Passing Of Composers

[finalscore 10]

This is an issue that cannot be ignored.

As with all people, John Williams, John Barry, Ennio Morricone, Lalo Schifrin are advancing in years and are getting closer to Death's Door with every day.

The question is, with the passing of such notable composers in the past few years as Kamen, Bernstein, Goldsmith, et al, will their music become more popular or will they fade from the public's memory and just be a footnote as some of the cinema's earlier greats have become ala Korngold, Herrmann, A. Newman etc.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

People remember Mozart, no reason why they won't remember Schifrin.

[scissorhands 16]

People don't remember Salieri, no reason why they will remember Schifrin LOL

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Not one person I know offline can put the name Williams to any of his pieces. If I start whistling a Goldsmith piece even, they'll say "Star Wars!"

Sorry to be a pessimist, but these composers will only be remembered by geeks like us.

[Orson 1]

I am constantly amazed at the amount of people who have no idea who John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith are.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I've had more luck talking to people who know who Danny Elfman is, but they only know of him because of Oingo Boingo. They had no idea he even does film scores.

:roll:

[Lurker 5]

People don't remember Salieri, no reason why they will remember Schifrin LOL

What about that little theme he wrote for Mission: Impossible?

Neil

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

They'll just think it's by Moby.

[scissorhands 16]

We are talking about the autors, not the tunes. Of course "Star Wars" will be remembered in 100 years, but will John Williams? That's the point.

Korngold did gain popularity after his death, and is nowadays a very respected composer in the classical world. In my opinión Williams will have a very similar destiny. But these are just exceptions. I'm afraid most composers, as Drex's said, "will only be remembered by geeks like us".

[Orson 1]

I've had more luck talking to people who know who Danny Elfman is, but they only know of him because of Oingo Boingo.  They had no idea he even does film scores.

:roll:

I've had several of those conversations myself over the past few years.

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

Korngold did gain popularity after his death, and is nowadays a very respected composer in the classical world.

Respected, but still often neglected.

Marian - hoping to see Die tote Stadt this year.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

How is Herrmann regarded in the classical world, if at all.....

[A24 4,345]

How is Herrmann regarded in the classical world, if at all.....

With respect.

[Romão 2,274]

Most people can't name the composer of certain classical pieces, although they recognize the piece. No modern orchestral composer can claim that he is better known to general public, by name or by body of work, than John Williams.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

I've had more luck talking to people who know who Danny Elfman is, but they only know of him because of Oingo Boingo.  They had no idea he even does film scores.

:roll:

I've had several of those conversations myself over the past few years.

Maybe, but play any Oingo Boingo piece to 100 people and 2 will recognise it. Play the Simpsons theme and 99 people will recognise it. Frankly I don't give a crap about who will remember the name of John Williams. The fact is that his music will be remembered, and that's all that matters.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I've had several of those conversations with myself over the past few years.

I suggest a specialist.

[artyjeffrey 20]

Whether or not the masses will remember the names/works of film composers we hold in such high esteem now is not really something to worry about, since even now the masses do not know their names.

But there's one thing I know for certain. With all of the young members of this site as an indication, we the listeners may get old and die, and the composers themselves may pass away, but their music will always be picked up by "geeks" who recognize the core value present in these great works.

By the way, I don't mean to sound like a commercial, but there's this interesting book I'm reading, Knowing The Score, which consists of interviews with numerous score composers about the "blood sweat and tears" that goes into their work. No John Williams or Danny Elfman, but a lot of composers whose names are most certainly not known, often even to fans like us.

[Orson 1]

I've had several of those conversations with myself over the past few years.

I suggest a specialist.

That isn't what I wrote. Please don't edit my comments in order to post a "funny" response.

[Orson 1]

I've had more luck talking to people who know who Danny Elfman is, but they only know of him because of Oingo Boingo.  They had no idea he even does film scores.

:roll:

I've had several of those conversations myself over the past few years.

Maybe, but play any Oingo Boingo piece to 100 people and 2 will recognise it. Play the Simpsons theme and 99 people will recognise it. Frankly I don't give a crap about who will remember the name of John Williams. The fact is that his music will be remembered, and that's all that matters.

