What was your first encounter with Jerry Goldsmith?

[Richard Penna 3,694]

My first encounter was back in the early 00s, back when I would scour the internet for 'main title' music and similar and would come across scores that were in general circulation at the time, hence having come out within the last few years.

 

I have an exact snapshot of my score collection from January 2003 and I have no way to know which of these was my first Goldsmith track, but it was either The 13th Warrior, The Mummy or The Edge. Specifically Fire Dragon and the end credits suite from the former, half a dozen tracks from Mummy, and Lost in the Wild from the latter. I know I had AF1 too, but evidently not yet because it's not here!

 

In the first two cases I have the end credit suites which indicates where my general lack of hostility to edited credit suites comes from. I think if you're just starting out in scores and you're looking for tracks that represent lots of ideas, a bit of dodgy editing here and there is not forefront of your mind. (and I think that nowadays that extends to basically anyone outside our communities).

 

I also got the 40 Years of.. box at some point as an attempt to get into his music more, although with only partial success. I basically kept a bunch of interesting tracks but wasn't (and still am not) bothered about expanding on those with the original soundtracks. His music doesn't often work for me in full form outside of my favourites.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

Quote

What was your first encounter with Jerry Goldsmith?

 

Isn't this a bit too private to ask about? 

 

 

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,544]

Eejit.

[Badzeee 110]

On 13/3/2024 at 8:35 PM, Bayesian said:

... 

 

Goldsmith is a tricky one for me. I know he was super talented and I very much respect that. But overall, his music leaves me weirdly indifferent, or even antagonized at times. It's like I can appreciate at arm's length his proficiency but with relatively few exceptions, his melodies and thematic development don't click with me and his scores don't linger in my mind. In some cases, like Air Force One, his music just gets really grating on the ear. And I've tried to like him, believe me, ever since joining this forum, where lots of folks are deeply fond of his oeuvre.

 

 

I have a certain sympathy with this... where they definitely don't antagonise me, Goldsmith's scores rarely move me in quite the same deeply emotional way as, say, a John Williams, a John Barry, a Joe Hisaishi or an Ennio Morricone might. There are exceptions (Star Trek V, The Mountain being one, the Voyager theme another), but I think he's fantastic at action scores or terrifying you (The Omen and ALIEN being good examples). Which is when I figured it out - fear is not simply an emotion, it's a fight-or-flight response and this is what I think Goldsmith is extremely good at - subtextual scoring. 

 

I'm not a musician myself (although most of my family are) but I love music and work to it most of the time. And what I've found is, a lot of Goldsmith stuff is often about the mental state of the characters onscreen, whereas all the others mentioned have a slightly different approach - less focused, more "widescreen," if you like. Williams is the uber-storyteller, matchless in deciding what approach to employ, whether thematic, emotional, action-led, whatever, to any given scene; he can use music to "zoom" you in or out of an emotional state.

 

Barry was often romantic. Arguably, he invented modern action music with his Bond scores, but he could never quite resist the emotional undertow of a scene, especially if there was a romantic, yearning quality to it. Both Hisaishi and Morricone are epic, vast, absolutely unrepentant in using orchestral colour to illustrate even small human emotions. (And I love that about them.)

 

Goldsmith, when he went epic, he'd do The Omen or his various Star Trek themes. They're huge, brilliant, but even when he's doing an action or military theme, there's always something incredibly centred and intense about the notes and instruments he chooses. He's more of an interpreter than the others (as opposed to an emotional accompanist). When he does scary or paranoid, he does it better than almost anyone - like in Seconds or Total Recall. 

 

I dunno, I'm not using music terminology, just attempting to describe my impressions so I might not be making a lot of sense. But I too find him stylistically very different to all his contemporaries and peers... but maybe understanding the interpretive intensity that drives his scores is a way in. It certainly worked for me. 

[Bayesian 1,363]

17 minutes ago, Badzeee said:

 

I have a certain sympathy with this... where they definitely don't antagonise me, Goldsmith's scores rarely move me in quite the same deeply emotional way as, say, a John Williams, a John Barry, a Joe Hisaishi or an Ennio Morricone might. There are exceptions (Star Trek V, The Mountain being one, the Voyager theme another), but I think he's fantastic at action scores or terrifying you (The Omen and ALIEN being good examples). Which is when I figured it out - fear is not simply an emotion, it's a fight-or-flight response and this is what I think Goldsmith is extremely good at - subtextual scoring. 

 

I'm not a musician myself (although most of my family are) but I love music and work to it most of the time. And what I've found is, a lot of Goldsmith stuff is often about the mental state of the characters onscreen, whereas all the others mentioned have a slightly different approach - less focused, more "widescreen," if you like. Williams is the uber-storyteller, matchless in deciding what approach to employ, whether thematic, emotional, action-led, whatever, to any given scene; he can use music to "zoom" you in or out of an emotional state.

 

Barry was often romantic. Arguably, he invented modern action music with his Bond scores, but he could never quite resist the emotional undertow of a scene, especially if there was a romantic, yearning quality to it. Both Hisaishi and Morricone are epic, vast, absolutely unrepentant in using orchestral colour to illustrate even small human emotions. (And I love that about them.)

 

Goldsmith, when he went epic, he'd do The Omen or his various Star Trek themes. They're huge, brilliant, but even when he's doing an action or military theme, there's always something incredibly centred and intense about the notes and instruments he chooses. He's more of an interpreter than the others (as opposed to an emotional accompanist). When he does scary or paranoid, he does it better than almost anyone - like in Seconds or Total Recall. 

 

I dunno, I'm not using music terminology, just attempting to describe my impressions so I might not be making a lot of sense. But I too find him stylistically very different to all his contemporaries and peers... but maybe understanding the interpretive intensity that drives his scores is a way in. It certainly worked for me. 

That's a really thoughtful way of describing how Goldsmith finally clicked with you. I appreciated reading it. Maybe I can find my own way in based on this.. 

[Badzeee 110]

4 minutes ago, Bayesian said:

That's a really thoughtful way of describing how Goldsmith finally clicked with you. I appreciated reading it. Maybe I can find my own way in based on this.. 

 

My pleasure, and thanks.  I hope you do.