Joshua’s Jericho

Music History III

Dr. Carson

2nd Research Paper

Matt Wheeler

Who Stands Out?

From the Second Half of the 20th Century and Beyond

The second half of the twentieth century was, in many ways, quite different from the fifty years that preceded it. Like large roots coming out of a tree, the musical developments of the first half of the twentieth century were mostly children or grandchildren of Mahler, Wagner, Strauss and other late romantic ‘greats’. Influence is easy to trace. The stand-outs like Stravinsky, Copland and Schoenberg all had a clear lineage and an impressive effect on the outcome of music to follow. With the back half of the twentieth century, and beyond, however, it becomes more and more difficult to make clear judgments of importance based solely on musical heritage and musical descendants. Like some twisted version of Pascal’s triangle where most every element is connected to another, so are the musicians of our recent times. In addition to the standard of ‘influential’ becoming less defined, we simply have had less time to make accurate judgments of who is deemed ‘influential’. History hasn’t weeded out the composers and musicians who will soon be forgotten, leaving only the Bachs and the Beethovens of our generation. This only strengthens the importance of a few people who can definitely be pointed towards as influential in the second half of the twentieth century: Leonard Bernstein, Nadia Boulanger and John Williams.

Leonard Bernstein’s role in shaping American music was quite pronounced. He involved himself in many different areas of music propagation – teaching, performing, conducting, broadcasting, recording, composing, writing. In his obituary in the NY times, Bernstein was called the “renaissance man of American music.” (1) It is clearly seen by the many different roles he had over the years. The one for which he will most be remembered is as conductor of the New York Philharmonic. However, he was also an international force, conducting the Israel Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra to name a few. He recorded prolific amounts of records with many of these orchestras, and they stand among the definitive recordings of our day. As a conductor, he used his position of influence to promote the works of Charles Ives and Carl Nielsen, both of whom were not well known to the American public, and also resurrected the works of Mahler. He influenced young conductors, including Seiji Ozawa, who was an assistant to Bernstein and made his television debut on Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts. This nationally televised series was most beloved by American audiences, and featured “Lenny” engaging audiences of all ages and instilling within them a love for all things music. There were fifty-three broadcasts from 1958 to 1972, unprecedented, and their likes have not been seen again. Jamie Bernstein, eldest daughter of Leonard, wrote “I can’t tell you how many people come up to me now, everywhere I go in the States, and they say something like: ‘Oh, I used to watch your father’s Young People’s Concerts on TV, and I’ve been a music lover ever since!’ And an equally large number of orchestra musicians come up to me and say, “I watched the Young People’s Concerts when I was a kid, and that’s why I’m a musician today!” (2) That is a legacy of significance, and it was recognized in Bernstein’s own time, even as it was being laid. In an article in the New York Tribune, the author praised the young Bernstein for his innovative and impacting television series, saying, “One great teacher bursting with vitality and personality and information could spread his culture all over the country, assaulting you in a physical wave to such a degree that a short course in opera sticks in a million or so craniums forevermore. It’s quite a feat if you can bring it off and Bernstein can and does… He’s a natural asset, that young man, and one we should treasure.” (3) America did treasure Lenny, for his conducting, teaching and his composing. As a composer, Bernstein wrote many memorable pieces, standards of the twentieth century literature, among them, West Side Story, a musical that changed the future of the American musical. John Chapman, in his review in the New York Times wrote that West Side Story “takes up the American musical idiom where it was left when George Gershwin died.” (4) Music Critic Peter Gutmann continues further, pronouncing West Side Story as “the great American musical.” (5) In all of his roles, teacher, conductor, television personality, recording artist, composer, Bernstein considered himself to be a student first and foremost, one who loved to learn and pass on what he discovered. That was what drove him, and the result was a man of great musical influence in the second half of the twentieth century.

