Discovering new composers by accident

[nicholas 1]

A couple of days ago I was watching a BBC documentary on the so-called Terracotta Army, part of which is currently being exhibited at the British Museum (hence the documentary). At first I was rather annoyed by the soundtrack (which I took to be source music) which was so loud you could hardly hear the narration, but as the documentary progressed I began listening in greater depth, and with increasing admiration, to the music. At the end I was rather surprised to find the "composer" was one Adrian Williams - surprised first because the music was so good I could hardly believe it was written specially just for a TV documentary, and secondly because I'd never heard of this Adrian Williams (no relation, presumably...)

But check out his website (which is in the process of being constructed) - just put Adrian Williams Composer into Google, and listen partiuclarly to the tracks Terracotta Army, Pastorale, and Terracotta Army, Museum. The first couple of minutes of the Collage track at the end could almost be from The Fury.

Do fellow posters have any similar stories of chance discoveries which have led to them admiring or following a previously unknown composer? Even unlikely first discoveries of our own Mr Williams would be interesting to hear about if they are bizarre enough.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

i discovered michael giacchino the day i loaded up the Medal of Honor game

[QMM 4]

i discovered michael giacchino the day i loaded up the Medal of Honor game

Ditto

[Richard Penna 2,084]

My brother was watching an episode of Life on Mars and called me into his room to get an opinion of the score that sounded very, very Newman. From that moment, I wanted to know who had composed it, and upon seeing the series 2 finale, I really wanted the music.

Edmund Butt (rather unfortunate name yes) was the composer for this, but unfortunately none of his music was on the OST release, and I had to resort to a DVD-rip; thankfully easy because of the inevitably lacklustre 5.1 mix for a BBC show.

[ChuckM 1]

I discovered Christophe Beck from seeing Interstate 60. Unfortunately I still haven't been able to find any sort of release for the score.

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

surprised first because the music was so good I could hardly believe it was written specially just for a TV documentary, and secondly because I'd never heard of this Adrian Williams (no relation, presumably...)

There's quite a bit of good documentary music out there, particularly from the BCC, it seems. There's Bartlett's Walking With... series, and of course Fenton's Blue Planet/Deep Blue and Planet Earth.

[Luke Skywalker 1,287]

I discovered Michael Giacchino looking if Saving Private Ryan was worth buying.

I saw some review that said that MOHAA complemented what SPR lacked.

I was hooked

[Omen II 1,088]

I was browsing the soundtrack section in Tower Records a few years ago and they happened to be playing a film music CD. The piece was the car chase music from Fear Is The Key by Roy Budd, a name I knew but whose music I knew almost nothing about.

At first I thought it might be something by Lalo Schifrin so, intrigued, I asked the bloke at the till what the music was. It was the first and, to date, only time I have ever bought a CD 'cold' on the basis of hearing just one of the tracks in a shop. I was that convinced!

P.S. I must go and see those terracotta dudes at the British Museum. Do they come alive late at night like Ray Harryhausen creations? I think we should be told.

[skyy38 21]

Howard Shore.

Se7en.

After LOTR.

[Red 73]

I discovered Howard Shore directly through LOTR. I didn't even know who he was beforehand.

[indy4 152]

Same here. I also discovered Christopher Beck through the new Pink Panther. Klaus Badelt through POTC, and DAnny Elfman through Charlie and the Chocolate FActory.

[Jarbas 1]

I have just discovered Ilan Eshkeri right now, hearing soundclips from his Stardust score. It´s great, specially, Coronation!

Dario Marianelli is another composer that I discovered when hearing The Brothers Grimm score.... Then I began to accompany him frequently in Pride & Prejudice, V for Vendetta, The Return and Beyond the Gates.

Merril Jenson, is other composer that I discovered because of my religion. He is Mormon, but independent of that... in spite of your little known work... your talent is incredible. For me, your best score is Polynesian Odyssey, an 1991 IMAX documentary.

[Neimoidian 13]

Basil Poledouris - while watching "Robocop" some years ago. I had watched several movies with his music (like "Hunt for the Red October") before, but it was at the time I didn't pay attention to composers' names. Not only was I surprised by liking the movie, but also finally noticed the previously unknown name of Poledouris - I was really surprised when I learnt how many great scores he'd written.

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

I wouldn't call it "accidental" to discover a new film composer when watching a... film. After all, that's what they write their music for. It's probably far more unusual (and limited to us film music listeners) to discover a film composer based on recommendations or "instinct".

[Neimoidian 13]

I wouldn't call it "accidental" to discover a new film composer when watching a... film. After all, that's what they write their music for. It's probably far more unusual (and limited to us film music listeners) to discover a film composer based on recommendations or "instinct".

On the other hand most of these discoveries weren't deliberate

[John McClane 1]

i discovered michael giacchino the day i loaded up the Medal of Honor game

Same as when I discovered Mateo Pascual playing with the Commandos series. Too bad is so unknown.

He wrote some seriously great war music (plus the historical Praetorians was badass).