or the main theme of the film by John Barry.
And speaking of sweepingly romantic, how about Max
Steiner’s “Tara’s Theme” from “Gone with the Wind”
or Maurice Jarre’s “Lara’s Theme” from “Doctor Zhivago”.
Or the haunting melodies in James Horner's "Hymn to the Sea" from "Titanic"
And Howard Shore's "Lord of the Rings" theme.
and Rachel Portman's "Cider House Rules"
Or the
very dramatic piece playing over the death of
Sgt. Elias in “Platoon” which features another Classical piece “Adagio
for Strings” by Samuel Barber.
How about the frightening “Psycho” theme by
Bernard Herrman
or… back to the uber talented Mr. John
Williams with his terrifying theme for “Jaws”.
And just for fun, here are some of John
Williams’ other great movie themes. The
man is nothing short of genius.
"Schindler’s List"
Would any of these films have the same impact
without their Classical Music soundtracks?
I can assure you, they would
not. Try watching E.T. sour through the sky without
his theme song accompanying him. Is the
shark really so frightening without the menacing theme by John Williams? An effect, by the way, which he accomplishes
with two notes.
Music makes the movies.
I had a fun experience when making my first
short film, “Broken Child”. I went out
of town and left my composer to add music to the piece. I was feeling pretty good about the shape in
which I’d left the film, but when I saw it with the soundtrack he’d added, I
got goose bumps. It was as if I was
seeing a whole new movie and one much more moving and dramatic than the one I’d
left.
Music is essential to movies. In movies, before the technology had emerged
that would allow actors to be recorded while acting, music and the expressions
on actors’ faces were all that a film had to convey emotion.
And listening to any of the movie themes I’ve
listed above, don’t those themes automatically bring to mind not just the story
of the film, but the joy, sorrow, fear and excitement, just from hearing the
music?
How “bougie” or boring is Classical Music
now? (ok… that might have been a mini
rant)
(PLEASE CONTINUE TO PART TWO)
(PLEASE CONTINUE TO PART TWO)
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