Middle Eastern Influenced Scores

[rpvee 805]

What do you guys think of scores that have a Middle Eastern influence? They are always so unique! Such scores include The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns, The Prince of Egypt (which also features the wonderful, heartwarming vocals of Ofra Haza), a whole bunch of IMAX Egypt documentaries, and I'm sure a ton of other feature films, too.

Let's discuss these kinds of scores!

[Henry B 50]

There's Middle Eastern influence, and then there are stock Middle Eastern stereotypes. That's not to say that no study of historical Middle Eastern music went into these scores, but they're very Hollywood. The Mummy definitely has some nuance though.

[Quintus 5,399]

Black Hawk Down!

[Melange 446]

What do you guys think of scores that have a Middle Eastern influence?

I love them. It's a sound that inspired me early on in life and fired my imagination. Exotic and far off lands.

Like Henry said, this kind of music in western movies is more often that not a western structured 'imagining' of how things are else where. But there is nothing new in doing that. Even Mozart was doing that with his 'Abduction from the Seraglio', at a time when the Ottoman Empire both feared and fascinated Europeans. I have lots of genuine music material from the Near and Middle East, but I still love the music our composers have made which can be cliche at times but still wonderful.

Here are few for you,for that exotic and sweeping Arab 'Esque' style I assume you're looking for?

Movies based in the Middle east,or have scenes in the Middle East or North Africa.

In the ones below,either a pinch of local feel or great lashings and lashings of it.

- Jerry Goldsmith

The Mummy Returns - Alan Silvestri

The Message of Islam - Maurice Jarre

- Maurice Jarre

The Wind and Lion - Jerry Goldsmith

Masada - Jerry Goldsmith

The 13th Warrior - Jerry Goldsmith

- John Williams

- Harry Gregson Williams

- David Arnold

There is also a sound which probably first appeared in scores like Blade Runner, with tracks like Damask Rose (5:05 onwand Tales of the Future (5:05 on) (both of which I used in a home video of Egypt), and then in movies like

and

. Often it just gets slap labelled as 'ethnic'. At times it can actually be quite accurate to local music in terms of the evocative minimalist wind and string instrumentation you find in the middle east and north africa,outside of their Arab orchestras. In movies it isn't always used accurately for a time period or setting, and it has been over used at times too. But it's popular.

And there are lots of modern films set in the region which I assume probably have some influence in the score, such as Syriana,The Kingdom,and that one coming out call the Green Zone. But I haven't seen those films or heard the scores.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Nearly all of the music from BSG!

[Nick Parker 3,040]

The Egyptian by Alfred Newman and Bernard Herrmann comes to mind.

[Melange 446]

The Egyptian by Alfred Newman and Bernard Herrmann comes to mind."]My link

Many Epic scores from old movies set in Egypt and that region could be included if Rpvee is looking for the mighty epic sound of the Pharonic and Biblical location setting films. Film and Score wise there is - "an ocean in which no ore is dipped" to choose from. For example,Land of the Pharoahs (1955) by Dmitri Tomkin is a mighty score. Lots of imperial horns and workers chanting in true holywood epic style. Ben Hur & 10 Commandments are of that epic era sound, but then it's moving away from the later Arab-Esque sound that is more often associated with the Middle East in scores these days.

[rpvee 805]

The Egyptian by Alfred Newman and Bernard Herrmann comes to mind."]My link

Many Epic scores from old movies set in Egypt and that region could be included if Rpvee is looking for the mighty epic sound of the Pharonic and Biblical location setting films. Film and Score wise there is - "an ocean in which no ore is dipped" to choose from. For example,Land of the Pharoahs (1955) by Dmitri Tomkin is a mighty score. Lots of imperial horns and workers chanting. You know, how we can only guess things were in Ancient Egypt. Ben Hur,10 Commandments,Cleopatra,etc. But not the later Arab-Esque sound often associated with the Middle East now.

