I asked my wife about this instantly recognizable film title melody this evening and she immediately came up with North by North West. I said yes - but for God's sake, you can't sing it. She said no, but she could hear in her head. I gave up. Naturally, one of the most instantly recognizable film titles anytime is of course The Pink Panther by Henry Mancini. The first bar - and it's instant. What is great about that piece is the way it's orchestrated. It is such a distinctive sound - Fantastic! The Odd Couple is another - which for some crazy reason I always thought was by Mancini. Keeping the British flag flying I always thought You Only Live Twice by John Barry and surprisingly brilliantly sung by Nancy Sinatra was a great one. The strings in that are tremendously good and sooooo 60's romantic. Other greats and instantly known would naturally include The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Ennio Morricone.
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Personally I think that the Darth Vader theme by John Williams is one of the best character themes. What is amazing is that everyone can hum it, yet it is actually quite chromatic. It has a simple rhythm, and so sounds simple. Somehow John Williams turned a chromatic scale into such a hummable melody to go with the rhythm.
Another great John Williams theme would be Across the Stars from episode 2 of the prequels. No matter what you think of the movie, that is one great melody.
By the way, William, I don't know if you are aware of this or not, but the march you refer to in the end of the first Star Wars (commonly called the 'Force Theme' among John Williams fans) is actually probably the most used theme in all of Star Wars. You might be surprised to find out how much it underscores. Even in the prequels, which do not reprise all the themes at all, it is there very strongly. On every episode it has a very strong position.
Now, so that I don't appear to be too much of a John Williams fan (which I am not) or a Star Wars fan (which I am not) or a Star Wars music fan (which I might be), I will give my non-Star Wars theme: Gods and Generals theme by John Frizzell. It is really not complicated orchestrally or compositionally (I don't think), yet it perfectly sums up the feeling of the movie (or perhaps how the movie should have been). Even if you didn't like Gods and Generals, it is very worth getting the soundtrack, if only for that track.
Colin Thomson
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Colin, yes, John Williams used the theme of the Jedi as a leitmotif throughout all those scores. However I meant that it finds its fullest expression as a real piece of music and a complete little march melody in that "awards ceremony" or whatever at the end of the first movie.
Mancini - of course Paul! Great suggestion.
I notice how often John Barry comes up when melodies are mentioned. Though he can't match John Williams for pure "efficiency" at film scoring (can anyone?) nevertheless I tend to agree with Dave that Williams does not quite match Goldsmith or John Barry in the invention of melodies. Though they are all great composers, of course. It is more that Williams has a focus on overall, "symphonic" scoring, which favors motival construction, whereas Barry uses long, highly developed melodies. Though Goldsmith could do either. Come to think of it, Goldsmith could do anything. He seems limitless as a composer, though he worked strictly in film music.
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@dpcon said:
No question John Williams has written some great themes. Even so I don't know if he would be called a great melodist in the traditional sense. Schindler is indeed a wonderful heart rending melody but if you think about he doesn't have a lot of those. It's not a knock cause the man is just great. I think he's a great thematic writer is my point.i agree. although i approach music from much more of an emotional perspective rather than traditional "classical" sense. Therefore, i am much more drawn into those thematic soundtracks, especially ones of a heart rending nature. Sure, anything from Star Wars may be written with much more intricacy and fascinating depth than the simpler ones... but like i said, i'll take feeling over fanciness anyday.
Personally, i think the soundtrack to Artificial Intelligence is just flat out amazing. (well, most of it). There's a definite theme that runs throughout it which, for me, finds a perfect balance between classical beauty and modern composition. It is very delicate and melodic in places, yet still manages to get that grandiose drive in the right places. But overall i love the simple piano theme ("The Reunion," "Where dreams are Born," etc.)
Im just a sucker for the heart-tugging stuff.
and on a completely unrelated, non-orchestral note, the soundtrack to 21 Grams also fits this "theme" theme.... beautiful pieces reprised throughout the film. Although this one is very modern and sparse... but hey... i like what i like.
>michael
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These are very interesting posts on this topic. So I would state that, no matter what specific scores you want to mention, the greatest film melody composers are:
1 John Barry
2 John Williams
3 Erich Korngold
4 Jerry Goldsmith
5 - ?????????
I know the first 4, but after that it gets more questionable. Those first 4 guys are probably inarguable though.
