Who is your favourite film composer

@Austenite, ;) You noticed.

Didn't need to be an elf to sense it :thumbsup: ...

I have recognized quite a few leitmotifs by Shore in the soundtrack, but I'd love to identify them better. I'll take a look at Calebhines's link, but it would be even better if I could also acquire Morivou's anotated score.

Also, if someone has the scores for Star Wars, ET or Les Miserables, I won't be mad at all if they showed them to me :cool: ...

Nobody has the scores for SW or ET. John Williams has them locked in a cage in Mount Doom somewhere. haha.

I DO, however, have Les Mis. If you remind me sometime tomorrow, I will upload it for you.

You should buy the book. ;) I mean, there is NOTHING that isn't a variation on the basic themes presented. I love it. haha. It makes Shore's score seem so "simple", and in that way, genius.

"Nobody has the scores for SW or ET."

I have the Star Wars suite and a few more original scores from Star Wars if you are interested Austenite...

.....

O_O How the heck do you get those?

Because, I was told by LucasFilm ANY copy of the scores they used in the filming process was not to be released to the public under any circumstances.

Morivou, I think I saw that LotR book in my music store the other day. (I ended up getting Norman Del Mar's Anatomy of the Orchestra and a collection of Mendelssohn scores from Dover).

Presumably, the musicians in my local orchestra had John Williams' score on Thursday night (or else they were really good at improvising by ear! :hmmm: ), but I get the feeling they had to go through John Williams to get them. The conductor mentioned part of a conversation he had with Williams on the phone. Apparently one of the selections on the program (

) was at least partly Williams' recommendation! Also, he's turning 80 next year, so the conductor led the entire audience of around 3,000 in an a capella rendition of Happy Birthday, and recorded it to give him! :toothygrin:

The conductor also related how his brother-in-law (I think) -- who is a violinist who's worked with Williams before -- asked John Williams if he's ever had writer's block. William's response was "Writer's block? What's that?" and he proceeded to explain that he wrote 15 minutes of music each day. :horrified: That's a lot of music!

haha. Sounds just like him.

I don't think John actually has the rights to ANY of the Star Wars music that was recorded for the films... I'm pretty sure LucasFilm put them all in a space ship and sent them to an alien planet for George to find in a second life or something.

haha.

Copyright can be a funny thing sometimes.

O_O How the heck do you get those?

Because, I was told by LucasFilm ANY copy of the scores they used in the filming process was not to be released to the public under any circumstances.

He means this thing: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Star-Wars-Suite-for-Orchestra-Deluxe-Score/3979685

Which is in no way the official score.

Ah. :) I see.

I have no use for that. hahaha.

Norby: I am absolutely interested.

Morivou: I am as absolutely interested in Les Mis.

Both: how can I get them?

• Toru Takemitsu
  
• John Zorn
  

Ooh, I forgot Zorn, Invitation to a Suicide and Shaolin Ulysses are 2 of my favorite film scores.

I also love Jerry Goldsmith's Chinatown score

I've been enjoying the TV series Terra Nova, and

.

Michael Giacchino, Ennio Morricone and Joe Hisaishi!

John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Howard Shore and Hans Zimmer. Can't choose between them!

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Danny Elfman. James Newton Howard is also one of my favorites.

Hello,

I should say I love most of famous actual soundtrack composers, but I have a special appreciation for Ryuichi Sakamoto Who composed the music from "Furyo" starring David Bowie in 1982. But my favourite sountrack is the one he wrote for the excellent "The last emperor" from director B. Bertolucci because it is like a perfect synthesis between the traditional chinese instruments and the classical western symphonic orchestra. The result is brilliant ! Such a talent.

So, Young Composers. Who do you consider to be your favourite film composers.

OR

If you can't name just one, name as many as you want.

I think mine are:

Hans Zimmer

James Horner

Howard Shore

I would agree with you, with the addition of James Newton Howard

I'd have to say Hans Zimmer is my all-time favorite. I'm not sure if this counts, but Martin O'Donnell (composer for Halo-Halo: Reach) is also a favorite of mine. I'm also starting to like Steve Jablonsky more and more. And of course John Williams is a favorite.

Forgot to add Rachel Portman. I've only heard her work on "The Legend of Bagger Vance" but that score is incredible, and so I'd consider her a favorite.

Alexandre Desplat - just awesome!

How about Alberto Iglesias? I thought the music in

was brilliant.

John Williams. I'm not a movie buff, but I've seen enough films composed by the other famous film composers. Howard Shore is great in films, but his melodies don't leave nearly as strong of a lasting impression to me than Williams. Danny Elfman I'm definitely not a fan of.

One thing I'll say about Williams is that he's occasionally hokey and I dislike his use of percussion.

Wait... you judge a film score by how his melodies last in your head...

That's like the idea that a musical is bad if you can't hum the tune.

Wait... you judge a film score by how his melodies last in your head...

That's like the idea that a musical is bad if you can't hum the tune.

No, but that's the strongest impression I get. What Williams does a lot is create music that goes very well with a film AND stands alone great. Some film music, if you take the picture away, is just tedious, unimaginative, or derivative, but when it's paired up with a scene we look past that because we are focused on the story and visuals.

Dmitri Shostakovich and Erich Korngold :)

I don't know if that's an honest analysis of what film scoring should be.

In my opinion, the less we know about the music, the better. The more it accentuates and does not distract: That is how I judge film music.

In that way, I like John a lot... but the fact that his music can overpower the film is not something I'd want to desire as a film composer.