I'm not looking for anything really, lol, I just want to discuss, but I do like some of what you've posted. In terms of this genre, I like more what The Mummy Returns, 13th Warrior, and the "ethnic" ones were, a mix of an orchestra and Mid-East instruments (and even a choir in Mummy Returns), not just an orchestra doing Middle Eastern melodies. I suggest you check out the soundtrack for the old IMAX film "Mysteries of Egypt", by a master at the genre, Sam Cardon. It's really, really good in my opinion.

[Datameister 2,044]

I love the exotic-sounding horn feature in ROTLA's "The Basket Game."

[Romão 2,274]

The Gospel of John is a very interesting song, specially the segments sung in Aramaic

[Koray Savas 2,251]

There is also a sound which probably first appeared in scores like Blade Runner, with tracks like Damask Rose and Tales of the Future...

I'm pretty sure Vangelis is like Eric Serra's favorite composer because he also has that type of style. He manages to squeeze some Middle Eastern influences in his scores no matter what. GoldenEye, Leon, and The Fifth Element being the main ones.

[Melange 446]

Eric Serra's...... Leon

Agreed, Koray. The Fight for example (1:37 onwards is particularly striking) and Noon, were superb.

Initially it was puzzling in the movie (even though it sounded beyond amazing), considering the character Leon is simply Italian. But Jean Reno the actor himself was born in Morroco and his parents were from areas that used to be part of Moorish Spain in the distant past, so that probably explains Eric Serra's use of that particular sound in various scenes I'd say.

John Powell also incorporated some of this North African feel (mostly in percussion) in

, from Bourne Ultimatum.

[Corellian2019 386]

There is also a sound which probably first appeared in scores like Blade Runner, with tracks like Damask Rose and Tales of the Future...

I'm pretty sure Vangelis is like Eric Serra's favorite composer because he also has that type of style. He manages to squeeze some Middle Eastern influences in his scores no matter what. GoldenEye, Leon, and The Fifth Element being the main ones.

Wow, I didn't know GoldenEye had a Middle Eastern influence somewhere in there. Guess I'll have to relisten to it.

Regarding Vangelis and Tales of the Future, I've always wondered if in fact Demis Roussos's vocals were pitched up to sound like a woman, or if another method was used entirely.

[Melange 446]

Regarding Vangelis and Tales of the Future, I've always wondered

if in fact Demis Roussos's vocals were pitched up to sound like a woman.....

For years I had always assumed it was a woman, simply because I hadn't ever looked into who did the vocals.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

There is also a sound which probably first appeared in scores like Blade Runner, with tracks like Damask Rose and Tales of the Future...

I'm pretty sure Vangelis is like Eric Serra's favorite composer because he also has that type of style. He manages to squeeze some Middle Eastern influences in his scores no matter what. GoldenEye, Leon, and The Fifth Element being the main ones.

Wow, I didn't know GoldenEye had a Middle Eastern influence somewhere in there. Guess I'll have to relisten to it.

Listen to "A Pleasant Drive In St. Petersburg."

[Corellian2019 386]

Listen to "A Pleasant Drive In St. Petersburg."

Oh please, no! Not that track, it's awful!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Well that's where the Middle Eastern music is. And the whole score is awesome, I don't care what anyone else says.

[Corellian2019 386]

Yes, I'm a fan of GoldenEye's score as well, so no hating from me.

"Run, Shoot, and Jump" just speaks for itself...

[Neimoidian 14]

No one has yet mentioned Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. There are some very nice ME musical moments as well.

[rpvee 805]

Bumping this!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Mods dont like bump threads.

[Ollie 1,059]

As long as the discussion continues I don't see a problem, plus this was a useful thread.

Bumping threads that serve no purpose or ones where it's obvious the discussion doesn't need to continue are no no's.

