Sharkissimo 1,973 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 In particular I'm talking about his trademark bluesy, modal sound. Lots of #11ths and #9ths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,232 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 I'd credit his early involvement in theater, and his eclectic musical taste. A very natural fusion of the classical idiom with various pop ones, similar to Williams and jazz.He's one of the most original composers that I'm aware of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkissimo 1,973 Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 Bah, I was hoping for names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,232 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Well, I can't remember where, but I've heard/seen him talk about Feldman, Ives, Berg, and Radiohead.If you turn up any more information on this, be sure to post it here. I'd like to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hlao-roo 389 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/music/it-got-dark-lapa-commission-world-premiere-thomas-newmanNewman studied composition and orchestration at USC with Frederick Lesemann and noted film composer David Raksin, and privately with composer George Tremblay. He completed his academic work at Yale University, studying with Jacob Druckman, Bruce MacCombie, and Robert Moore. Newman also gratefully acknowledges the early influence of the legendary Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, who served as a great mentor and champion.http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/interviews/scoring-mr-banks-composers-life-hollywoodWhat music do you enjoy listening to? Popular records, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Steeleye Span, Eels, or Charles Ives, Morton Feldman. Any number of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,232 Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Interesting - a Youtube search for Frederick Lesemann turns up this brief excerpt from his violin concerto... and not much else. I'm not familiar with Tremblay or Moore either but can't find anything of theirs. To my ears, it seems like MacCombie, Druckman, (both of whom I quite like) and Sondheim were the most influential on Newman. But I'm pretty wary of trying to trace influences either for myself or anyone else.That said I can hear some proto-Newman in here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkissimo 1,973 Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 Check out A Concord Symphony - Henry Brant's (Alex North's orchestrator) arrangment of Ives's Concord Sonata. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,232 Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 This is boss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkissimo 1,973 Posted September 14, 2014 Author Share Posted September 14, 2014 http://symposium.music.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=9151:white-picket-harmonies-aaron-copland%E2%80%99s-influence-on-thomas-newman%E2%80%99s-suburban-scoring&Itemid=126 Anyone have this paper? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkissimo 1,973 Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 @19:37 @1:00Anyone else hear the similarity? publicist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBard 71 Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 http://symposium.music.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=9151:white-picket-harmonies-aaron-copland%E2%80%99s-influence-on-thomas-newman%E2%80%99s-suburban-scoring&Itemid=126Anyone have this paper?Sorry. Couldn't find it (though my university does have some of Bushard's other papers published with full text online).But let me know if this link works:http://search.alexanderstreet.com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/view/work/375431#page/1/mode/2upIt's the full score for Quiet City by Aaron Copland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,232 Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 On 5/29/2015 at 11:21 PM, Sharky said: @19:37 @1:00 Anyone else hear the similarity? Absolutely. The ever underappreciated Koechlin...only the inner circle knows about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHouseholdCat 4 Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Thomas keeps bringing up Bernard Herrmann in interviews. He has also mentioned John Williams in the past. A very important direct musical influence would be Rick Cox who has worked with Thomas since the 1980s. He worked on the electronics for The Rapture, he played saxophone on The Player, he provided lots of experimental guitar for Road To Perdition and played the banjo ukulele on American Beauty, just to name a few examples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,384 Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 I'm thinking American folk music and Americana, especially of the more 'gritty' and 'earthly' kind (not necessarily the Copland kind, even though he occasionally taps into that too). Naïve Old Fart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkissimo 1,973 Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share Posted August 17, 2015 A very important direct musical influence would be Rick Cox who has worked with Thomas since the 1980s. He worked on the electronics for The Rapture, he played saxophone on The Player, he provided lots of experimental guitar for Road To Perdition and played the banjo ukulele on American Beauty, just to name a few examples. Thanks for that. I meant composers or specific pieces, but you're right - the tight 'band' that Tom works with influences his sound a great deal. A really like the free-form approach to precomposition, It's something Zimmer has picked up on in recent scores.I'm thinking American folk music and Americana, especially of the more 'gritty' and 'earthly' kind (not necessarily the Copland kind, even though he occasionally taps into that too).I think so too, though as a Brit I'm not really with American folk music. Are we talking Appalachian or great plains folk?I'd really like to know where Newman gets what I dub his 'stoic sound' from (a la your fascination with Williams's 'religious sound'). The second half of The Shawshank Redemption from The Shawshank Redemption is the classic example in his canon. Basically an ostinato or ground bass figure (usually based around rising fourths or fifths), a repetitive chord sequence featuring tertian or quintal triads or tetrads, above which forms a melodic line and/or counterline employing dissonances such as bluesy #11ths or #9th over consonances below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanarik 0 Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 It might help: Finding Newman: The Compositional Process and Musical Style of Thomas Newman https://issuu.com/schoenbergmusic/docs/adam_schoenberg-final_document-_tho_a6d935b1434370 Tokyo 77 an ensemble founded by Thomas Newman, Rick Cox, George Budd, Chas Smith https://open.spotify.com/album/76sQa7vJ3IneVEAPH5qGp5?si=5xkE6CaPQbGb-vg1FGzSYg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,443 Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 On 8/17/2015 at 6:38 PM, Thor said: I'm thinking American folk music and Americana, especially of the more 'gritty' and 'earthly' kind (not necessarily the Copland kind, even though he occasionally taps into that too). Yeah. Absolutely, @Thor. Aside from Copland, he makes the most "American" music, that I've ever heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules 59 Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 This is the most interesting thread I've seen in ages. Endless love for Newman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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