{"id":7832,"date":"2018-03-01T16:25:40","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T16:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=7832"},"modified":"2018-03-01T16:25:40","modified_gmt":"2018-03-01T16:25:40","slug":"5-of-the-top-orchestral-film-scores-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/arts-social-sciences\/art-literature-music\/5-of-the-top-orchestral-film-scores-of-all-time\/","title":{"rendered":"5 of the top orchestral film scores of all time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Whether it\u2019s the haunting theme from Schindler\u2019s List or the magical motif from Harry Potter, there\u2019s no doubt that film scores are hugely evocative and an integral part of the cinema experience.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/people\/bw3475\">Dr Ben Winters<\/a> is a Senior Lecturer in Music, an expert in Hollywood film music, and can often be found digging through manuscripts and studio contracts at the Warner Bros. archives. He has written course material for part of the OU\u2019s new <a href=\"http:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/courses\/qualifications\/r25\">honours degree in music<\/a>, which includes several units on film soundtracks.<\/p>\n<p>We asked Dr Winters to talk us through his top five orchestral film scores of all time, and here\u2019s what he picked out:<\/p>\n<h2><em>Alexander Nevsky <\/em>(1938; music by Serge Prokofiev)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky (Film score)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ycw7jGqU2_4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A classic composer (Prokofiev) and director (Eisenstein) combination in which one can hear and feel the cold of the Russian winter. Prokofiev experimented with microphone placement and the music for the helmeted Teutonic knights is an assault on the ears. The long build-up to the attack with its menacing brass snarls is particularly effective, as is the lament after the battle.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><em>The Best Years of Our Lives <\/em>(1946; music by Hugo Friedhofer)<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;A film that owes much of its emotional punch to Hugo Friedhofer\u2019s powerful score. Director William Wyler had initially wanted Aaron Copland to write the music, and Friedhofer\u2019s score nods to Copland\u2019s brand of Americana in underscoring this tale of returning servicemen after World War II. The reunion scenes and Fred Derry\u2019s traumatic dream scene are especially compelling.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><em>Vertigo <\/em>(1958; music by Bernard Herrmann)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Vertigo - Soundtrack - Full Album (1958)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Spx0NthRoVc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Quintessential Hitchcock and Herrmann. The eerie obsessiveness of Scotty\u2019s following of Madeleine is paralleled by Herrmann\u2019s use of the Habanera (a Spanish dance) while the climax\u2014underscored by Herrmann\u2019s Wagner-inspired love theme\u2014sees the apparently dead Madeleine resurrected and bathed in a greenish glow. It is one of cinema\u2019s standout moments.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><em>The Empire Strikes Back <\/em>(1980; music by John Williams)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Star Wars- The Imperial March (Darth Vader&#039;s Theme)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-bzWSJG93P8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Perhaps Williams\u2019 most thematically dense and emotionally complex <em>Star Wars<\/em> score to date. It introduced the now ubiquitous Imperial March (which replaced Darth Vader\u2019s previous musical theme in the 1977\u00a0<em>Star Wars<\/em>) and in scoring the vast majority of the film\u2019s run time it approaches the scope of scores by Williams\u2019s illustrious predecessor, Erich Korngold. The Hoth ice battle and the film\u2019s ending are particularly impressive musical moments.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><em>Predator <\/em>(1987; music by Alan Silvestri)<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;An unusual choice, perhaps, but a particularly fine action film score that combines orchestral and synthesized elements. Simple tension-building repetitions and rhythmically complex short motifs are used alongside sophisticated orchestral textures to create a convincing and atmospheric soundworld for this sci-fi thriller.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Find out more<\/h2>\n<p>Explore <a href=\"http:\/\/www.open.edu\/openlearn\/history-the-arts\/culture\/music\">free resources and materials<\/a> about music on OpenLearn.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/courses\/find\/music\">Study music<\/a> with The Open University.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/fass.open.ac.uk\/music\">Find out about the Music Department<\/a> at The Open University.<\/p>\n<p>Watch this short video to find out more about Dr Winters&#8217; research:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Who&#039;s Who? Dr Ben Winters\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L2mCm-W7ZDE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether it\u2019s the haunting theme from Schindler\u2019s List or the magical motif from Harry Potter, there\u2019s no doubt that film scores are hugely evocative and an integral part of the cinema experience. Dr Ben Winters is a Senior Lecturer in Music, an expert in Hollywood film music, and can often be found digging through manuscripts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":7838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[661,886,1478,1490,1614,2079],"class_list":["post-7832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-literature-music","tag-dr-ben-winters","tag-film","tag-movie","tag-music","tag-orchestra","tag-soundtracks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}