[Romão 2,274]

Khartoum is a score I've discovered in the meantime, with quite a big middle-eastern influence. Great score

[rpvee 805]

No one has yet mentioned Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. There are some very nice ME musical moments as well.

So I've noticed. There's one theme in particular that strikes me, though I'm not sure what it's official name is (one appearance is in "The Portuguese Coast" right before the Raiders' theme makes its first appearance in the track).

EDIT: Makes a couple appearances at 3:22 and again at 4:14:

Haven't seen the film in a while, so I can't remember the theme's context.

[Faleel 5,355]

No one has yet mentioned Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. There are some very nice ME musical moments as well.

So I've noticed. There's one theme in particular that strikes me, though I'm not sure what it's official name is (one appearance is in "The Portuguese Coast" right before the Raiders' theme makes its first appearance in the track).

The cross of coronado theme at 0:24? I thought it sounded more "Mexican"

[rpvee 805]

No one has yet mentioned Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. There are some very nice ME musical moments as well.

So I've noticed. There's one theme in particular that strikes me, though I'm not sure what it's official name is (one appearance is in "The Portuguese Coast" right before the Raiders' theme makes its first appearance in the track).

The cross of coronado theme at 0:24? I thought it sounded more "Mexican"

I guess that'd be it, as that's when the theme appears in the track. Sounds Middle Eastern to my ear. Could be Mexican too, but there's something rather Mid-Eastern about it in my opinion.

[paleo 63]

No one has yet mentioned Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. There are some very nice ME musical moments as well.

So I've noticed. There's one theme in particular that strikes me, though I'm not sure what it's official name is (one appearance is in "The Portuguese Coast" right before the Raiders' theme makes its first appearance in the track).

The cross of coronado theme at 0:24? I thought it sounded more "Mexican"

It's clearly meant to sound Spanish... but LC has some ME-inspired moments (just not very obvious IMO)... The flourishes that accompany the members of the Brotherhood especially in Venice come to mind (but I think it's an electronic instrument if I remember correctly)

[Faleel 5,355]

No one has yet mentioned Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. There are some very nice ME musical moments as well.

So I've noticed. There's one theme in particular that strikes me, though I'm not sure what it's official name is (one appearance is in "The Portuguese Coast" right before the Raiders' theme makes its first appearance in the track).

The cross of coronado theme at 0:24? I thought it sounded more "Mexican"

I guess that'd be it, as that's when the theme appears in the track. Sounds Middle Eastern to my ear. Could be Mexican too, but there's something rather Mid-Eastern about it in my opinion.

well, it could be spanish, or aztec type music too.... but yes it does have a Middle Easternlike sound to it

[paleo 63]

My favorite score with Middle Eastern elements is Hidalgo; there's some awesome stuff in there...

well, it could be spanish, or aztec type music too.... but yes it does have a Middle Easternlike sound to it

I always thought it was meant to score the Spanish aspect of the conquistadors; it's not really New World/Mexican in style IMO

[rpvee 805]

Well, whether it's meant to or not, that Cross of Coronado theme just strikes me as Mid Eastern. I wish it had more appearances, I like it!

My favorite score with Middle Eastern elements is Hidalgo; there's some awesome stuff in there...

Any examples?

[Faleel 5,355]

Its not New World/Mexican in style IMO

Ah your right, There seems to be two themes for the Cross, (or its the B portion of the theme) the more mexican one heard in Indy's First Adventure at about 3:39 and the one Rpvee is referring to

[paleo 63]

Try:

Arriving in the desert

Frank pushes on

Katib

Montage

e.g.:

http://www.amazon.com/Hidalgo-Music-Composed-Newton-Howard/dp/B0001GF29M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308254039&sr=8-1

Montage is particularly great, but the Amazon sample doesn't feature the male singer etc.

