Sounds of Cinema Sunday

[Ein Heldenleben]

It seems the Nation's Choice was the music from John Williams's Star Wars, followed by Morricone's The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and Bernstein's West Side Story as third:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24272523

No information as to where RVW, Walton and Prokofiev came.

Back on thread . West Side Story isn’t film music any more than Oklahoma or South Pacific. Bernstein’s On the Waterfront on the other hand is film music and a rather good example deservedly winning an Oscar,

[french frank]

Back on thread . West Side Story isn’t film music any more than Oklahoma or South Pacific. Bernstein’s On the Waterfront on the other hand is film music and a rather good example deservedly winning an Oscar,

One of the stipulations for our poll was that the score had to have been specially composed for the film. Perhaps that was the reason we got a different result? All the more interesting in RVW's case that it was the film score that came first and the symphony afterwards.

[vinteuil]

Thanks. First and Third are also according to Cousin Jasper in Brideshead the only degree classes worth aiming for - a second is a waste of time.

... in my day I think they still awarded Fourths. I thought the most cool thing to have got would have been a BA aegrot., but sadly I wasn't ill enough. (WC Sellar, as in Sellar & Yeatman 1066 and All That, claimed an aegrotat on the title page of that work, and in his case it was true.)

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[Ein Heldenleben]

One of the stipulations for our poll was that the score had to have been specially composed for the film. Perhaps that was the reason we got a different result? All the more interesting in RVW's case that it was the film score that came first and the symphony afterwards.

Another example of his genius . - both film score and symphony are masterpieces.

[Constantbee]

Really?

I just heard some of Hans Zimmer's music for Dune 2 on Breakfast. It was, in that context, pleasant enough, anodyne and unobtrusive. I don't doubt it adds to the film.

But I continue to contend, as I have on the Forum in past years, that most of film music is relevant only to its filmic context - and is uninteresting on its own.

Yet we now have a whole day devoted to it.

Having switched off during a day devoted entirely to women composers yesterday I can certainly empathise with you, KB. It’s not that I don’t enjoy women composers’ music, I do, it’s just that we’ve probably got the political message by now. It doesn’t need reinforcing, does it?

A whole day devoted to cinema music? Well, as it happens we cashed in a Christmas gift voucher for a new local cinema and saw Dune 2 at an afternoon sitting just this week. I emerged from the movie, blinking in the late afternoon sunshine, for once, in agreement with reviewers. It’s a visually stunning, beautifully crafted movie and Hans Zimmer’s score is ‘a sonic landscape as overwhelming as Arrakis itself’. Matthew Sweet’s interview on Sound of Cinema this afternoon with director Denis Villeneuve was an unexpected treat for me. Highly recommended if you like that sort of thing.

Being of the opinion that cinema music is probably the closest that many people get to serious orchestral music these days and might even provide a gateway for the curious to a lot of new music I shall be popping in tomorrow. I’m particularly looking forward to Hannah French’s examination of representations of period music in film on The Early Music Show special edition.

If you were sitting where we were in the front row, KB, I don't think you would have described the Dune soundtrack as anodyne and unobtrusive, LOL. It was a bit loud, the soundwaves resonating in the sternum somehow.

[Hitch]

Along with film music, game soundtracks might be encouraging people to explore orchestral music. Some people play games, particularly the open-world RPGs, for hundreds of hours. That amount of immersion is bound to have an effect. There was a BBC Gaming Prom last year with the RPO.

[french frank]

Along with film music, game soundtracks might be encouraging people to explore orchestral music. Some people play games, particularly the open-world RPGs, for hundreds of hours. That amount of immersion is bound to have an effect. There was a BBC Gaming Prom last year with the RPO.

I doubt very many are encouraged to explore classical music. What encouragement is there when there's so much music to choose from? Even on R3

[Hitch]

I've seen quite a few posts in the classical music section of Reddit from people who like heavy metal, film music and game soundtracks, asking for classical music suggestions because they have had their interest piqued by classical (or pseudo-classical) elements in what they've heard. Whether film music belongs on R3 and not R2 is debatable, as this thread demonstrates, but the fact remains that Radio 3 has hit on the eccentric notion of attracting said fans to the station by not telling them that the station is playing music that they might like. If only Radio 3 could advertise its wares all over a world-renowned broadcasting system with many different stations and channels instead of wearing a metaphorical sandwich-board...

