Greatest movie scores

[Cato]

A dark horse, very dark horse, but this score I recall being wonderful, despite the dreadful reception given to the movie:



David Shire's score for Return to Oz, which depicted Dorothy being readied for electro-shock therapy, thereby losing most of the audience!   

[Moonfish]

much of a muchness

Much of a muchness?

[Bogey]

I saw bits of Ben Hur today, it is one of my favourite scores, but I can't drag myself through the whole nine yards of treacle any more, a few highlights were just fine.

I am surprised that Maurice Jarre's two good 'uns have not turned up, Lawrence of Arabia and Dr Zhivago.
John Barry: The Lion in Winter is superb.
Morricone: Once Upon a Time in America. That one works on me to make me feel nostalgia, even though I was never there to be nostalgic about that time and place.
A lot of the greats have been listed out.

I have spent about 10 days wandering round Petra in Jordan. One of the days when I was on my own and stuck my iPod on, Mahler did not do it, Wagner did not do it.....strangely, Lord of the Rings did heighten the experience in a rather eerie way.

Mike

I will throw out a Morricone score: Untouchables.  As for another Barry, The Black Hole.

[Mirror Image]

I will throw out a Morricone score: Untouchables.

Great score. I would say Morricone and Goldsmith are my favorite film music composers.

[ritter]

I forgot about one I haven't seen in ages, but that I recall as being quite effective:

Max Steiner's score for William Wyler's The Letter (1940). All those wagnerian quotes! 

[Maciek]

Quite a few mentioned here that I'll want to give a try.

I like Morricone's Untouchables very much too (I think his La Scorta soundtrack is similar in some places). Perhaps my favorite Morricone soundtrack is for Una pura formalita - not sure if it's ever been released on CD (I'm sure it must have been), but in the film I found the sort of "violin concerto" opening (reminds me a bit of Krzysztof Meyer's VC) very moving/exciting and thus effective.

Anyway, here's what I've come up with. This is perhaps more a list of "current favorites" than "greatest", hmm... Anyway, first the list alone, then some commentary.

Brion - Punch drunk love
Price - Gravity
Kilar - Zanussi films
Burwell - Adaptation
Nyman - Come unto these yellow sands
Zimmer - Dark Knight rises
+
soundtrack to Weir's Fearless

I was greatly impressed by Jon Brion's music for Punch drunk love. Some of the scenes in the film couldn't possibly work the way they do without the music being what it is. Perfect fusion. Brilliant.

The Steven Price score for Gravity impressed me for a similar reason (though it works differently): the way those glissandi contribute to the effect of dizziness in some of the scenes is amazing. Have only seen the film (and thus heard the score) once but was struck by how closely the music was integrated with everything else.

I am a fan of some of the early soundtracks by Kilar (collected on an oldish Olympia CD). Especially those he wrote for Zanussi. They are usually very short (only went over the opening titles, IIRC), so it's really difficult to single one out as a "score", but they're really great fun (can't really be called "scores" can they? ).

I like Carter Burwell's Adaptation soundtrack very much (as well as some of his work for the Coen brothers).

I greatly enjoy many Nyman soundtracks, especially for the Greenaway films (quite a few of which I haven't even seen). I find the rhythmic drive of Come unto these yellow sands (from Prospero's books) very alluring (the version that includes the actual singing, not the purely instrumental arrangement).

I wouldn't call myself a Hans Zimmer fan. However, the relatively recent Dark Knight rises score took me by surprise.

That's six, but honorable mention goes to the soundtrack to Peter Weir's Fearless - I don't remember much of the music by Maurice Jarre, but what really struck me was the use of already existing pieces (Penderecki, Gorecki) in that film.

There are, of course, some others I could mention. E.g., I really like Barry's Out of Africa - but can't actually say if that's for sentimental reasons or because of the music (not just the Mozart ). (And I like some of the stuff he wrote for some of the early Bond films too.)

Recently have also been listening to some Dario Marianelli and was surprised by the similarity to some Polish film and TV classics (particularly what I perceive as an affinity between Marianelli's Anna Karenina and Kilar's Promised Land). However, I'm not sure if I've ever seen any of the films, so can't really say how it works as a whole.

[vandermolen]

Much of a muchness?

Yes, meaning not much variety. Maybe this is a British expression.