Nadia Boulanger’s sphere of influence stands in stark contrast to Leonard Bernstein’s legacy. Where Bernstein was diverse in his areas of impact, Boulanger’s focus was on one area – pedagogy. The amount of power this lady wielded over the shape and direction of twentieth century music is almost magical. And while her career of influence began before the second half of the twentieth century, and a good many of her more well known students studied with her before 1950, both Boulanger’s and her students’ careers continued into the second half, and their range influence is still felt today. “So far as musical pedagogy is concerned, and by extension of musical creation, Nadia Boulanger is the most influential person who ever lived.” (6) These were the words of Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award winning Ned Rorem, respected composer and song writer, and once upon a time, a student of Boulanger. Her effect is more quantitative than qualitative. She taught and untold number of students from around the world. More than 600 American students studied under her during her lifetime. Her residence in Paris was a primary reason why the city was the musical center of the world for so long. Don Campbell, author of Master Teacher: Nadia Boulanger, wrote, “I have continued to be astonished at her penetrating and far reaching influence on music today… Nadia Boulanger and her remarkable lifetime of 93 years still can direct students of future generations to the remarkable pedagogy necessary for skill development and brilliance in this century…” (7) Through Boulanger’s students and countless numbers of grand-and-great-grand-students, her legacy lives on. Listed below are a selection of her students and a brief summary of their accomplishments or important compositions.

• George Antheil – composer of Ballet Mecanique
• Marc Blitzstein – composer, adapted Kurt Weill’s Three Penny Opera into English
• Elliot Carter – composer, teacher
• Aaron Copland – composer, known for creating ‘American’ style
• David Diamond – composer, teacher at Julliard
• George Gershwin – composer of Rahpsody in Blue, Porgy and Bess
• Quincy Jones – music producer, nominated record 79 times for Grammy Awards
• Douglas Moore – composer of Ballad of Baby Doe
• Gian Carlo Menotti – composer of Ahmal and Night Visitors
• Philip Glass – minimalist and film composer
• Astor Piazzolla – reviver of the tango
• Walter Piston – composer and music theorist
• Ned Rorem – art song composer
• Laurence Rosenthal – film composer
• Roger Sessions – composer, teacher
• Virgil Thomson – composer of Four Saints in Three Acts

It was Virgil Thomson who had this insightful, if exaggerated and humorous quote about Boulanger. “She was a one-woman graduate school, so powerful and so permeating that legend credits every United States town with two things: a five-and-dime and a Boulanger pupil.” (8) While the five-and-dimes have faded with their time, Boulanger’s impression on music in the second half of the twentieth century has been unmistakable and lasting.

John Williams, like Nadia Boulanger, has had an area of influence much more restricted than Leonard Bernstein. Known for his film scores, which number over one hundred, John Williams is one of the few modern day composers who could be called a household name. His influence certainly lies in his more universal fame, and also in the impact he has had on the film music industry. His scores display a remarkable variety in stylistic influence, ranging from the motif based horror film scores like JAWS and The Fury, to the full fanfare sounds of Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, to the jazzy moods of Sabrina and Catch Me If You Can, to the Asian-influenced Seven Years in Tibet and Memoirs of a Geisha. John Williams has turned this stylistic influence around and made it into an influence of his own. “The scores of John Williams, from the perspective of orchestral music-lovers and his fellow peers, have changed the course of film music history.” (9) At a time when the orchestral score was becoming less and less prominent in films, being taken over by pop music of the day, John Williams was approached by George Lucas and asked to write a musical score in the grand symphonic style of past giants Max Steiner and Eric Wolfgang Korngold. The result was the film score for Star Wars. In 2005, the American Film Institute compiled a list of the top 25 film scores of all time. “A jury of over 500 film artists, composers, musicians, critics and historians selected John Williams’ iconic score from the classic film STAR WARS as the most memorable film score of all time. John Williams is additionally noteworthy as the most represented composer on the list with three scores making the top 25.” (10) Full of Wagernerian leit-motif, Williams re-inspired a more classically based genre of film scores. Influences nowadays include James Newton Howard, Alexandre Desplat, Dario Marianelli, James Horner, Edward Shearmur and Patrick Doyle, just a few of the composers who prescribe to the orchestral, classical, theme and motive based concept of the film score. “Williams is undoubtedly one of the most respected composers for Cinema.” His fame and influence within the world of the film composer is renown. But, there is also a more universal and nostalgic side to his influence. His music from Jurassic Park is both found in fifth grade band books and performed as popular concert repertoire. The opening credits fanfare is hummed by every kid who grows up loving the Star Wars series and reenacts the scenes with his or her buddies. Two low notes, a half step apart, given that rhythmic thrum are instantly recognizable as the iconic theme from JAWS. His music is pervasive in our culture, and thus his influence is everywhere. “John Williams is as easy to recall as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland or Leonard Bernstein, illustrating why he is “America’s composer” time and again.” (11) Some might view this as a highly controversial statement. But, when it comes down to it, of all the American living composers, the everyday American is more likely to whistle John Williams than John Cage.

