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If you could bring any classical composer back to life


ChuckM

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Who would it be? And what type of movie would it be?

For me, it would be Gustav Holst. And I would have him score either some sort of action/war movie, or a fantasy.

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Richard Wagner.

Although, if he could stomach being under the final word of someone else, is another matter entirely.

If a director was dictating how things should go with the score, or rejecting certain bits, I could imagine Wagner storming out in a rage. Wagner's pride and - "I work at my own god damn pace, I need to retire to venice for about a year until perfection is reached with this score" or "I need some fancy curtains in my recording studio before we even BEGIN, or I'm out of here" probably wouldn't be suited to the world of film scoring. :) Film composers need to be passive surrender monkeys :D

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Korngold or Bernstein, or aren't they regarded classical composers? If not then Prokofiev would be the one who would be the most adaptable to the medium.

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Wagner's pride and - "I work at my own god damn pace, I need to retire to venice for about a year until perfection is reached with this score" or "I need some fancy curtains in my recording studio before we even BEGIN, or I'm out of here" probably wouldn't be suited to the world of film scoring.

His raging anti-semitism might be a problem too.

Wagner for me too though, by the way.

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Korngold or Bernstein, or aren't they regarded classical composers? If not then Prokofiev would be the one who would be the most adaptable to the medium.

Which Bernstein - Leonard or Elmer?

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Bruckner, but his compositional structures wouldn't work for film. Wagner, but as Melange said, he'd only score movies he'd written and directed himself. So Richard Strauss remains. Although he actually has written a film score, but it was for a silent film, so I figure he still qualifies.

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Hmm...its funny, whenever I mention Elmer Bernstein to friends and teachers they never know who I'm talking about...

I would choose Richard Strauss and/or Wagner as well, Mendolssohn would be a possibility too!

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Camille Saint-Saëns, I think he might be good for scoring a Burton film (based on the only track I've heard from him, Danse Mecabre). I still would want Elfman, though. Peter Tchaikovsky, just because his work on Nutcracker was genius.

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Camille Saint-Saëns, I think he might be good for scoring a Burton film (based on the only track I've heard from him, Danse Mecabre).

Saint-Saens did compose a film score. It's actually thought of one as one of the first real film scores.

My answer would be Stravinsky on one side of the spectrum, Dvorak on the other. Stravinsky doing films would totally kick-ass.

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If Stravinsky came back, I really wouldn't care if he scored movies or not, as long as he was composing music.

But if Fantasia is any evidence, he could be a great film composer.

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Korngold or Bernstein, or aren't they regarded classical composers? If not then Prokofiev would be the one who would be the most adaptable to the medium.

Which Bernstein - Leonard or Elmer?

Leonard.

About Dvorak and Tschaikovsky I agree, although I wonder if their way of working would've been suitable for scoring sessions :)

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His raging anti-semitism might be a problem too.

I dont' see why, really (unless he was working in the United States where there is more chance of him having dealings with Jewish producers or directors). The again, the man couldn't seem to make up his mind about Jews,and flip flopped. Shooting his mouth off by writing personal feelings as public articles, and regretting it years later. In one breath writing a bitter article about Jews in the arts, and in the next breath having Jewish friends and conductors. I see him as someone who was extremely jealous of Jewish success in the musical fields of Europe of the time, and put the blame for his own dissapointments and difficulties in getting recognized in the musical field, squarely at the feet of Jews because Jews as a scapegoat was as popular in europe then as anti 'immigration' feeling is today. Most of his hate was professional rivalry,jealousy, suspicion,and irrational, and it seems he tried to distance himself from writings he'd had published earlier in his life. His mistake was not thinking of the long term effects, and it will forever haunt his legacy. Last year I was in Venice and visited the Pallazo Vendramin Calergi where he resided in the last years of his life (and on earlier visits) and just over the bridge nearby is the centuries old Jewish Ghetto of Venice. I found the proximity of Wagner to Jews in the last years of his life, quite amusing :rolleyes:

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I'm with Timo on this one. I'd be inclined to stick the electrodes on the festering corpse of Sibelius and have the Finnish maestro score a western. Sounds crazy, but I think it would rock. And what about Sir Edward Elgar turning his hand to a movie about the Great War? It was surely meant to be.

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Yeah, Dvorak and Sibelius would be grand. Love those tone poems. Give them fantasy, something very adventurous, also romantic...

Or a Western would work, I always thought the opening theme of Sibelius' Kullervo sounds like a Golden Age Western score. :blink: In fact, part of this piece should be used for a movie sometime. That would rock. One of my big all-time favorites.

We'd never have any rejected scores from his pen though, we'd be lucky if he didn't burn them himself before they made it to film...

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Prokofiev, but it wouldn't matter because he'd have his score rejected by morons for being too "old fashioned" and some hack wanna be composer would come in and replace it with with crap.

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I'd love to hear a Prokfiev Star Trek score. :blink:

I saw the movie Mahler the other day, and the score - most of which is made of up Mahler's music - was very effective and score-like (meaning that in the best possible way). I'd have been interested to hear what he would have written for a film.

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Samuel Barber would be really interesting.

Of course, in a sense, Barber already did score Platoon. :blink:

Only problem, he didn't like the use of his music in films, and I think didn't have a high opinion of film scoring in general. Of course that could be his overall bitterness from the critical failure of "Antony and Cleopatra" until his death.

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Yeah, but I just assumed "John Williams" was accepted as valid answer to pretty much every question in this board. Then you just spin logic around to justify why.

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I'm with Timo on this one. I'd be inclined to stick the electrodes on the festering corpse of Sibelius and have the Finnish maestro score a western. Sounds crazy, but I think it would rock. And what about Sir Edward Elgar turning his hand to a movie about the Great War? It was surely meant to be.

Sibelius scoring for a western? As a Finnish it is an impossible equation. Much more suitable would be a war movie on the Winter War for example.

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If Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is any indication, then Beethoven would really dig the synths.

The funny thing about that scene is you never actually hear what he is playing when he is going wild on the keyboards. :sigh:

I think I would have to bring good ol' Wolfgang back to score a fantasy picture. ;)

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Sibelius scoring for a western? As a Finnish it is an impossible equation. Much more suitable would be a war movie on the Winter War for example.

Fair enough, but I stand by my genre suggestion, Carnifex. After all, three of the greatest composers of western scores in the history of movies have been a Ukrainian (Tiomkin), an Austrian (Steiner) and an Italian (Morricone). Parts of Karelia suggest to me that Sibelius could have excelled in a good hoe-down.

Still, at least we are agreed on one thing: that Sibelius requires resurrection. You bring the generator, I'll bring the electrodes and the monkey's brain and we'll quibble about his first assignment later.

;)

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