Its not New World/Mexican in style IMO

Ah your right, There seems to be two themes for the Cross, (or its the B portion of the theme) the more mexican one heard in Indy's First Adventure at about 3:39 and the one Rpvee is referring to

Yep, the first theme/part sounds indeed more Mexican, but later on the music for the cross becomes more classically Spanish. I would argue there's even a third version (at 5:08), but all this material has almost seamless transitions... and this is probably the wrong thread for this discussion anyway ;-)

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

LAIR by debney

Salomé by roque baños

[rpvee 805]

Try:

Arriving in the desert

Frank pushes on

Katib

Montage

e.g.:

http://www.amazon.com/Hidalgo-Music-Composed-Newton-Howard/dp/B0001GF29M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308254039&sr=8-1

Montage is particularly great, but the Amazon sample doesn't feature the male singer etc.

Listening to the first one on Youtube right now, I like it! I'll check the rest out.

Its not New World/Mexican in style IMO

Ah your right, There seems to be two themes for the Cross, (or its the B portion of the theme) the more mexican one heard in Indy's First Adventure at about 3:39 and the one Rpvee is referring to

Yep, the first theme/part sounds indeed more Mexican, but later on the music for the cross becomes more classically Spanish. I would argue there's even a third version (at 5:08), but all this material has almost seamless transitions... and this is probably the wrong thread for this discussion anyway ;-)

So no one else thinks the theme is very Mid-Eastern?

[Faleel 5,355]

0:15 of Slalom on mount Humol sounds more middle easternish than Cross of Coronado which sounds more Spanish to me

[rpvee 805]

0:15 of Slalom on mount Humol sounds more middle easternish than Cross of Coronado which sounds more Spanish to me

Really? A few tambourines and twisting strings don't make something Middle Eastern. The Coronado theme has this grand flair to it, along with the melody.

[paleo 63]

[so no one else thinks the theme is very Mid-Eastern?

Well, I always thought that Spanish music has something Middle Eastern to it; maybe it's because of the long history of Islamic culture on the Spanish peninsula (even though I am really not schooled in the history of music)? Do you know more about this, Luke?

[Faleel 5,355]

0:15 of Slalom on mount Humol sounds more middle easternish than Cross of Coronado which sounds more Spanish to me

Really? A few tambourines and twisting strings don't make something Middle Eastern.

its not the tambourines and strings, its the brass "baloompaba baloompaba" sound that gives that impression to me

[paleo 63]

Oh, I forgot, there's also "Arabian Adventure" by Ken Thorne.... it's "Hollywood" cliché at its best :-) The Sindbad scores etc. go there too, of course

[Marcus 390]

So no one else thinks the theme is very Mid-Eastern?

Regarding LC's "The Cross of Coronado"-motif: It is indeed aiming for a Spanish, conquistadorian flavor, but you are not wrong to deem it Middle Eastern. Spanish music very much reflects Spain's multicultural history, with strong influences from Arabic, Sephardic and other musical traditions.

P.S: What gives away the "Cross of Coronado"-motif as Spanish, and not Middle Eastern, is its harmonies. Not particularily its phrygian inflections, but simply the presence

of chordal accompaniment. In Middle Eastern traditional

music, there are no chords, only drones (held notes, most

typically the tonic/root). Play the "Cross of Coronado"-motif

over a sustained tonic, and it will immediately jump across the Mediterranean, and assume a new cultural identity.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

So no one else thinks the theme is very Mid-Eastern?

Regarding LC's "The Cross of Coronado"-motif: It is indeed aiming for a Spanish, conquistadorian flavor, but you are not wrong to deem it Middle Eastern. Spanish music very much reflects Spain's multicultural history, with strong influences from Arabic, Sephardic and other musical traditions.

yes. the traditional music of the south of spain is strongly rooted in middle east music. after all flamenco features some sort of 'wailing'

but the aim of williams was 'spanish' sound and it fits it. You can differenciate when one composer uses a spanish music cliché from a middle east cliché. though the latter renditions of the theme really dont scream 'spanish' that much.

