What Is The Last Score You Listened To? (older scores)

[Bespin Copilot 10,315]

A little Harry Potter playlist (another one), this time inspired by a concert performed by a Canadian wind ensemble in recent years.

 

I've used the two re-recordings made for 'Return to Hogwarts' (conducted by James Seymour Brett).

 

Note also the use of the "Return To Hogwarts" Theme wrote by Charlie Mole.

[Bespin Copilot 10,315]

 A fun Danny Elfman playlist with a 'Halloween' theme, inspired by a concert I recently listened to.

 

[Jay 44,817]

What is it about "Ice Dance" that feels Halloween-y to you?  It has more of a Christmas feel than a Halloween one, I'd say.

[Bespin Copilot 10,315]

53 minutes ago, Jay said:

What is it about "Ice Dance" that feels Halloween-y to you?  It has more of a Christmas feel than a Halloween one, I'd say.

 

Somehow, they are related in Tim Burton's universe!

[Edmilson 11,475]

I'm more curious to know how Elfman's themes for Spiderman and Avengers fit into Halloween 

 

The Simpsons is also a weird choice, unless it's the opening for a Treehouse of Horror episode.

[Tallguy 6,686]

42 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

I'm more curious to know how Elfman's themes for Spiderman and Avengers fit into Halloween 

 

The Simpsons is also a weird choice, unless it's the opening for a Treehouse of Horror episode.

 

Everything Elfman is at least a LITTLE bit Halloween.

[GerateWohl 6,369]

Recently I purchased this and it is a beautiful score.

Completely played by just two pianos. I don't know, how much of this is actual score and how much is just variations on the themes. But this is really most enjoyable piano music very well performed.

[Thor 9,334]

Don't have that, but was on a Sarde binge not too long ago. Thanks for the tip!

[LSH 1,098]

 

I'm listening to this because I'm drunk and it might possibly be the best thing ever.

[Xander Harris 8,919]

2 minutes ago, LSH said:

 

I'm listening to this because I'm drunk and it might possibly be the best thing ever.

 

You sound like me. A/S/L?

[LSH 1,098]

23 minutes ago, John Dutton said:

 

You sound like me. A/S/L?

 

Ankles/Socks/Legs I presume?

 

3/43/2

[Xander Harris 8,919]

[LSH 1,098]

I got 5 of them right. Cheers pal! 

[filmmusic 2,915]

 

One of the better efforts by Morricone, with percussive and vocal parts.

I vastly prefer it than The Good, the Bad and Ugly (I just mentioned it because I think these are the only Morricone western scores I've ever heard in full).

[Naïve Old Fart 12,533]

Just a heads up, guys:

BBC Radio 3's The Sound Of Cinema today features the music of James Bond, and especially "The Guv'nor". 

It starts at 16:00hrs, BST.

 

 

(edit) It's part one of a two-part series.

The second part focuses on his non-Bond scores.

[GerateWohl 6,369]

Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country. Cliff Eidelman

I like this score. Not sure why, to be honest. On one hand it's brutally simplistic. It mostly consists of this stoic 4 note motif, that is varied across the whole score and it seems to mainly consist of dark suspense music and anonymous action cues. But it's moody and well made. Stylisticly it's just very convincing. No theme to fall in love with, but somehow very enjoyable. Probably because I am neither a big fan of Goldsmith's nor Horner's Star Trek main theme.

[Jurassic Shark 15,940]

4 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

The Sound Of Cinema today features the music of James Bond

 

Never heard of this composer. Is he good?

[The Score Cleaner 9,298]

1 hour ago, GerateWohl said:

Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country. Cliff Eidelman

No theme to fall in love with,

I mean there absolutely is...

[Andy 6,930]

3 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country. Cliff Eidelman

I like this score. Not sure why, to be honest. On one hand it's brutally simplistic. It mostly consists of this stoic 4 note motif, that is varied across the whole score and it seems to mainly consist of dark suspense music and anonymous action cues. But it's moody and well made. Stylisticly it's just very convincing. No theme to fall in love with, but somehow very enjoyable. Probably because I am neither a big fan of Goldsmith's nor Horner's Star Trek main theme.

 

 

Speaking of that theme....  

 

 

[Tallguy 6,686]

4 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country. Cliff Eidelman

I like this score. Not sure why, to be honest. On one hand it's brutally simplistic. It mostly consists of this stoic 4 note motif, that is varied across the whole score and it seems to mainly consist of dark suspense music and anonymous action cues. But it's moody and well made. Stylisticly it's just very convincing. No theme to fall in love with, but somehow very enjoyable. Probably because I am neither a big fan of Goldsmith's nor Horner's Star Trek main theme.