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William, why do you rate 'Somewhere in Time' as Barry's best? Having just listened to it again, I'd rate his '007', 'Out of Africa' and 'We have all the time in the world' as better. This isn't a criticism, by the way; I'm interested to find out what you're listening for in his music. Personally, I'm a texture and complexity fiend; I like it when the composer can include interesting countermelodies, cross-rhythms and other stuff going on under a good tune, but getting the balance right between surface and support is critical. I think that's what makes things like 'Magnificent Seven' work so well.
I'm also a sucker for good use of strings, which is why I think every composer ought to be able to explain just what's going on in the opening 40 bars or so of Tchaikovsky's 'Serenade for Strings' -- it's an object lesson in compelling string writing.
Meanwhile, let me throw in 'Let the River Run' from 'Working Girl', which I think is just a fantastic tune; I said to my wife recently, while we listened to it in the car, that if I could write a song half as good, I'd be happy.
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@bluejay said:
Wasn't Star Trek: First Contact's main theme written by Joel Goldsmith? I know Jerry is credited with the score but Joel's name is given on the soundtrack album for that particular track.
As far as I know, Joel took on the job of doing some of the Borg music, into which the main titles music segues. So, on my copy of the soundtrack album, track 1 is listed as "Main titles/Locutus", with a little dagger after 'Main titles', and an asterisk after 'Locutus'; the dagger means 'Includes theme from 'Star Trek' by Alexander Courage', and asterisk means 'composed by Joel Goldsmith'. I interpret this to mean only 'Locutus' was Joel's work, and this is consistent with the asterisking of the other Borg tracks on the album.
Ah, sorry about. I stand corrected.
It is a beautiful melody and I'm listening to it a lot at the moment. In fact I really love the lush production on this, the brass sounds fantastic. This is my current reference track for Altiverb settings.
In terms of melodies I would say that John Williams' Across The Stars is wonderful. Very simple idea but it really works so well. I heard the Royal Philharmonic play this in Leicester Square a couple of years back and it is a very moving piece.
PS. Hmm ... aren't the opening 6 notes of the First Contact melody exactly the same as The BlackAdder theme tune? Maybe only Brits would spot this?
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@bluejay said:
PS. Hmm ... aren't the opening 6 notes of the First Contact melody exactly the same as The BlackAdder theme tune? Maybe only Brits would spot this?
They do seem similar, but the first six notes don't complete the phrase, and it's phrases that I consider to be distinctive in a piece of music, rather than chunks of notes. Plus, although I'm only relying on memory, I think Howard Goodall's harmonization of those opening notes is different from Jerry's as well, which tends to increase the distinction between the two pieces.
Still, Baldrick on the Enterprise, there's a thought: he'd probably be responsible for removing dilithium carbonate deposits from the warp coils with his few remaining teeth.
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He probably scored more films than just about anyone. Right through from Cat Women on the Moon to The Grifters and My Left Foot and The Field. He did really well. The Mag7 is the greatest western filmscore ever created and continues to lift the film throughout - The Big Country is a great score and is good throughout the film also, but without that Mag7 impact. --------To Kill a Mockingbird has some very thoughtful scoring throughout the whole film and as a package is very, very good. You start to feel old when you realize that Scout is the same age as yourself. :))))@mosso said:
5. Elmer Bernstein
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The reason I thought Somewhere in Time was Barry's best was purely because of the melody. In other words, the score doesn't have hardly anything else in it, but the melody is so good it can work as a complete score. Other composers write all kinds of atmosphere, rhythms, orchestrations, textures, etc. but couldn't write a simple melody like that to save their souls. I would be on cloud nine if I wrote something that good. To hell with all the other stuff. It is nothing but technique that anybody can learn. It is trivia. But to create a pure, simple melody that is beautiful is a gift from God, heaven, or whatever you believe is superhuman.
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I should have mentioned North's Love Theme from Sparticus (which was what I was thinking of when I posted him as a great melodist.) Bill Evans recorded it which says a whole lot about the tune. I don't think many people realize Max Steiner wrote 'A Summer's Place' which is so catchy and was a huge hit on the radio in the U.S. One of those tunes everyone knows in that generation. My Generation I guess you could say...but that's another tune.
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Yeah, I agree with that. Jarre seemed to use melody more as a major element in his scores than most. Also Michel Legrand.
Speaking of him, his score to Three Musketeers was great. That film by Richard Lester is very underrated today. It is by far the best version. Incredibly beautiful cinematography and lighting, and though very funny and emphasizing comic aspects of the story, was quite adventurous as well. Also, the uber-obnoxious Oliver Reed does a fantastic performance in that. The score done later by Lalo Schifrin for Four Musketeers was about as good, though very different style. It is interesting to hear those back-to-back.
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P Paul moved this topic from Orchestration & Composition on