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Do you consider the score to War Horse a masterpiece?


Bellosh

Do you consider the score to War Horse a masterpiece?  

55 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you consider the War Horse score a Masterpiece?



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It is probably my favorite post-2005 Williams score, though for me it has some very strong competition from Lincoln - they both do a lot for me.  I do consider War Horse to be masterpiece level from Williams, and I think it is one of his greatest original soundtrack albums as well.  It's so well arranged and tells a complete story on its own.  In that sense I feel like the score is practically a tone poem and works as a self contained piece of programmatic music.

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It’s certainly a masterpiece, even if it doesn’t reach the heights of what many consider ‘the true John Williams’ classics’.

 

I find War Horse so well infused with melody and themes, all of which get a moment to shine in The Homecoming, one of Williams’ finest suites.

 

It’s a top 15 score for me and my favorite since the first Harry Potter.

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31 minutes ago, Kasey Kockroach said:

As far as horse music goes, Danny Elfman and John Scott did them better.

Nah, in terms of pure horse music, the race section from the Reivers concert suite reigns supreme. 

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9 hours ago, Joe Brausam said:

It is probably my favorite post-2005 Williams score, though for me it has some very strong competition from Lincoln - they both do a lot for me.  I do consider War Horse to be masterpiece level from Williams, and I think it is one of his greatest original soundtrack albums as well.  It's so well arranged and tells a complete story on its own.  In that sense I feel like the score is practically a tone poem and works as a self contained piece of programmatic music.

 

Damn, yeah, Lincoln gives it a run for its money. I forgot about that. But yes, it's a very satisfying album! My only frustration is a compositional one - I don't like the very last chord of the film before the credits. Or at least, I don't like the way it gets there. Feels like the trumpet melody should have dropped back down to the root or something. Otherwise, quite a stellar score!

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5 hours ago, Tom said:

Nah, in terms of pure horse music, the race section from the Reivers concert suite reigns supreme. 

 

That music is outstanding! Maybe my second favorite horse music.

 

I think the best horse music in film history is by Victor Young.

 

 

Maybe we need a best horse music thread! So many great examples in classic Hollywood scores.

 

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Much of the music in the first half of the score sounds too busy and rushed for me, including some big thematic statements. The opening track is especially busy and seemingly well outpaces the on screen action. However, the last 3rd or so of the OST is fantastic. Reunion and Remembering... are two of my favorite modern JW tracks.

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it's awesome but not a masterpiece

On 5/30/2019 at 2:04 PM, Jay said:

 

The OST is superbly arranged, too!

 

 

the FYC is good too and has the harness cue

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17 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said:

 

That music is outstanding! Maybe my second favorite horse music.

 

I think the best horse music in film history is by Victor Young.

 

 

Maybe we need a best horse music thread! So many great examples in classic Hollywood scores.

 

I just listened to this--very nice.  At first, it sounds as if it is going to be a William Tell-type piece, but it quickly goes into its own delightful direction. 

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2 hours ago, Tom said:

I just listened to this--very nice.  At first, it sounds as if it is going to be a William Tell-type piece, but it quickly goes into its own delightful direction. 

 

 

The scene is amazing too!

 

 

One of the most exciting action scenes ever. John Ford was a master and he outdid himself in this great masterpiece of a movie.

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5 hours ago, publicist said:

What tragic waste that Carmine Coppola score to the first Black Staliion movie is.

 

Say what?!? It's arguably Coppola's best score.

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Parts of the serenely designed underscore are just too cloying and twee for me to really get along with. It's like the music is saying, listen to how quintessentially English countryside I sound. As such, it distracted from my viewing to a noticeable degree.

 

It's a mostly "fine" score, but certainly not a masterpiece, regardless even of those gripes I have with it.

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24 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I think he meant the film is bad.

 

Ah, I see. Never seen it; but a colleague of mine absolutely loves it.

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Is War Horse a masterpiece?

 

in my opinion, no.

 

But maybe it has layers that I’ve yet to pick up on, in spite of owning both the OST and the FYC. Maybe the compositions are complex beyond my comprehension. I remember obsessing about it upon its release, but it’s kind of been put further and further down in my playlists.

 

I mean this in no way to disrespect JW’s talent. I am the most avid JWfan! But how many masterpieces can a man produce during a lifetime? No matter how good I think War Horse is, I think the top spots in JWs output belongs to Jaws, CE3K and Schindler’s List.

 

I’d be more interested to hear those who think that War Horse is a masterpiece talk about why they think so - what cues connect? What subtleties lies beneath the obvious notes? - and learn something new, rather than a thread full of “yes” and “no” (such as my own).

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9 hours ago, Thor said:

 

Say what?!? It's arguably Coppola's best score.

 

It's awful, like most of what Coppola senior produced. Nepotism at its worst!

3 hours ago, rough cut said:

I’d be more interested to hear those who think that War Horse is a masterpiece talk about why they think so - what cues connect? What subtleties lies beneath the obvious notes? - and learn something new, rather than a thread full of “yes” and “no” (such as my own).

 

It sounds like an old-fashioned Hollywood score, that usually does the trick here.

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2 hours ago, publicist said:

 

It's awful, like most of what Coppola senior produced. Nepotism at its worst!

 

:blink:

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Even with Walker's help in the whole 'fill out all the voicings of my single line sketch' it sounds amateurishly conceived, especially with the talent available in 1979. The theme is agreeably gooey in a John Barry-sort of way but doesn't fit the movie - which is really good and deserved much better (at least the sequel got a much better score).

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