Behind the Movies

Imagine Braveheart without Horner’s bagpipe-driven score. Contemplate Chariots of Fire without Vangelis’ rhythmic theme. Consider Welles’ Third Man without Karas’ eerily lighthearted score. Thankfully, you don’t have to face the awful reality of such possibilities. But going through the exercise of imagining movies without music does teach a worthwhile lesson, for it is all too easy to forget the music playing in the background.

All too often the music in the background is forgettable, but there are enough diamonds in the rough to warrant our discerning attention. While soundtrack composers like John Williams and James Horner are admittedly aiming for popular entertainment, they still follow the accepted musical forms of classical music. They aren’t afraid of melody, for one thing, as are most modern highbrow composers. Another thing to take note of is that the added dimension of making their music adapt to the pace of film, while placing some limits on the composition, allows the composer to show his true genius. Tchaikovsky was probably a better composer than Williams, but Tchaikovsky never had to compromise his musical creativity due to the cinematic whims of a director.

So here’s an attempt to bring to light some of the few glories of modern music.

Braveheart – James Horner

There are some movies which are simply musical gold mines. For the most part, these tend to be historical or epic movies like Ben Hur or Gone With the Wind. And certainly Mel Gibson’s Braveheart presented such a golden opportunity to composer James Horner. Fortunately, Horner turned out to be excellent at mining the gold from this musical mine.

From the opening track, the discerning listener will understand that Horner is trying to produce a romantic, melancholy, and almost mystical atmosphere. The strings intertwine to create a sense that this legendary story of honor and freedom is being lifted out of an ancient mist. Then the mystic drone of the bagpipe is heard, and it is at this point that anyone with a true soul begins to break down. It is very rare that music can really touch the soul; it is even rarer for a soundtrack to do so. For all its greatness, a John Williams score is generally too boisterous to pierce to the heart. But Horner knows not only how to excite the senses with the drumbeats and battle-horns of war, but also how to arouse the long-forgotten desire to live a legend. In the end, it is very hard to resist the desire to don a kilt and rush, sword drawn, at some modern-day tyrant.

In this way, Horner’s Braveheart is a masterpiece.

Fellowship of the Ring – Howard Shore

There are some soundtracks which can only be called conventional. These are the ones that use your basic symphonic sound. Some, like Vangelis’ Chariots of Fire or Berrnard Hermann’s North By Northwest, can be classified as exceptionally conventional. But most are run-of-the-mill soundtracks that generally match the substance of the drab movie for which they provide the setting. Yet, occasionally, a soundtrack comes along which blows your mind away with its complexity and originality. For example, Anton Karas’ Third Man, while following in the modern minimalist tradition, fits in just right with Welles’ dismal portrait of post-WWII Vienna. The discordant (and non-symphonic) music matches the setting.

Howard Shore’s Fellowship of the Ring, while using a symphony, is by no means your conventional soundtrack. Shore does not just use a handful of interrelated themes randomly throughout the film; he has created a musical world to match Tolkien’s Middle Earth, not an easy task by any means. By his own profession, Shore spent a great deal of time prior to composing the score delving into the various cultures in Middle Earth. Each of the different races of Tolkien’s Middle Earth has its own unique theme – the elvish music is ethereal, the hobbit tunes are light-hearted, the music of Moria sounds ancient and deep. It is easy to discern that this is one of the most studied soundtracks ever composed. It is also interesting to note how Shore incorporated the British character of the hobbits into the theme, “Concerning Hobbits.” Anyone who knows hymns must have recognized the similarity between Shore’s hobbit theme and the English hymn, “This is My Father’s World.” This similarity was neither an accident nor a mere imitation; it was a deliberate connection to the simple, almost Cockney nature of Tolkien’s hobbits. And this just goes further to show how Shore’s composition was by no means a random assembly of exciting themes.

While The Fellowship of the Ring was largely forgotten by the Oscars, Hollywood at least rewarded this excellent soundtrack as it deserved when Shore won the award for Best Score earlier this year.

Signs – James Newton Howard

A soundtrack does not always need to blow our mind. Rather, a good soundtrack is one which matches the rhythm of the film. Some soundtracks may be just dandy standing on their own, but in turn they fail miserably to provide the necessary emotional accents to the various scenes of a movie. These might be termed “stock soundtracks.” In the early days of British film-making it was common for producers to use a Mendelssohn symphony or some piece from Elgar to cover the obligatory musical background. However, these scores – masterpieces in their own right – did not keep rhythm with the film. For all its deficiencies, the music from Gone With the Wind at least marked a watershed as it showed the film industry on both sides of the Atlantic that music could actually be used to enhance a film.

James Newton Howard’s music for the movie Signs certainly is a great example of an understated, yet well-adapted soundtrack which greatly enhances the movie-going experience. Drawing upon Berrnard Hermann’s famous scores for the various Hitchcock productions, Howard has composed a tense and very emotional score. The soundtrack has two primary themes. The first theme introduced is a sort of string staccato piece which increases in intensity as the opening credits roll and is used later in the suspenseful moments of the film. This segment is where Hermann’s influence is most evidenced. However, the second major theme is possibly the more inspired piece, for it is in the emotional and religious moments that Howard’s music is used to full effect. This second theme has an almost hymn-like tone; it is slow, contrapuntal, and mellow. Thankfully, not only does this theme work well on its own, it also wonderfully adapts to the emotions of the slower, more dramatic scenes.

In many ways, Howard’s music surpasses the music of composers like Hermann, for he has produced a soundtrack that is able to match the mood swings of the film. There is a time for everything: a time for staccato strings and a time for harmonious hymns. And Howard’s Signs shows us how it is done.

Rough Riders – Peter and Elmer Bernstein

There is possibly no more archetypal Western soundtrack composer than Elmer Bernstein. Practically all of the later John Wayne movies had Bernstein’s music playing in the background. His style is loud, active, and has a rhythm that clearly marks it as a composition from the 70s. In many ways, Bernstein’s music is now dated. But it is dated in only the best sense, for it is dated the same way that Frank Sinatra and Casablanca are dated. Some things merely become old; some things become legendary. In many ways, Bernstein’s music is an essential part of the ambiance of the Western film. Movies like True Grit would not be the same without the classic Western score. Yet, unfortunately, they don’t make Westerns like True Grit anymore, and Bernstein’s music is a thing of the past.

However, just a few years ago, Bernstein returned for an encore. His son, Peter, was the composer for Rough Riders, a movie production of Turner Home Entertainment (and was therefore not widely shown in theatres). The father-son team crafted a soundtrack in the best Western tradition. It was great to hear a contemporary version of the old Bernstein scores with all their pomposity and grandeur.

In general, I tend to prefer British culture to our domestic art, but I still have a love for Westerns because they have played such a vital part in shaping the American identity. We all think we’re cowboys deep down, and some of us, like our President, don’t even try to hide our pretensions. The cowboy is our counterpart to the knight-errant. We do have our legends, though they have accumulated less dust than those in Europe. We don’t have ancient stone castles, but we have rickety old gold-bust towns and eerie ghost towns. We don’t have legends of King Alfred and his valiant fight against the heathens, but we have Wyatt Earp and his gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Are the older legends better? Perhaps. But who cares? We have Bernstein to make ours come alive. What can the British say to that?

Related Links:
Buy Braveheart soundtrack at Amazon.com
Buy Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack at Amazon.com
Buy Signs soundtrack at Amazon.com

Buy Rough Riders soundtrack at Amazon.com