[vandermolen]

I saw bits of Ben Hur today, it is one of my favourite scores, but I can't drag myself through the whole nine yards of treacle any more, a few highlights were just fine.

I am surprised that Maurice Jarre's two good 'uns have not turned up, Lawrence of Arabia and Dr Zhivago.
John Barry: The Lion in Winter is superb.
Morricone: Once Upon a Time in America. That one works on me to make me feel nostalgia, even though I was never there to be nostalgic about that time and place.
A lot of the greats have been listed out.

I have spent about 10 days wandering round Petra in Jordan. One of the days when I was on my own and stuck my iPod on, Mahler did not do it, Wagner did not do it.....strangely, Lord of the Rings did heighten the experience in a rather eerie way.

Mike

How interesting. Sounds like a great experience and LOTR has some fine moments.

[vandermolen]

Concerning Lennie's film scores, other that On the Waterfront, two others came to mind - West Side Story & On the Town (partly w/ Roger Edens; all lyrics by Aldoph Green & Betty Comden) - Dave

 

Thank you Dave. I think that 'On the Waterfront' was Bernstein's only non-musical film score.

Here is another great score:
[asin]B00006JK96[/asin]

[Bogey]

I forgot about one I haven't seen in ages, but that I recall as being quite effective:

Max Steiner's score for William Wyler's The Letter (1940). All those wagnerian quotes! 

Well!  I do not know the score or the movie. Thanks!  Something new to explore.

[Bogey]

Zimmer - Dark Knight rises

Another movie I have not watched, but one of those that I enjoy the score of. 

Anybody else have scores they like of movies that have not seen?

[jochanaan]

How interesting. Sounds like a great experience and LOTR has some fine moments.

..."but horrible quarter-hours"?

[Moonfish]

Yes, meaning not much variety. Maybe this is a British expression.

Ahh, I did not know that one. Thanks for enlightening me Vandermolen! 

[Karl Henning]

Yes, meaning not much variety. Maybe this is a British expression.

An oldish literary expression, certainly.

A quick googling (consider the source) yields 'attributed to Sir John Vanbrugh's "The Provoked Husband" (1728).'

[North Star]

An oldish literary expression, certainly.

A quick googling (consider the source) yields 'attributed to Sir John Vanbrugh's "The Provoked Husband" (1728).'

OED credits Colley Cibber, who reworked and completed Vanbrugh's unfinished fragment of a play.
Of course, as with other words and phrases credited to writers like Shakespeare, we can't be sure whether the phrase existed before that in speech or even in writing.

4. much of a muchness: (of) much the same importance or value; very much the same or alike; undifferentiated; occas. also of a muchness (colloq.). a bit of a muchness  (rare): rather similar.
The phrase usually occurs predicatively, but occas. as the object.
1728   C. Cibber Vanbrugh's Provok'd Husband i. i. 17   Man. I hope.., you and your good Woman agree still. J. Moody. Ay! ay! much of a Muchness.
1848   T. De Quincey Life & Adventures Goldsmith in N. Brit. Rev. May 202   Compare Addison's age..with Goldsmith's..the two ages will be found to offer 'much of a muchness'.
1865   'L. Carroll' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland vii. 109   That begins with an M, such as..muchness—you know you say things are 'much of a muchness'—did you ever see..a drawing of a muchness?
1888   Sc. Leader 18 Feb. 4   Indeed, as our American cousins would say, there was 'much of a muchness' in the two orations.
1893   K. Simpson Yorks. Stories 255   Gifts seem to me much of a muchness. They are apt to create a sense of obligation.
1930   Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Mar. 175/1   Scotland apart, our island is much of a muchness, and offers far less diversity of stock than France or Germany.
1955   Times 21 June 17/1   The declines for the month in arrivals of basic materials and fuel..were much of a muchness with those last year.
1971   G. Gould Let. 10 Apr. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 143   Pieces from the later years, which, marvellous creations though they are, do sound a bit of a muchness harmonically.
1988   J. Brodsky To Urania 72   Though confessions dragged out by torture, like the ones in childhood, are of a muchness.

[vandermolen]

..."but horrible quarter-hours"?

Yes, also true!

[vandermolen]

An oldish literary expression, certainly.

A quick googling (consider the source) yields 'attributed to Sir John Vanbrugh's "The Provoked Husband" (1728).'

As a History teacher I live very much in the past.