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Wich score do you like better:The Book Thief of Schindler's List?


King Mark

Book Thief vs Schindler's List  

52 members have voted

  1. 1. Book Thief vs Schindler's List

    • Book Thief
      7
    • Schindler's List
      45


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Book Thief is a beautiful score and is more effective with the film than apart. It took me a good long while to appreciate and understand the score though. Upon first listen it seemed kind of strangely monolithic and heavy. I like it a whole lot more now.

 

Schindler's List is better in every respect both score and film. 

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Both are too plain and conventional, but Schindler at least offers a handful of good themes. Book Thief has one lovely musical montage (the death sequence) amidst an ocean of leftovers.

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Schindler's List and it isn't even close. Neither of them are top 20 Williams though.

 

The Book Thief is pretty good, but it is a surprsingly bland Williams's score.

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3 hours ago, publicist said:

Both are too plain and conventional

Considering the way the music is used in SL, it is quite appropriate for the score to be plain.

Watch Munich and you'll see that you never have to expect that much complexity from a Spielberg-Williams collaboration.

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7 hours ago, publicist said:

Both are too plain and conventional, but Schindler at least offers a handful of good themes. Book Thief has one lovely musical montage (the death sequence) amidst an ocean of leftovers.

 

I also generally tend to appreciate more a complex score with respect to a plain one, but Schindler's List is really a case where the apparent simplicity of some of its features (harmony and orchestration) are more than compensated by the absolute beauty and appropriateness of the themes. It's not an easy task to write melodies of that kind. In this sense, I don't find it so "conventional". Also, the details of the orchestration offer several interesting situations, despite it being largely string-based. And a cue like Auschwitz-Birkenau, with those timpani glissandos and Bartok-like atmosphere, is absolutely gripping. 

 

Book Thief, in my opinion, mostly suffers from being fragmentary. If a score is made mostly of 1/2-minute cues, the composer simply has no time to develop ideas in a completely satisfactory way, even if the ideas themselves are good. Schindler's List, of course, which is mostly made of 4/5-minute cues, did not have that problem at all.  

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20 minutes ago, Score said:

I also generally tend to appreciate more a complex score with respect to a plain one, but Schindler's List is really a case where the apparent simplicity of some of its features (harmony and orchestration) are more than compensated by the absolute beauty and appropriateness of the themes. It's not an easy task to write melodies of that kind. In this sense, I don't find it so "conventional". Also, the details of the orchestration offer several interesting situations, despite it being largely string-based. And a cue like Auschwitz-Birkenau, with those timpani glissandos and Bartok-like atmosphere, is absolutely gripping. 

 

I stand by my decades-old opinion that it's well-intended sentimental tripe. That plus the extremely unimaginative orchestral setting, thickly neo-romantic, of course, makes it one of my main targets for lazy consensus Williams. Of course, it's still better than Book Thief, but considerably worse than Angela's Ashes or Memoirs of a Geisha.

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8 hours ago, Score said:

 

I also generally tend to appreciate more a complex score with respect to a plain one, but Schindler's List is really a case where the apparent simplicity of some of its features (harmony and orchestration) are more than compensated by the absolute beauty and appropriateness of the themes. It's not an easy task to write melodies of that kind. In this sense, I don't find it so "conventional". Also, the details of the orchestration offer several interesting situations, despite it being largely string-based. And a cue like Auschwitz-Birkenau, with those timpani glissandos and Bartok-like atmosphere, is absolutely gripping. 

I agree. It's plain, but not completely conventional.

 

8 hours ago, Score said:

Book Thief, in my opinion, mostly suffers from being fragmentary. If a score is made mostly of 1/2-minute cues, the composer simply has no time to develop ideas in a completely satisfactory way, even if the ideas themselves are good. Schindler's List, of course, which is mostly made of 4/5-minute cues, did not have that problem at all.  

The main reason why I don't like Goldsmith's Congo.

 

7 hours ago, publicist said:

I stand by my decades-old opinion that it's well-intended sentimental tripe. That plus the extremely unimaginative orchestral setting, thickly neo-romantic, of course, makes it one of my main targets for lazy consensus Williams. Of course, it's still better than Book Thief, but considerably worse than Angela's Ashes or Memoirs of a Geisha.