Influence in the second half of the twentieth century is more difficult to trace or define or agree on. Indeed, only time will truly be able to tell who is worthy of being truly influential. Given time, a great many of our modern day musicians, pop stars and classical greats alike will fade into the memory of the not so distant past. Nadia Boulanger, though, will not be one of them. Her place in history is already as firmly entrenched as her students’ like Copland, Gershwin and Virgil Thomson. The effect she had on the more than 600 American students will ripple on through future generations of musicians as an unstoppable force, truly making her an influential musician of the Twentieth Century and Beyond.

1. Donal Henahan. Obituary. New York Times. Oct. 15, 1990.

2. Jamie Bernstein. Leonard Bernstein, the Educator. http://www.leonardbernstein.com/educator.htm

3. New York Herald Tribune, quoted by Peter Gutmann. http://www.classicalnotes.net/features/bernstein.html

4. John Chapman. New York Daily News. Sept. 27, 1957.

5. Peter Gutmann. http://www.classicalnotes.net/features/bernstein.html

6. Ned Rorem. http://www.nadiaboulanger.org/

7. Don Campbell. Ibid.

8. Virgil Thomson. Ibid.

9. http://www.filmtracks.com/composers/williams.shtml

10. http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/scores.aspx

11. Jeffrey Wheeler. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/bio

12. Ibid.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bernstein, Jamie. Leonard Bernstein, the Educator. http://www.leonardbernstein.com/educator.htm

Chapman, John. New York Daily News, Sept. 27, 1957.

Gutmann, Peter. http://www.classicalnotes.net/features/bernstein.html

Henahan, Donal. Obituary. New York Times, Oct. 15, 1990.

Wheeler, Jeffrey. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/bio

http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/scores.aspx

http://www.filmtracks.com/composers/williams.shtml

http://www.nadiaboulanger.org/

Music History III

Dr. Carson

1st Research Paper

Matt Wheeler

Who Stands Out?

From the First Half of the 20th Century and Beyond

The first half of the twentieth century was a time of great upheaval in the musical world. On the whole, composers’ interest in innovation and development in music began to grow at a rate much quicker than had been seen in previous centuries. With the downfall of tonality, a brave new world faced musicians, and exploration to the farthest reaches of all things new became a distinguishing feature of many twentieth century composers. In the midst of this increasingly diverse musical flurry of activity, three figures stand out from the crowd and are recognized for their importance and influence: Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg. Each contributed in unique ways to the developments of their time, blazed new paths and had a profound effect upon their contemporaries and successors.

Aaron Copland was, and still is identified as the quintessential American composer. His name is associated most closely with the American sound, marked by open intervals, incorporation indirectly or directly of national folk melodies, and patriotic inspiration . Howard Pollack, in his biography on Copland cites “the assertion of the press that Copland was the truly American composer,” (1) as a key factor of establishing Copland’s importance – he was recognized by the media. Copland’s ‘American’ style was characterized in pieces such as Rodeo, Billy the Kid and Appalachian Spring. This style has been imitated in many other compositions and film scores, particularly westerns. Copland himself was a writer of film scores, and though only five in number, they too changed American film scoring. Copland had a less bombastic approach than film music giant Max Steiner, and introduced a subtler, almost expressionist technique of conveying internal thoughts and emotions that weren’t necessarily being actively portrayed on screen. Virgil Thompson wrote that the score for Of Mice and Men established “the most distinguished populist musical style yet created in America.” (2) Three of his scores were nominated for Academy Awards, and his score for The Heiress won him the award. He was also winner of the Pulitzer Prize in music for Appalachian Spring. Not one to keep the fame and glory to himself, Copland was eager to assist and share his knowledge with younger composers. He was dubbed “the dean of American composers” (3) and personally taught Samuel Adler, Elmer Bernstein, Alberto Ginastera and Elliot Goldenthal among others. However, Aaron Copland himself recognized that there was another figure dominating the scene at his time. He believed that this person’s continuing hold on composers was “without parallel since Wagner’s day.” (4) That person was Igor Stravinsky.