 

I cannot have my "likes" associated with that last sentence. Otherwise, sure.

 

But I love this score and I really like Eidelman's Star Trek theme, even though it gets used about as much as Luke and Leia.

[Thor 9,334]

It’s easily my favourite Star Trek score.

[Andy 6,930]

Really? Easily?

[The Score Cleaner 9,298]

3 hours ago, Tallguy said:

 

I cannot have my "likes" associated with that last sentence. Otherwise, sure.

 

But I love this score and I really like Eidelman's Star Trek theme, even though it gets used about as much as Luke and Leia.

It's actually used quite a bit, the 4 note Fanfare rhythm part.

[Naïve Old Fart 12,533]

6 hours ago, Thor said:

It’s easily my favourite Star Trek score.

 

6 hours ago, Andy said:

Really? Easily?

 

If Thor likes STAR TREK VI, Thor likes STAR TREK VI.

I trust Thor's judgement 

[Thor 9,334]

13 hours ago, Andy said:

Really? Easily?

 

Yeah. Ahead of 2. TMP and 3. III.

[crocodile 9,488]

It's a really good score, with a very interesting musical take on Enterprise. I really like his theme. Not the most memorable necessarily but very intriguing in terms of construction.

 

Karol

[Andy 6,930]

I agree Karol. It’s not an obvious or intuitively heroic motif, but it is really appealing in the architecture of the melody.  Almost like he deconstructed Courage’s fanfare and moved things around to make a new one. 

[Marian Schedenig 11,177]

I've always liked Eidelman's take on the actual Courage fanfare, too.

[Tom Guernsey 3,494]

4 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I've always liked Eidelman's take on the actual Courage fanfare, too.

I like his take…

 

”if I were human”

 

…on the Courage fanfare. 

[crocodile 9,488]

I remember in one of the old FSM Podcast, Doug Adams was talking about how Eidelman managed to incorporate "outer space" chromatic third chords into his theme. That's something that can be heard in some of the early Trek scores, usually on the outskirts of things (like the opening of Horner's end titles), but never directly within the main melodies. That makes Eidelman's take quite unique.

 

Karol

[Thor 9,334]

 

One of my top 10 favourites of Morricone. That blissful and wistful main theme gets to me every time. Few could write as well for woodwinds as ol' Morrie. Some oddball things too, as usual, but appropriately fascinating.

[Jurassic Shark 15,940]

You hipster.

[Andy 6,930]

James Horner Double Feature 

 

House of Cards 

 

Everything you’d want in a “sensitive” Horner score.  And everything you’ve heard before. No matter. It’s an easy listen with plenty of heartwarming Hornerisms and plenty of musical innocence and longing.  Surprisingly, a low, droning piano technique is used that recalls the serene conclusion to the Katra Ritual from Star Trek III. 
 

This score is almost interchangeable with…

 

Jack the Bear

 

Again, Horner doing childhood as you can imagine he would. But there’s one thing that makes this inferior to House of Cards, which I listened to immediately prior: the synths.  Jack the Bear uses synths for darker colors, presumably to score the father’s demons of alcoholism.  But there is also some needless synth in place of strings or brass which sounds really, really cheap.  Like you bought a budget Laserlight CD of Horner hits performed on synthesizer.  Fortunately, it’s not all like that, and settles back into classic orchestral Hornerisms, with plenty of spectral shimmering along the way. 
 

Neither is breaking new ground, but if you appreciate the gentle, emotional and youthful sounds of Something Wicked or Project X, you could easily enjoy either of these, with the edge given to House of Cards. 

[Naïve Old Fart 12,533]

41 minutes ago, Andy said:

This score is almost interchangeable with…

 

You might think that. I, on the other hand, couldn't possibly comment 

[Andy 6,930]

I haven’t seen either film, so maybe they feel less similar to people more familiar with them?  I’m not sure I take your meaning. 
 

This was first listen for both, so if there’s something I should pay more attention to, by all means push back on me. 

[Edmilson 11,475]

Trevor Jones - Thirteen Days (bootleg)

 

 

Oh wow that was incredibly boring. It's your typical "political thriller" score: lots of "worried" low strings and horns, some martial snare drums and a generally dour and very serious atmosphere. Some moments of action or drama, but nothing that sustains the interest for 2 hours.