I kind of agree a bit. While it's still excellent music, it's not Alien, Lost World, 100 Rifles or Minority Report. But I'm not dismissive towards a traditionally oriented score.

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10 hours ago, Score said:

 

I also generally tend to appreciate more a complex score with respect to a plain one, but Schindler's List is really a case where the apparent simplicity of some of its features (harmony and orchestration) are more than compensated by the absolute beauty and appropriateness of the themes. It's not an easy task to write melodies of that kind. In this sense, I don't find it so "conventional". Also, the details of the orchestration offer several interesting situations, despite it being largely string-based. And a cue like Auschwitz-Birkenau, with those timpani glissandos and Bartok-like atmosphere, is absolutely gripping. 

 

Book Thief, in my opinion, mostly suffers from being fragmentary. If a score is made mostly of 1/2-minute cues, the composer simply has no time to develop ideas in a completely satisfactory way, even if the ideas themselves are good. Schindler's List, of course, which is mostly made of 4/5-minute cues, did not have that problem at all.  

Quality post.  

I agree with The Book Theif's fragmentary issue.  But, I feel it enhances the chamber orchestra essence of the work, and definitely is conductive to piano reduction of the score.

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13 hours ago, Thor said:

THE BOOK THIEF is IMO one of the most disappointing scores in JW's career, while SCHINDLER'S LIST is one of the very best. So yeah -- not even a competition.

 

He turned out to be a huge disappointment. His best scores are far behind.

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Schindler's List by far, but I do like The Book Thief. Enjoyed both books too as far as a book like Schindler's List can be enjoyed.

 

Actually, I'm learning a nice guitar arrangement of the Schindler's List Theme at the moment. And a few years ago, I enjoyed getting down on piano the main theme from The Book Thief:

 

 

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SCHINDLER'S LIST is probably among the JW soundtracks I play the least, but not because it's bad, but because it's so draining, emotionally. Very dark and gutwrenching. Not something you put on when you want a 'pep'. I have to be in the right mood.

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4 minutes ago, Thor said:

SCHINDLER'S LIST is probably among the JW soundtracks I play the least, but not because it's bad, but because it's so draining, emotionally. Very dark and gutwrenching. Not something you put on when you want a 'pep'. I have to be in the right mood.

 

Same

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28 minutes ago, Thor said:

SCHINDLER'S LIST is probably among the JW soundtracks I play the least, but not because it's bad, but because it's so draining, emotionally. Very dark and gutwrenching. Not something you put on when you want a 'pep'. I have to be in the right mood.

Dark seems like the wrong word. However, it applies to Munich, which has a similar depressing effect.

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4 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

Dark seems like the wrong word. However, it applies to Munich, which has a similar depressing effect.

 

Dark, emotionally, I guess. Not necessarily in sound. But there's something about those aching strings...

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I think a lot of Schindler's List's profound effect owes itself to the raw performances and recording as well. 

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The answer is very simple in my opinion. The Book Thief is a good score, neither less nor more. Looking at the standards of today's scores, even very good.

Schindler's List is a masterpiece. Music, whose fragments, especially Theme, will be remembered and played by orchestras even in one hundred years. I'm sure about that.

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On 8/22/2018 at 9:54 AM, publicist said:

 

I stand by my decades-old opinion that it's well-intended sentimental tripe. That plus the extremely unimaginative orchestral setting, thickly neo-romantic, of course, makes it one of my main targets for lazy consensus Williams. Of course, it's still better than Book Thief, but considerably worse than Angela's Ashes or Memoirs of a Geisha.

 

It would be better if the theme didn't wear its heart on its sleeve and if it wasn't just a twist on a Mahler figure. 

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6 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

What the heck? In a week on JWFan I've learnt that Spielberg isn't that good of a director, Jaws is just a very good score, and now Schindler's List is  low-grade sentimental mush.

 

It's bizarre, yes. I find most of such criticisms fairly "transparent", though.

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God forbid someone demands more from a game-changing picture about the Holocaust than the most obvious sentimental approach in a thick jewish idiom with Perlman serenading on top. It's OscarTM Williams in full force and on this occasion, i wish Spielberg would have opted for a more ballsy collaborator. But alas...and does it really matter now?...we have the weepy 'masterpiece' for a maximum playcount on Classic FM (which is exactly where it belongs).

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