Igor Stravinsky was not the original innovator of twentieth century music, nor the first to push the boundaries. Composers preceding him had explored new areas of music, including polytonality and polyrhythms, both hallmarks of Stravinsky’s music. Richard Strauss and Erik Satie had inspired the genre of Neo-Classicism, of which a large portion of Stravinsky’s post Rite of Spring music falls under. However, Stravinsky refused to just dabble; he pushed polytonality and polyrhythms to their extremes. The first performance of Rite of Spring, in fact, was so uproarious that a riot erupted in the concert hall, the concert-goers having almost descended into the barbaric state depicted in the ballet. This is clearly a case of influence, if not the most appreciated kind, instant and reactive influence nonetheless. In reference to the Rite of Spring, the author of a insightful cover article of a 1948 Time magazine wrote that, “If Stravinsky had never put another eighth note on paper, he would still have been a greater innovator than Jean Sibelius… and Richard Strauss…” (5) Stravinsky could have ended his compositional career with Rite, and still been one of the most influential composers of the twentieth century. However, he didn’t stop there. Stravinsky’s Neo-Classical developments in works like Pulcinella and Symphony of Psalms had quite an impact on composers to come. In the same article, the author wrote that “Prokofiev and Shostakovich are both deep in Stravinsky’s debt.” (6) Prokofiev and Shostakovich were fellow Russian composers and slightly younger contemporaries who wrote in the Neo-classical style as well. While both have their own sounds and innovations, they owe it to Stravinsky for having convinced composers that hearkening back to the classical masters and beyond was a legitimate twentieth century style, and one that could gain world-wide attention - attention that is without a doubt deserved and earned. Perhaps one of the most striking proofs of this is the reaction of the Soviet government to Stravinsky’s works. “The Communists regard him as a decadent, God-loving capitalist who writes ugly music.” (7) In their violent reaction, they further strengthen Stravinsky’s position as an influential composer; they would not have bothered to attempt to cast such a shadow on every dissident Soviet composer who had fled the communist regime. No, only those of such greatness could incur such wrath. As evidenced by this quote, Stravinsky was not without competition when it came to influence and importance, however. “Only one other living composer seriously challenges him as a contemporary influence: dour, 73-year-old Arnold Schoenberg, spiritual leader of the atonalists, whose theoretical contributions are great, though his output is small.” (8)

Arnold Schoenberg was the epitome of innovation. Whereas Stravinsky took great strides on paths that other composers had begun, Schoenberg was a trail-blazer and an original thinker. And more than that, other composers followed in his footsteps. He developed Sprechstimme, a vocal technique that has been used by other composers like Alban Berg, Alberto Ginastera, Kurt Weill (of Three Penny Opera fame) and even to an extent in popular music by artists Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan. In Pierrot Lunaire, Schoenberg expanded the idea of the ensemble by asking performers to change instruments mid-performance. The specific instrumentation evolved into the ‘Pierrot Ensemble’, which now includes any small ensemble with flexible instrumentation. Peter Maxwell Davies, Joan Tower and David Lang (2008 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Music) and others have all written for Pierrot Ensemble. Finally, Schoenberg’s other important contribution to the musical scene was serialism. Schoenberg took a seven year compositional hiatus to develop this system that reformed the way 20^th century composers thought about music. It provided an entirely new framework with which to write music and ushered in the era of true atonality. It was Schoenberg’s developments in serialism that single-handedly challenged Stravinsky’s place as the most important composer of their time. His innovations were not without their harsh critics, his concert repertoire is small, and the presence of his name on a program is enough to scare away many audience members, but, as Norman Lebrecht stated, “In a new century, Schoenberg takes his place beside Picasso and Joyce as a creator who altered the perception of art… the music of Arnold Schoenberg becomes a refuge for the thinking listener, a place of principle and courage, of crossword-level complexity and, when you crack the code, of the deepest sensual satisfaction.” (9) While Schoenberg’s popularity with the casual listener is much smaller than Stravinsky or Copland, his intellectual contributions and importance cannot be challenged. In addition to his musical innovations, Schoenberg also had great influence on the next generations of musicians as a teacher. Alban Berg, Anton Webern and John Cage were all pupils of his. “Schoenberg’s influence on Berg was decisive,” (10) says Eric Salzman. And if their positions in musical history weren’t enough to show Schoenberg’s importance as a teacher, Schoenberg also personally taught film composer Alfred Newman, composer of more than 200 films and father to three more film composers, David Newman, Thomas Newman and Randy Newman. The entire family combined has composed over 375 film scores, a staggering amount, and Schoenberg had direct influence as Alfred Newman’s teacher. Lastly, Schoenberg authored a music theory textbook viewed as the standard by conservatories for over 70 years. Schoenberg had an impressive amount of influence that was lasting and varied.