[crocodile 9,488]

 Naqoyqatsi. Probably my favourite score (and album) from Philip Glass. I quote like all three Qatsi scores but this one feels most satisfying as an album. There is a certain maturity to the writing this time around. Yo-Yo Ma's cello solos help to both provide human counterpoint to Glass' mechanical arpeggios and tie the whole score together into one satisfying whole. So while life might be at war, as the title suggests, there's a perfect balance to be found in the music. 

 

Karol

[Thor 9,334]

 

Such an entertaining score, where he runs the gamut from time-specific pop and rock to sweet, romantic tunes to his usual oddball effects. Never seen the film, but it probably wouldn't be politically correct in this day and age -- what with the whole bigamist angle. That makes me want to see it even more.

[LiterallyIconic 1,564]

.

[thestat 497]

Dudley's American History X - very Doyle:

 

[Andy 6,930]

 

Georges Delerue - Joe Versus the Volcano 

 

A year ago, I didn’t get the fuss over Delerue, but I do now.  Here we have a romantic fantasy, perfect for Delerue to weave 3 or 4 gorgeous melodies into a beautiful narrative that culminates with a storm sequence that has the composer writing homage to golden age style. 
 

Ah, but Delerue’s real superpower is his Power Strings, in which he brings to bear the full might of every bowed instrument in the orchestra to grab the listener by the soul with a melodic anthem.  Love his stuff.  The joy of film music right here. 
 

 

[thestat 497]

 

[Tallguy 6,686]

1 hour ago, Andy said:

 

Georges Delerue - Joe Versus the Volcano 

 

A year ago, I didn’t get the fuss over Delerue, but I do now.  Here we have a romantic fantasy, perfect for Delerue to weave 3 or 4 gorgeous melodies into a beautiful narrative that culminates with a storm sequence that has the composer writing homage to golden age style. 
 

Ah, but Delerue’s real superpower is his Power Strings, in which he brings to bear the full might of every bowed instrument in the orchestra to grab the listener by the soul with a melodic anthem.  Love his stuff.  The joy of film music right here. 
 

 

 

We watched that a month or two ago. I was afraid that it wouldn't hold up. If anything I loved it more.

 

That score may be one of my favorite specialty label releases of all time. Again, I bought it thinking "I loved the movie, and I seem to think I liked the music. Why not?" Not quite a blind buy, but certainly not a particularly informed one. And boy howdy did it knock my socks off. Both the movie and the score feel like they're from a different time. But I certainly couldn't tell you what time they would belong in. Just... a DIFFERENT time.

[Andy 6,930]

1 hour ago, Tallguy said:

 

Both the movie and the score feel like they're from a different time. But I certainly couldn't tell you what time they would belong in. Just... a DIFFERENT time.

I haven’t seen the movie since it played first run. I saw it at a drive-in. How’s that for out of time?  I think you’re right though.  I should give it a rewatch, but I would guess they were going for a fairy tale parable timelessness about it.  It’s too bad a suite didn’t make it to the Varèse Delerue London Sessions recordings. It would fit right in. 

[The Score Cleaner 9,298]

A bit of The 'Burbs

 

Wow.

[Edmilson 11,475]

2 hours ago, Tallguy said:

Both the movie and the score feel like they're from a better time

Fixed.

 

(And I wasn't even born when this movie came out)

[Jim Ware 612]

On 23/9/2024 at 10:34 PM, crocodile said:

 Naqoyqatsi. Probably my favourite score (and album) from Philip Glass. I quote like all three Qatsi scores but this one feels most satisfying as an album. There is a certain maturity to the writing this time around. Yo-Yo Ma's cello solos help to both provide human counterpoint to Glass' mechanical arpeggios and tie the whole score together into one satisfying whole. So while life might be at war, as the title suggests, there's a perfect balance to be found in the music. 

 

Karol

I’m more of a Mishima guy, but I love this one too! I re-listened to Glass’ Notes On A Scandal recently, which is incredibly over-dramatic but great fun, with a slithering long-lined main melody.

[Richard P 5,081]

I did listen to this last week, so technically fits in this topic, but the main reason to mention being to highlight that UMG have repackaged Gladiator again, presumably this time for the sequel's release. The first repackaging was for the 20th aniversary.

 

 

Of course, my firm hope is that with 2025 being the 25th anniversary and the new film coming out, and with someone in their music department clearly having a half hour spare to design a new cover, perhaps we're about to see a proper expansion.

[Naïve Old Fart 12,533]

Didn't it have two separate releases?

[crocodile 9,488]

The Fly and The Thing. Horror scores used to be something.

 

Karol