Movie score being the music written to accompany the movie, not the imported material from recordings, pop or otherwise. That would fall under "soundtracks".
My favorites: [[in order, favorite first)
1. Star Wars- John Williams- great thematic composer who draws from late 19th century and early 20th century classical music. All of the themes are memorable from the movie, and probably would have a much lesser impact with an inferior composer. As a kid, wore out the grooves on two sets of LPs
2. Psycho- Bernard Herrmann- Most often associated with Alfred Hitchcock, his score was an unconventional orchestration of entirely strings. He somehow pulled it off.
3. Cinema Paradiso- Ennio Morricone- perfect score for one of the most under-the-radar classics.
I'd love to hear input from others. What are your 3 favorite scores?
3. James Bond Theme [[multiple films) - Monty Barry
September-07-10, 08:57 AM
56packman
"The Adventures of Robin Hood" Erich Wolfgang Korngold-- this is what movie music is all about, pure leitmotif school writing, from a master of the craft.
"The Best Years of Our Lives" Hugo Friedhofer, an unsung genious of the craft, he was orchestrator for many other great film composers but was a fine compser in his own right, and this score illustrates this perfectly.
"The Magnificent Seven" Elmer Bernstein--the right score behind the right film. Bernstein and Jerry Goldsmith always impressed me with their versitility--they could write avant garde jazz for an urban drama, something spare and simple for a country setting, post-modern 12 tone work for the right project and 19th century big if needed. They were both hard to classify because they were always different, always in perfect support to the film.
It's unfair to just pick three, I could pick 10, easily.
September-07-10, 09:05 AM
gnome
carl, only three is difficult, but the notion that a movie score should evoke the emotional themes carried through the film, I'd submit these three:
Once Upon A Time In the West by Morricone - the haunting sound of the harmonica weaves its way throughout the film and is as mysterious as is the motivation behind Charles Bronson's revenge against the men who killed his father. Here is the end of the film that explains the entire film.
Casablanca by Max Stiener. While the song As Time Goes By was written by another writer, and Stiener wanted to change the song with something of his own creation, he relented when Ingrig Bergman wasn't availble for a re-shoot. He then used As Time Goes By as a leitmotif and wove the song throughout the film. The emotional relationship btwn Ilsa and Rick is the straw that stirs the drink of Casablanca, no song, no film.
Another Stiener film [[among hundreds like Red River, Gone With the Wind) is High Noon. Again he was tasked with taking a popular tune and expanding it into a guiding themematic emotional thread. The relentless leitmotif finds its way in almost every scene.
September-07-10, 09:14 AM
Detroit Stylin
Yeah I do have to give it to the Bond films....
September-07-10, 09:26 AM
TKshreve
Definitely the Godfather I and II movies. Incredible music scored by Nino Rota.
I think Pulp Fiction was pretty popular for its soundtrack. Just wiki'd it and yes, it is pretty good.
I always liked the music overtones in Once Upon a Time in America with James Woods. Great string music to add incredible emotion to the movie.
And as my fourth pick [[:D)
Just about any older movie. Great American Songbook music can be found in lots and lots of older movies. Kinda pre 60's era movies like Casablanca as mentioned above.
September-07-10, 11:35 AM
Ray1936
Well, gosh, you can't overlook "The Wizard of Oz". All the music was just perfect, and is there any ballad more beautiful than "Over the Rainbow"?
September-07-10, 12:10 PM
Meddle
West Side Story
FM
Cooley High
September-07-10, 12:21 PM
56packman
We're talking scores here, not soundtracks. a score is music that is written to accompany the action on screen and to heighten the effect of the scene. Using a string of pre-recorded and known songs under a scene is also effective, but that's not what we are discussing at the moment. "Easy Rider" was an early example of a [[then) contemporary soundtrack, and it fit the film beautifully.
September-07-10, 12:46 PM
maxx
"Lawrence of Arabia"
September-07-10, 01:09 PM
gnome
agreed. the soundtrack to Something Wild might be great, in fact I have it in my collection, but it isn't a score.
I do like collecting soundtracks because they encapsulate the emotional themes within a film. The Big Chill is a fantastic soundtrack, a masterful collection of significant songs, but it isn't a score. Other great soundtracks incude Apocalipse Now, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Diner, among others.
The guy who does a ton of scoring today is named Hans Zimmer. A german guy, lives in up-state New York and has done some very good work. Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Rainman...
btw, he was also one of the band members who created the one-hit "Video Killed the Radio Star"
September-07-10, 01:50 PM
Johnlodge
WORST SCORE EVER: The garbage synth 80s nonsense of Scarface. I suppose one could argue it places the film in a specific time, being the crappy music is so dated and totally unlistenable today due to the shitty fad instruments, or lack thereof, in the compositions. If my point is not coming through, I think the Scarface score sucks big-time.
September-07-10, 02:08 PM
EastSider
"Anatomy of a Murder" by Duke Ellington.
September-07-10, 05:51 PM
douglasm
"Young Frankenstein". John Morris worte a terrific score that is both comedic and ironic.
56packman beat me to Eric Korngold, but he didn't mention my favorite Korngold score, the one he wrote for "The Sea Hawk".
And I don't know if you'd call it a soundtrack per se, but Walter Carlos work on "Clockwork Orange" is very good.
September-07-10, 06:01 PM
Jimaz
Here are two more from Ennio Morricone. The first of each pair features the music, the second the film.