Oh I agree. It's just amusing to me the responses I have received. The look on their faces tells all....a look of, "he left rock/alternative music to do boring film music??"

I honestly don't care either way. For me I actually like that I am considered weird and strange by my peers for liking film scores as much as I do, because it's something rather unique.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

"Everyone was doing it, I just wanted to be popular."

Sorry, no need to take it personally.

[Orson 1]

I'm a little grumpy before my morning coffee.

[Sandor 797]

Well, here in Holland the most famous film composer in unquestionably Ennio Morricone. If, in a game show or whatever, a question would be: "Name a film composer", most people here would answer Morricone. In fact; I think Ennio Morricone is probably the best known film composer in the world.

However; in the US that honor definitely goes to John Williams. In Europe Williams is certainly the most famous composer besides Morricone. I remember on a radio-quiz a couple of months ago a question was: "Who was the composer of the music for Star Wars, Jurassic Park or E.T.". Now; these questions usually have a very simplistic character (the more people can answer them, the more people will call). The person who got to answer it said "Andrew Lloyd Webber" and then the host said: "No... John Williams! He is quite famous." That proved to me that Williams IS more recognized than we think.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Yeah, Morricone's probably best known here. But Williams makes a great second.

[A24 4,345]

I remember on a radio-quiz a couple of months ago a question was: "Who was the composer of the music for Star Wars, Jurassic Park or E.T.". Now; these questions usually have a very simplistic character (the more people can answer them, the more people will call). The person who got to answer it said "Andrew Lloyd Webber" and then the host said: "No... John Williams! He is quite famous." That proved to me that Williams IS more recognized than we think.

Really?

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Someone thought Andrew Lloyd Webber has the chops to write Star Wars??? Either they haven't listened to Star Wars, or they haven't listened to Andrew Lloyd Webber. I really hope for their sake it's the latter.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Probably just the only name they knew.

[scissorhands 16]

How is Herrmann regarded in the classical world, if at all.....

With respect.

Unfortunately his brilliant symphony (one of my favorites) scarcely gets to be played. And his opera "Wuthering Heights" has NEVER been performed (only recorded).

scissorhands - who would also like to see Korngold's "Wunder Der Heliane", a less known opera, live.

[TIEfighter 0]

In fact; I think Ennio Morricone is probably the best known film composer in the world.

Well, I don´t think so, my experience tells me that Williams is, by far, the best-known film composer in Austria, Switzerland and also Germany...no idea how the rest of the world thinks about it, however...

[King Mark 3,631]

Williams is not allowed to die.

K.

...M.

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

Well, I don´t think so, my experience tells me that Williams is, by far, the best-known film composer in Austria, Switzerland and also Germany...no idea how the rest of the world thinks about it, however...

Compare the number of Williams compilations and the number of Morricone compilations at your record store of choice. You're likely to find one or two (if any) Williams compilations but possibly an entire section devoted to nothing but various Morricone compilations.

Apparently, Morricone is pretty much the biggest film composer name among the general audience.

Marian - who assumes people would recognise more far more John Williams movies by their themes though.

[Romão 2,274]

A few years ago, a newspaper included a movie magazine that had a main article dedicated to the great Director/Composer relationships. Can you believe they didn't include Spielberg/Williams?

Sometimes the snobism towards american, or hollywood film music is just to much.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

I wonder if they also didn't include Burton/Elfman. If so it might have been a more retrospective article looking back on great partnerships of the past. In which case they should have made that clear. Spielberg/Williams is certainly one of the most important director/composer relationships in movie history.

[Romão 2,274]

The ones I remember:

- Danny Elfman/Burton (you must realise, it's kinda arty-fancy around here to like Elfman and Burton: it's cooler to like Elfman than Williams and the same with Burton and Spielberg, if you get my drift).

- Morricone/Leone

- Hitchcock/Herrmann

- Jeunet/Tiersen :roll:

- Lynch/Badalamenti

Plus a bunch of Asian guys (it probably had that composer that looks like Ghandi, I wasn't familiar with him back then).