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John Corigliano Discusses the Compositional Process in a talk


BLUMENKOHL

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Well, he was just referring to the different approaches different composers take, doesn't mean he approves nor condones any of those methods. I still stand by my argument.

On that note, I find Corigliano's process very interesting and it goes on to explain the intellectual depth of his works, something "London Calling" lacks ;)

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Well yes. But you see the spirit of what I'm getting that...you were picking on one thing (that we're not even sure of) as a possible scape goat for the problem of the piece. Too simplistic.

Problems in most anything are the result of a lot of variables, rarely one thing.

Finally, it's unfair to compare London Calling with a Corigliano piece. Two very different goals. ;)

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Well I wasn't really picking on one thing per se. I didn't like the construction of London Calling. It's what I personally find boring and doesn't sound like something where a lot of thought was put into.

The comparison between London Calling and Corigliano was a joke by the way :P

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I have to say that I should explore more of this wonderful composer but here are my favourites thusfar from his extensive body of work:

The Red Violin (both the score and the Violin Concerto)

Altered States

Symphony No 1

Circus Maximus, Symphony No. 3

The Edge of Darkness (Rejected score, released as an album called Music from the Edge)

And this is merely scratching the surface.

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I have to admit I am only familiar with his film works. And they're all musically accomplished.

Have you ever heard Revolution, Inky?

Karol

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Oh Quint his rejected score to Edge of Darkness is very good. You know from that remake with Mel Gibson. Very unorthodox approach to this type of material.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=765mje8tW_E

Karol

I was about to ask why the F**K this was rejected, and then the Andrew Lloyd Webber part kicked in and it suddenly all made sense. Is the rest of the score as impressive?

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It makes more sense in the context of the story. He didn't score the film as a thriller, but more as a story of a grieving man. As I said: unorthodox. But it's a brave choice for a Hollywood thriller. Apparently the music was rejected because of the reshoots and re-edited whole. The music didn't fit into the new context. Hence, Howard Shore stepped in.

That's the finale of the score. The rest of the score is much much darker. Corigliano was a mentor to Goldenthal so you can hear some connections between the two men's music. The theme you hear in this track is a full developed melody and it appears in fragments throughout the work.

Karol

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It makes more sense in the context of the story. He didn't score the film as a thriller, but more as a story of a grieving man.

That's why it makes sense. Nervous financiers etc.

Would I like the OST then?

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I have no idea... since you don't really enjoy any film music nowadays...

It is as good as anything you'll find in the field these days. Written by the guy who clearly knows what he's doing. But because he's also a concert composers, his approach to scoring might be too... I don't know how to put it.... cerebral? And celebral too. ;)

Karol

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On a slightly unrelated note to music. The QA section and all the old people in the audience asking the questions reminded me.

Advice to the younger folks here:

If and when you attend talks given by interesting/cool people, and at the end they ask for questions...ASK A QUESTION. You've got access to someone either talented/successful/and or with lots of cool connections. Even if it's a "How did you become successful?" Don't be embarrassed.

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Okay, I'll listen to more on YT. Making buying decisions, that's all.

Here is my review of the album if it is any help in deciding. :)

But you should take a listen of the whole score to get a full picture. It is definitely different from most of the run-of-the-mill soundtracks of today.

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  • 1 year later...

Never knew Corigliano and Williams actually met:


Do you feel there are there any film composers who maintained a symphonic mentality while working in movies?

Well, there are different extremes. Elliot Goldenthal [who wrote the scores to Heat, Frida, and many others] was my student. He studied with me for seven years. And I love what he does. John Williams does another kind of thing—a very grand thing. It's interesting: the night that the L.A. Philharmonic did the clarinet concerto and I met Ken Russell, I also met a man backstage who came up to me and said, "My name is John Williams. I love your music, I love this piece." And I said, "You're John Williams!? You wrote [the score for] Jaws!" BecauseJaws had just come out a couple years before, and I loved what John did with it. You know, that Prokofiev kind of throbbing . . .

And everybody knows that main theme. It's got to be one of the best-known themes in the movies.

Yeah! It's so recognizable! And he said to me, "That was my 60th film." So he had written 59 other scores before he did Jaws that I didn't know. That's another reason why I didn't think of [working in movies]. But we've become friends, as I have with several film composers.

Karol

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Williams also conducted the premiere of Corigliano's "Promenade Overture". Magnificent piece, and certainly one of the best concert openers I can think of.

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Extremes, but not at each end of a spectrum in a straight line as though they're opposites. All he says is "different extremes". Presumably he means extremes in the many different approaches one can take.

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I'm still a little in the dark. What is this "very grand thing" that Williams does?


I understand that Goldenthal and Williams differ stylistically as composers; it's just interesting to me that Corigliano chose the word "extremes." I suppose I'm reading too much into it -- he was speaking off the cuff -- but I wouldn't mind someone with deeper musical knowledge explaining to me why Goldenthal and Williams might be grouped into different symphonic categories.

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I believe he was referring to the more blockbuster stuff he's written (SW, Indy, Superman, etc), where he takes a more larger-than-life approach. On the other hand Goldenthal veers into more unorthodox, genre-mixing territories.

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I believe he was referring to the more blockbuster stuff he's written (SW, Indy, Superman, etc), where he takes a more larger-than-life approach. On the other hand Goldenthal veers into more unorthodox, genre-mixing territories.

That's more or less it. Williams is generally a continuation of the "romantic" strand of musical practice whereas Goldenthal is a bit more edgy.

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  • 3 years later...

When this thread was first posted, John Corigliano was celebrating his 75th birthday in Chicago where I was going to school. First he dropped in our composition classes for a day or two, and then the climax: a screening of Altered States played at the Harris Theater with John in attendance,  and the score played live to projection per his original intentions (restored cues, etc.) 

 

I looked up a little about the movie and saw that it sounded awesome, but I don't think a lot of my classmates did...the Harris was absolutely packed, and I can only imagine a lot of my fellow students attended thinking, "Aw gee, we're gonna see a movie scored by this famous composer that visited us! How fun!" They were in for a surprise. :lol:

 

The movie screened, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but after the movie, as a Q and A with John was supposed to happen, pretty much all my classmates were gone! So the few remaining people and I slid to front rows and had a very nice conversation with John on a chilly Chicago night. As we bid farewell, I went to John alone and said, "Thank you." He stopped, looked at me, grinned, then said, "Thank you." And then we went our separate ways.

 

It was a very pleasant night. :)

 

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