it's not half term - why has R3 descended to this banality ?
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A CotW to listen to on podcast - one of those composers I'm vaguely interested to know more about, but without having to endure the musicOriginally posted by Frances_iom View Post
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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John Williams' music has often moved, soothed and entertained me - but always in the context of the films themselves. Weren't you welling up to THAT TUNE when the bicycles took off in ET, or thrilled to shivers as the helicopter approaches the island in Jurassic Park, when the great trumpet theme rings out (which, BTW, it doesn't do again until the T.Rex inadvertently saves the humans from the raptors near the end - what a great moment that is!) And the gravely beautiful, slow theme on the strings which accompanies the first appearance of the Brachiosaurus (the first really believable dino ever on screen) to the open-mouthed observers in the jeep, which, transformed into a sweet piano solo then swelling up in the orchestra once again, accompanies the battered survivors as they leave in the plane... it's all very symphonic and through-composed, and Spielberg said that he often cut the film to the music, reverse of the usual process!
And I haven't yet mentioned the very 2nd-Viennese score to Close Encounters, or the use of the Kodaly melody in that film to communicate with the aliens... and then crown the climax. Not my top Spielberg film, but remarkable score again...!
Schindler's List was very different of course - did you know that Itzhak Perlman plays the violin solos in it?
I don't tend to seek Williams' work out separately, but recognise it for what it is - great film music, and often very lovable and memorable.Last edited by jayne lee wilson; 14-01-13, 19:52.Comment
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It was an ARP 2600 (for the synth geeks)Originally posted by jayne lee wilson View Post
as used by Joe in Weather Report (the band not the Wonderful Chris Watson CD)Comment
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I'm with Jayne Lee Wilson on this one- and I'd also add his music for Saving Private Ryan- Hymn to the Fallen is now often played at Remembrance Ceremonies. And of course Star Wars, Jaws, Schindler's List- his achievements as a film composer are remarkable and I do not have a problem with Radio 3 recognising that.
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
Mark Twain.Comment
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But that's the point - isn't it? - that the music belongs with the moving images and their content. So often film music, however great, sounds vapid on its own. (Although I admire JLW's detailed recall of the conjunction of music and image in her post.)Originally posted by jayne lee wilson View Post
Through a freak
of R3 programming we were offered two broadcasts of Richard Adinsell's Warsaw Concerto from Dangerous Moonlight, in itself now forgotten, broadcast on TTN on Friday then again on Breakfast on Sunday. For me the first hearing was of a curiosity; the second hearing rather tedious: it's quite a good pastiche of a Rach-like concerto, and I imagine worked well in the cinema, but in and of itself trite.
Elevating film music to concert/broadcast status is a relatively recent R3 benediction. Nothing to do with bums on seats I suppose...?Comment
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guess my problem is that I havn't seen most (?possibly all) of these films - no TV + no real interest in the flicks tho I do have a small collection of DVDs bought originally for a bedridden friendComment
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I've already mentioned this. I heard some awful medley of "The Empire Strikes Back!" in the mid-morning slot today. An aurally gharish pot pourri of schmaltz-laden saccharine-soaked "romance" strings (Luke and, er, his sister) and schlock horror sound FX (Luke's dad, Darth), all half-inched from composers of yore...
To be honest, I'd much rather learn something more about the woefully-underplayed Alkan.Comment
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I think an hour of ‘exploration’ of film music for five days is a complete waste of time and resource of Radio3. There are scores of composers whose music would merit the excellent work of Donald Macleod and the production team.
Film music and chocolate are best if we just enjoy as they are. Examining the ingredients won’t enhance the pleasure of eating it.Comment
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Originally posted by doversoul View Post
absolutely. And I can't be doing with Hollywood anyway. Last film I paid to see was " Blood Diamond".
.no more.
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
I am not a number, I am a free man.Comment
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Sorry, but I like much film music.Comment
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Wasn't that ds's point about chocolate?Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View PostIt isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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Me too, but when there's a film going on at the time... *Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View Post
Not always - I remember fleeing the cinema at the end of "Schindler's List" the second the film itself was over, to escape YET ANOTHER repetition of the main theme by Mr Williams. Yes a beautiful theme, but repeated over and over again so that it ceased to be evocative and became merely manipulative, and (for me) irritating and a barrier to appreciation of a worthy film....
* Chocolate again....
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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I'm not sure. Boulez describes Tchaikovsky as being like sweets, and he doesn't mean it as a compliment, refusing to conduct anything by him...Originally posted by french frank View PostComment
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