Cinema music

Look at the Classic FM list of top ten film scores. How many films have you seen? Who voted in the polls? Which soundtrack was the voter’s favourite? Which soundtrack is your favourite?

The best film soundtracks of all time (chosen by the listeners of Britain’s Classic FM radio station):

1. The Lord of the Rings (Howard Shore 2001)

2. Star Wars (John Williams 1977)

3. Schindler’s List (John Williams 1993)

4. The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams 1980)

5. Gladiator (Hans Zimmer 2000)

6. ET (John Williams 1982)

7. Out of Africa (John Barry 1985)

8. Lawrence of Arabia (Maurice 1962)

9. Dances with Wolves (John Barry 1990)

10. Titanic (James Horner 1997)

Top scores

From the earliest days of the movies, films have traditionally used music to heighten the drama of the action on screen. The first cinemas came equipped with a piano or an organ, the silent films of the 1920s had lived musical accompaniment. The pianist or organist had to watch the screen closely all the time to make sure that the music he or she was playing matched the action of the film.

With the arrival of sound, it became possible to put music as well as dialogue onto a film’s soundtrack. It is difficult to think of a single film made since then without some sort of background music. Film musicals were spectacularly popular from the 1930s to the 1960s, with extravagant screen productions of popular stage musicals such as Oklahoma (1955) and My Fair Lady (1964) involving hundreds of singers and dancers. Although it became less popular at the end of the 20^th century, the film musical has recently revived through box-office successes such as Moulin Rouge (2001) with Nicole Kidman, and Chicago (2003) with Renée Zellweger.

Film music has also become popular away from the cinema. Many soundtracks become best-selling records, and film scores are now studied seriously and played by classical orchestras and radio stations. The most acclaimed and popular film music in recent years has often been the scores of epic or science-fiction films such as Star Wars (1977), ET (1982), Gladiator (2000) and The Lord of the Rings (2001), many of which have been composed by American composer John Williams.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Answer these questions about the text:

   1. What sort of instruments used to accompany old silent films?

   2. What did the musician have to do while he/she played?

   3. When did film musicals start to lose popularity?

   4. Which two modern films have helped to make the musical popular again?

   5. Which types of film tend to have commercially successful scores?

2. Write a paragraph about a film that you particularly liked because of its music or its songs. Mention who wrote the music, and how it added to the general effect of the film.

3. Can you think of a time when television, music, or some other medium affected your behaviour or thoughts either positively or negatively? What were the specific effects? Were they lasting or fleeting? Do you think the positive effects of the media outweigh the negative, or vice versa?

4. Do the media promote violence? Does violence in films and music increase the potential for real-life violence?

5. Consider some song lyrics you have recently heard or some movie scenes you have recently viewed. Which lyrics or scenes would you classify as offensive and harmful?

6. Based on the TV programmes, movies and songs you’re familiar with, which would you classify as harmful because of their potentially negative effects? Which would you classify as innocuous? Make a brief list of factors under each category and compare your lists with those of your groupmates. Do you find it easy or difficult to come up with such a list? Given the list that you’ve created, do you think that people could and should be protected from such factors? Why or why not?

7. Research Work: Research Oscar-winning film music, or film songs, of recent years.