When it comes down to the most important and influential of these three composers, the choice is clear. Igor Stravinsky was the pre-eminent composer of his time. From the 1948 Time Magazine article, “At 66, Igor Feodorovich Stravinsky, if not the greatest living composer, is certainly the most influential.” (11) He is still recognized in that role. Philip Glass stated, “There is not a composer who lived during his time or is alive today who was not touched, and sometimes transformed, by [Stravisnky’s] work.” (12) Those are weighty words coming from a respected man. Clearly, Igor Stravinsky is deserving of his position as the most important and influential composer from the first half of the 20^th century.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Pollack, Howard. Aaron Copland. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1999, p. 15.

2. Ibid, p. 343

3. Ibid, p. 215

4. Time Magazine, Mon. July 26, 1948

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/010708-NL-Schoenberg.html

10. Salzman, Eric. Twentieth Century Music. Uppersaddle River: Prentice Hall, 2002, p 117.

11. Time Magazine, Mon. July 26, 1948

12. Time Magazine, Mon. June 8, 1998

I won. Finally. And… actually… I haven’t totally won yet, but the tide has turned in this battle. The iPod’s defeat and subsequent sudjugation is inevitable. I will become the master once again.

The war actually started out between my computer and my iPod. I upgraded iTunes 7.6 something to iTunes 7.7 something a little while ago… before iTunes 8.0 came out. And when I synced my iPod up… it stalled. So I disconnected it. Without ejecting. Now, I’d done this before… accidently, mind you, but this… this was unheard of. (By the way, the later it gets, the more ellipses I use… at least, that’s what I thinkt the “…” things are called…)

At that moment in time, my Ipod mostly stopped talking with my computer. Not sure why. It was really slow, it wouldn’t add all the songs, my computer sometimes wouldn’t recognize it at all. I decided to take drastic measures. Restore my iPod. To no avail. In fact, I’m pretty sure that at this point, it made things worse. Because it didn’t fully restore. It… like… stopped halfway through, and I’m pretty sure it forgot what language it spoke. At least, to my computer.

At this point, I’ve been working several days to resolve the issue(s). You could say it was taking up a lot of my really valuable time.

I took my iPod over to Dani’s computer. And it worked wonderfully. I was able to fall asleep to Jason Mraz for  a night. That is happiness.

I fiddled. I twiddled. I deleted and downloaded and uninstalled. I reinstalled. I researched and tried every possible variation imaginable to my limited mind. I sought sage advice.

To no avail.

That’s when Mac came to the rescue. I got my dad’s Mac Mini from the house. Took it to school. And my iPod and the Mac talk to eachother. It is a beautiful thing. To be sure. Now… I’m getting my library transferred over. Joy.

As promised, Movie Music Monday Top 10 countdown continues this week with another score by John Williams. Paired once again with the succesful Steven Spielberg, John Williams score for War of the Worlds was my favorite score of his in 2005, beating out Star Wars Episode III (I know… I know…) Memoirs of a Geisha (which actually won the Grammy Award for Best Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and was nominated for the Academy Award, losing out to Brokeback Mountain, which is an ENTIRELY different discussion right there… oh, and finally the score for Munich. Those were the John Williams scores of 2005, and until Indiana Jones IV came out, I was worried they might be his last.

