Modernizing the movie score

Original film scores have always been underappreciated and overlooked, particularly ones that lean towards the classical tradition.

Sure, there was John Williams’ Wagnerian score for Star Wars that practically everyone knows, as well as the mystical, modal Harry Potter score that relies a little too much on its main theme played on celesta. Even Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings score was a hit with its Renaissance-like songs.

But for lesser known contemporary film composers, what is the point in writing a classical score, as opposed to acknowledging the development of 21st-century new music like that of John Adams, Steve Reich and John Cage? Why can’t original movie scores follow the progression of new music like the rest of the music world?

Obviously a film composer seeks to create music that fits the subject matter and time period of the movie. Dario Marianelli, for example, who won an Oscar for his music for Atonement and was nominated for one for Pride and Prejudice, has remained relatively conservative in his composition style, harkening back to the classical era of Mozart and Beethoven for Pride and employing some neoclassical qualities in Atonement.

Since Pride and Prejudice takes place in early 19th-century England and Atonement takes place in 1935, it is appropriate that Marianelli recouped certain trends in musical history in an attempt to recreate a certain era. The piano melodies in the former admirably imitate the gallant style of the period, and the fuzziness of tonal center in the latter equally reflects early 20th-century music.

But then again, the very fact that Marianelli is attempting to recreate music of past centuries in this one is a kind of denial of the comparatively recent developments of atonality, polytonality and serialism.

Certainly employing compositional techniques associated with these movements would be jarring in a film based on a Jane Austen novel, but why deny the progress music has made outside of cinema? Why pretend we are living in an earlier century when we are not? Why must film scores insist on the retrospective, while all other art forms push forward?

It is true that not all film scores blatantly ignore the last century of music history. Philip Glass has written the score of many films with his trademark minimalist style, including The Hours, The Illusionist, The Truman Show, and Notes on a Scandal.

One must note, however, that these types of films are in the minority, and only employ a minimalist composer either because the plot has some fantastical quality that lends itself to the dreamy quality of Glass’ repetitiveness (The Illusionist), or because the director is particularly progressive in all aspects of cinematography (Stephen Daldry with The Hours). There should be more films like these, pushing the envelope of scoring as well as cinematography.

Another exception is the composer Nico Muhly, CC ’03, who, most recently, collaborated with Stephen Daldry on The Reader. Muhly seemingly combines influences from his three major teachers: minimalism from Philip Glass, neo-romanticism from Christopher Rouse, and a collection of styles from John Corigliano.

Muhly’s music, unlike that of many film-score composers, is not in denial of the present age and seeks to further combine influences and styles across the board.
Some composers toe the line between being truly contemporary and reminiscent of earlier musical eras. This subtle blending is probably the best bet for writing a score that suits the movie without sounding obsolete.

Hans Zimmer tactfully combines traditional orchestral scoring with new influences from electronic sounds, most notably in his scores for Gladiator and The Lion King.
What we need in this postmodern world is an acknowledgement of the past combined with regard for the future—the approach of many modernist painters, writers, and composers. A simple imitation of days long gone, without absorption of what has come immediately before the present, is detrimental to the evolution of art.

Catherine Rice is a Barnard College sophomore majoring in Music. Breaking Down Classical runs alternate Wednesdays.

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