[rpvee 805]

Play the "Cross of Coronado"-motif over a sustained tonic, and it will immediately jump across the Mediterranean, and assume a new cultural identity.

Any musical mock-up people up for that?

[Romão 2,274]

[so no one else thinks the theme is very Mid-Eastern?

Well, I always thought that Spanish music has something Middle Eastern to it; maybe it's because of the long history of Islamic culture on the Spanish peninsula (even though I am really not schooled in the history of music)? Do you know more about this, Luke?

That was what I was thinking too, but Marcus, as usual, has already explained these things much better than I ever could

[GoodMusician 56]

Some of my favourite scores are from this genre/sound:

1) Battlestar Galactica (the Bear McCreary version)

2) Munich

3) Passion of the Christ

4) The Mummy (The Mummy 2)

5) Rendition

The Duduk is such a warm and WONDERFUL instrument! Its technically Armenian but is used to add that Middle Eastern Flavour :-)

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

The Duduk is such a warm and WONDERFUL instrument! Its technically Armenian but is used to add that Middle Eastern Flavour :-)

I would consider this to be middle east.

[Jonesy 55]

The Klingon Theme from Star Trek III seems to have Middle Eastern influences, at least I've thought it.

[crocodile 8,017]

Danna brothers make quite a use of ethnic instruments in their scores. And I would say in the scoring business they went as close as anybody could to authencity. Whatever that means, because we do not know a great deal about music that area from centuries ago.

Karol - who often thinks people confuse Middle Eastern music with that new age-like crap we hear a lot in movies

[Ollie 1,059]

Jerry Goldsmith's Justine.

[rpvee 805]

Randomly deciding to bump this thread after over a decade, since film scores have only gotten more eclectic over the years and I feel like there’s a lot more discussion about these kinds of fusions to be had!  

[Thor 7,512]

Seems I never participated in this thread first time around. I'm sucker for these blends, i.e. western approximations and implementations of various ethnic colours. "Middle-eastern", however one defines that musically, being one of them. I've noticed that several have mentioned North African titles above, which wouldn't technically be correct, but since several of those countries incorporate Arabic populations and tropes, I guess they could qualify. Things like Zimmer's BLACK HAWK DOWN, Goldenthal's THE GOOD THIEF etc.

 

Some great ones (both previously mentioned and not) include:

 

MUHAMMAD: THE MESSENGER OF GOD (Rahman)

THE MUMMY (Goldsmith) -- even though Egypt isn't technically the Middle East

THE MUMMY RETURNS (Silvestri) -- same

WILD ARABIA (Taylor)

NOAH (Mansell) -- other Mansells too, he often incorporates Middle Eastern sounds in his scores

THE KINGDOM (Elfman)

STARGATE (Arnold) -- curiously, several Arnold scores have what seem like Middle Eastern harmonizations and chord progressions, even though the films do not take place in the Middle East. ID4 is another.

LONELY PLANET (various) -- those tracks that portray the region

CHILDREN OF DUNE (Revell)

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (Gabriel)

THE CROW and THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS (Revell)

GLADIATOR (Zimmer)

DUNE (Zimmer)

EARTHSEA (Rona) -- although it's pretty much "pan world music" more than one specific region

THE WIND AND THE LION (Goldsmith)

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST and THE YOUNG MESSIAH (Debney)

The BOURNE scores -- several tracks

MUNICH (Williams)

QUEEN OF THE DESERT (Badelt)

MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE MEN (Rosenthal)

THE INSIDER (Gerrard & Bourke)

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (Jarre)

JOURNEY TO MECCA and JERUSALEM (Brook)

CARAVANS (Batt)

EXOTICA, THE ICE STORM, ARARAT, THE NATIVITY STORY (Danna) -- in fact, many Danna scores use Middle Eastern elements

BLADE RUNNER (Vangelis)

 

Heck, I suppose any old Biblical epic, including the classics by Rozsa.