So how in the world did I come to pick War of the Worlds over a Star Wars score and a Grammy Winning, Academy Award Should-Have-Won score? Easy…

The score for War of the Worlds was a dark soundtrack, just like the other three scores of the year. And for dark soundtracks, I need to hear something new. Especially from John Williams. Gotta hold him to a higher standard. And did I ever. This was the darkest I’d ever heard from John Williams. The soundtrack starts off with Morgan Freeman providing a chilling narration over an even colder musical introduction. Bells of all different pitch soundscapes start going off, slowly at first, before melting into some kind of pitched semi-melody and resolving into stacked chords… mocking percussion effects slide in and out, dissonance creeps in, crescendos and finishes off with miltaristic drum beats… thump thump thump… ta-da thump thump thump…

In that first track, Williams set up the sound for the rest of the album, and he never departs from it. There is so much continuity in the soundtrack, one little misstep would have ruined the album for me. But here is one of those few works of art that is elegantly cohesive without suffering from redundancy.

The Ferry Scene sets up the action, grinding, pulsating, driving strings, attacking dissonant and unsettling notes, propel us ever forward. The unmetered rhythm, in combination with the lack of tonal center, eliminates any feeling of settling down. When the brass enters, its just a work of sheer genius. The strings vs. the brass sets up another aspect of the film score - they rarely work together, they’re most often doing their own independent thing. There’s a great scream by the strings right in the middle of the trac, it gives me chills every time I hear it.

Reaching the country is less action driven, and is more tragic. Ghostly synthisizer chords set the track up. Minor chords dominate the scene. There is no hope for a good life present at all, just a desperate need for survival.

Further on, Ray and Rachel provides a gorgeous respite from the intensity of the score. The music is still dark… darkly beautiful, seductive and suspenseful, lingering on the richly layered chords before melting away into non-existence.

There are no real highlights, other than the last track, because it is a pure album. It needs everything else around it in order to be understood and comprehended. This soundtrack is great for reading any kind of fantasy book or suspense thriller. Or if you’re in a bad mood and want to simmer. Though I don’t usually reccomend letting music become too defined by your attitude. Because it quickly turns the other way. Sometimes I love to listen to this album on a perfectly sunshiny day, when I’m in an incredible mood, and I still enjoy it… maybe moreso, because I’m actually listening to what’s going on in the music instead of just letting it filter through my emotions.

Next week, stay tuned for number 6! Another John Williams… and its not the last one we’ll see!

I’ve got a really busy next couple of days as I prep for moving on campus! So, Number 7 of my Movie Music Mostly Monday review will be a bit delayed… but rest assured knowing that I’m making excellent use of my time meeting first years and building friendships with them, teaching my piano students and celebrating their achievements this summer and catching up with college friends that I haven’t seen in a while.

Sometimes, life comes first!

Alright. So iTunes just released the score for Star Wars: Clone Wars. It’s not John Williams. I don’t know how I feel about that. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to listen to a Star Wars score and approve of it if its not John Williams. I think it’s just because I don’t think that there should be any more Star Wars soundtracks. There is completion there. So, I’m listening to that right now…

Why am I listening to that when I could be listening to another new release… Mirrors by Javier Navarette (of Pan’s Labyrinth fame… you can listen to this AMAZING soundtrack in its entirety online here) just came out. My anticipation for it is high. One of the highest of the year for me.

I’ve purchased 10 soundtracks so far this year… surprisingly low… there hasn’t been a lot worth buying this year… 2007 was even worse. But at least the purchases this year have pretty much been amazing… consider:

• National Treasure II (2.5 out of 5)
• Spiderwick Chronicles (4.5 out of 5)
• Speed Racer (3.5 out of 5)
• Prince Caspian (4 out of 5)
• Indy IV (4 out of 5)
• Get Smart (3 out of 5)
• WALL-E (4.5 out of 5)
• Dark Knight (5 out of 5)
• Star Wars Clone Wars (undecided)
• Mirrors (undecided)

That’s definitely not a bad year by any means… and still to come… HARRY POTTER VI! Nicholas Hooper did a superb job with the 5th movie… I’m excited to see what he continues to do. I really wish there was a good subtle score that would jump out at me… Most of these are pretty bombastic. Oh well. Time will tell.