[AuntDaisy]

Just been listening to Sounds of Cinema Sunday while getting breakfast ready.
What a mish-mash. It feels like being endlessly on hold or stuck in a lift.
Some of the pieces were "pretty" enough (e.g. Grand Budapest Hotel), but without the pictures to give context...
As for the Oscar 5 piece medley, least said.

Then there were the endless trailers for "AWARD WINNING" Podcasts. Exactly which award did they win? Was it for being most like Squirrel Droppings?

Think I'll give the rest of the day a miss, probably including The Early Music Show. Might put last night's glorious Purcell double-bill on again.

[kernelbogey]

I'm sticking with Breakfast out of a kind of loyalty. But most or all of what I've heard supports my contention that film music without the pictures is rather vacuous. OK the occasional tune is memorable - Pink Panther is playing now - but the purpose of film music is to enhance the action and help create a mood. The music 'for the love scene in Vertigo' was a quintessence of romantic love. Some people who don't know 'classical' music might have their interest piqued by music played on actual instruments rather than electronic synthesisers. None of that, IMV, makes it suitable for a serious music station's output. Oh. wait....

[LMcD]

Just been listening to Sounds of Cinema Sunday while getting breakfast ready.
What a mish-mash. It feels like being endlessly on hold or stuck in a lift.
Some of the pieces were "pretty" enough (e.g. Grand Budapest Hotel), but without the pictures to give context...
As for the Oscar 5 piece medley, least said.

Then there were the endless trailers for "AWARD WINNING" Podcasts. Exactly which award did they win? Was it for being most like Squirrel Droppings?

Think I'll give the rest of the day a miss, probably including The Early Music Show. Might put last night's glorious Purcell double-bill on again.

Gave up and switched off - something I've never done before between 0700 and 0900 on a Sunday morning. How long before we're treated to a Classic Radio and TV Themes Day, I wonder?

[Ein Heldenleben]

Just been listening to Sounds of Cinema Sunday while getting breakfast ready.
What a mish-mash. It feels like being endlessly on hold or stuck in a lift.
Some of the pieces were "pretty" enough (e.g. Grand Budapest Hotel), but without the pictures to give context...
As for the Oscar 5 piece medley, least said.

Then there were the endless trailers for "AWARD WINNING" Podcasts. Exactly which award did they win? Was it for being most like Squirrel Droppings?

Think I'll give the rest of the day a miss, probably including The Early Music Show. Might put last night's glorious Purcell double-bill on again.

Yes that was really exceptional wasn’t it?
The amusement today are the extraordinary non sequiturs . After mention of the film Quartet set in a retired musicians nursing home disrupted by the arrival of a diva played by Dame Maggie Smith we get…..Luciano Pavarotti and Dame Joan Sutherland singing Bella Figlia Del Amore..
And now the theme from A Bridge Too Far by John Addison .. now that is a terrific piece of music but it’s all so random.

[Jozephino]

I too have given up and switched off. I enjoyed Villeneuve in cinema Sunday but that was unusual for me as I normally give that a miss. I listen to radio 3 because I like serious classical music. Weekend breakfasts are a bit excruciating though. The playlists seem somehow spiky and thrown together.

It all feels a bit desperate like they are trying to be down wiv da kids.

[LMcD]

I too have given up and switched off. I enjoyed Villeneuve in cinema Sunday but that was unusual for me as I normally give that a miss. I listen to radio 3 because I like serious classical music. Weekend breakfasts are a bit excruciating though. The playlists seem somehow spiky and thrown together.

It all feels a bit desperate like they are trying to be down wiv da kids.

Perhaps Radio 3 doesn't want to be the wretched child in the school playground who can't find anybody to play with or can't persuade a gang to let him join them.

[gurnemanz]

I too have given up and switched off. I enjoyed Villeneuve in cinema Sunday but that was unusual for me as I normally give that a miss. I listen to radio 3 because I like serious classical music. Weekend breakfasts are a bit excruciating though. The playlists seem somehow spiky and thrown together.

It all feels a bit desperate like they are trying to be down wiv da kids.

I don't only like "serious" music. I was listening to Bach Cantatas (serious) and not the the film day but having read all the negative stuff on here I decided to give it a go. Colonel Bogey came on. Cheered me up on a grey Sunday morning.