Favorite movie composer?? (1 Viewer)

[DaveJJ]

Did anybody mention Randy Newman!
DaveJJ Have Fun Guys!

 

[Martin G]

As far as recent movies go John Williams, however Prokifiev's work on Lt Kiji and Alexander Nevsky is by far superior to anything else that has even been done in film music.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Bernard Herrmann

Maurice Jarre

John Williams

Carl Stalling

Favorite scores:

Citizen Kane

North By Northwest

Lawrence of Arabia

Any of the 1936-1950's Stalling music for the WB cartoons.

Superman: The Movie

 

[Tom Rhea]

Carter Burwell, Fargo, whatever that piece that plays over the opening is called.

 

[Anthony_D]

Jerry Goldsmith

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I also forgot Maurice Jarre and his composition for Lawrence of Arabia

And Doctor Zhivago. And The Man Who Would Be King. And The Year of Living Dangerously.

Actually Jarre is in a three way tie with Bernard Herrmann and John Williams. Although Prokofiev's score for Alexander Nevsky is right at the top, he really isn't a 'film composer' as such. He was TOLD to work with Eisenstein by Stalin. Stalin 'made him an offer he couldn't refuse' as it were.... :p)

 

[Agee Bassett]

Yes, but Stalin "ordered" him to compose enough film scores to accrue a respectable enough oeuvre as a film composer:
Lieutenant Kije (1933)
The Queen of Spades (1936)
Alexander Nevsky (1938)
Lermontov (1941)
Kotovsky (1942)
The Partisans in the Ukrainian Steppes (1942)
Tonya (1942)
Ivan the Terrible (1942-44)

 

[Douglas R]

No one will ever be as good as Miklos Rozsa for such scores as:

Ben-Hur

El Cid

King of Kings

Double Indemnity

Diane

Ivanhoe

Spellbound

Lust for Life

Quo Vadis

and countless others.

 

[Alan K]

Music is something I feel very strongly about (I hold a BA in it). The weakest part of the motion picture industry is the music side to it. I know I'm asking for it, but-John Williams is a hack! Anybody with two or three years of good music theory could compose that stuff. I mean, how many modulations to the dominant can you cram into a piece? (Please don't flame me! I just had to get that off my chest.)

My favorites are mostly by those not considered to be film composers, and I know I'm not naming specific pieces but oh well. . .

I second Prokofiev and all his works

Ligeti and his work on Eyes Wide Shut

The Dickies for Killer Klowns from Outer Space *guilty pleasure*

Tan Dun-Crouching Tiger

Honorable mention-

Anton Webern-never wrote music for film, but is one of the most influential composers of the twentieth century. He took concepts taught by Schoenberg and took them to the limits, concepts unheard of before then, but regularly used now because of Webern.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

I'll also go with John Williams.

His score for Sugarland Express is the most beautifuly haunting soundtrack I have ever heard. (Plus is got Toots Thelman on Harmonica)

I also loved his understated score for Accidental Tourist.

 

[Matthew_S]

John Williams for Born on the Fourth of July

 

[Steve Enemark]

Music is something I feel very strongly about (I hold a BA in it). The weakest part of the motion picture industry is the music side to it. I know I'm asking for it, but-John Williams is a hack! Anybody with two or three years of good music theory could compose that stuff.

Would you include yourself, as having two or three years of good music theory? Having a BA in music and all, I mean. If so, I'd sure like to hear your compositions that rival Williams'.
For the record, Bernard Hermann is the best film composer, but I like a lot of John Williams' stuff too.

 

[Alan K]

I'm afraid I'll have to revise my statement. It also requires a good amount of concentration and diligence. Every time I set out to write a piece of music I get bored and the end turns out identical to "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean". It turns out a bottle of Becks and The Simpsons is more powerful than my creative drive.

(I wasn't a composition or even a performance major. I concentrated on engineering/ recording, although I did take three years of theory and eartraining.)

I may have overstated myself in my previous post. I meant that Williams writing style uses techinques taught in second year theory, mostly pretty basic stuff perfected in the classical period. He has a talent of writing a hook and uses it well, and that's not a bad thing. It's just not stuff I like to listen to.

 

[BruZZi]

JERRY GOLDSMITH is My Favorite:
Jerry Goldsmith -- Startrek -- Tv/Movie Themes
Jerry Goldsmith -- Forever Young -- Reunited
Jerry Goldsmith -- Powder -- Soundtrack
Jerry Goldsmith -- First Blood -- It's a Long Road
Many More
Others:
John Barry -- Somewhere in Time -- "The Best of All"
James Horner -- Braveheart -- Secret Wedding [ Wonderful!!! ]
James Horner -- Braveheart -- For The Love of Princess [ Wonderful!!! ]
Alan Silvestri -- Abyss -- Soundtrack
Alan Silvestri -- Forrest Gump -- Suite From Forrest Gump
Thomas Newman -- Shawshank Redemption -- Soundtrack
Max Steiner -- Gone With The Wind -- Main Title
Max Steiner -- Gone With The Wind -- Tara's Theme
Ennio Morricone -- Once Upon a Time in The West -- Main Title and Finale
Malcolm Arnold -- Bridge on The River Kwai -- River Kwai March
Kitaro -- Heaven & Earth -- Sountrack

 

[Richard Travale]

I would have to say either John Williams or Ennio Morricone

 

[Parker Clack]

Alan:

Ok. Answer me this question so I can tell my wife if it is true or not. She constantly states that John Williams just rips off other composers. In particular she says that he took a lot of what he used in Star Wars from Holst. The Planets. In particular Mars from that suite.

Did you know if this is true or not? I say he didn't.

For the record I believe he one of the best film composers out there. His works make a movie. You not only come away from a film he is a part of remembering the film but also the sound score.

Parker

 

[Justin Doring]

Glauco BRuZZi: Actually, Kenneth J. Alford composed the "Colonel Bogey March" while Arnold composed the score. Personally, I think Arnold is one of the greatest composers of the second half of this century. His Dances and Overtures are infectious, and his film scores are superb. His symphonies are excellent as well.

Parker Clark: John Williams was influenced by a number of composers in Star Wars, namely Holst's The Planets and Korngold's Kings Row (the Main Title to Star Wars is basically a re-working of the Korngold piece). Williams, unlike some composers (read: HORNER!!!!), freely admits his influences. He's a great film composer with class, although I personally think Jerry Goldsmith and Elmer Bernstein, among others, are more inventive.

 

[Paul_D]

Out of Sight, David Holmes
Fight Club, The Dust Brothers
Amelie, Yann Tiersen
The Thin Red Line, Hans Zimmer
Nights of Cabiria, 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, Nino Rota
The Straight Story, Angelo Badalamenti
Vertigo, Taxi Driver, Cape Fear, North By Northwest, Bernard Herrmann
The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Danny Elfman
The Virgin Suicides, Air
Blade Runner, Vangelis
The Insider, Lisa Gerrard
The Patriot, Witches of Eastwick, Born on the 4th of July, John Williams

 

[BruZZi]

Glauco BRuZZi: Actually, Kenneth J. Alford composed the "Colonel Bogey March" while Arnold composed the score.

Oopss!!!! :b

Man, I love that march.

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

Clint Mansell (Pi, Requiem for a Dream)
Goblin (Phenomena, Deep Red, Tenebre, and Suspiria)
John Williams
Jerry Goldsmith
Bernard Hermann