Making his first of many appearances on Matt’s Top 10 countdown… drumroll and fanfare… John Williams, with his score to Jurassic Park!

Here is one of the scores that just doesn’t seem like it should fit with the movie… dinosaurs eating humans… sounds like classic JAWS fare. Should have a blatantly obvious theme that signals “DEATH IS COMING” or “RUN AND HIDE!” and yet, the two prominent themes are beautiful, bold, heroic and performed by young pianists, instrumental soloists and middle school bands nation-wide. What gives?

In fact, its the main theme’s sheer amazingness that lands Jurassic Park on my Top 10. Otherwise its a pretty standard score. Decent action cues that fit perfectly with the film and provide a soundtrack fan with enough uniqueness that they don’t get ignored kinda just take backseat to the main theme. Which is used over and over again on the soundtrack. And not so much in the movie. This is a very pieced together album, splicing cues from various parts of the movie to make an album that works on its own… that’s usually a turn off to me. Like coffee, I prefer it straight. There’s a part in the first action cue that just winds down, stops, and then starts up with a totally different cue from the other end of the movie.

However, that being said, as an album, its definitely effective. It tends to go back and forth every track… pretty/horrifying/gorgeous/violent/mystical/primal… its a rollercoaster ride to be sure.

I think that the sheer beauty of the music is what kept Jurassic Park a believable movie. The warmth and the grandeuer of the cadence as Grant, Malcom and Ellie see dinosaurs for the first time cements the idea that these are human beings, emotional, tangible human beings in your mind, not just characters in a movie waiting to be killed off. A brilliant move by an established composer who had already defined the horror genre with his two-note motif for Jaws. Even though Jurassic Park was, as Spielberg likened it, “Jaws on land” it needed to have a different element to it, and Williams provided it.

One small little note, the opening horn call (which signifies to me, the triumph of humankind) is an intervallic inversion of the raptor theme, which turns out to be the minor version of the first four notes (out of five) of John Williams “Hello” theme from Close Encounters of a Third Kind. The end titles fade out, not with the human horn call, but with the dinosuar call… reprising the humorous ending with the Jurassic Park banner falling over the T-Rex… Nicely done bit of musical humor there on Williams part. At least I find it funny. Which might be why I’m the nerd here writing about filmscores and you’re not… at least you’re reading it.

Highlight tracks:

Theme From Jurassic Park (pretty)

Incident at Isla Nublar (creepy)

Journey to the Island (triumphant, plus the theme again)

Welcome to Jurassic Park (theme again… woo hoo)

My Friend, the Brachiosaurus (nice pretty music without too much of the theme)

Dennis Steals the Embryo (really annoying, grating music for the annoying fat guy in the movie)

Remembering Petticoat Lane (gorgeous, reflective piano variation of the theme)

Jurassic Park Gate (sweet jungle beat)

T-Rex Rescue (excellent deconstruction of the various themes… listen to it about eight times and you’ll start to hear the intricacies)

End Credits (the obligatory suite of all the theme music)

That’s quite a bit of recommended tracks… which might explain why its in my top 10! Next week… another John Williams thriller gets the nod… any guesses?

Well, here we are, the last few days of summer… School officially starts on the 25th for me, but this is my last week of work, so I can get prepped a bit for the school year.

I don’t know exactly where to start, so I’ll just start somewhere, and go from there and hope I cover most of what I want to say!

I’m incredibly excited for the school year to begin. I’ve been ready for quite some time. Moving on campus is going to be an adjustment, one that I’m looking forward to, obviously. I’m excited to room with Cory Faris (If many of you don’t know him yet, I hope you’ll get to in the next few months). He’s a physics major, although that’s not what he wants to pursue as a career, as he found out this summer. He’s an intense follower of Christ, and we want to keep each other motivated and accountable during the year. We’ll be involved with a lot of intervarsity events, like leading worship at our large group meeting, doing a Bible study in our dorm, Greene Hall, the all male dorm and participating with the leadership team.

So, that’s my roommate… my schedule is looking dangerously full right now… maybe that’s because I’ve scheduled some free time in. The irony. Oh well. Some things I’m looking forward to most are:

• Rugcutters - the swing dance group on campus, and my sister hopes to do it with me!
• Conducting I - I’ve been anxious to take this class from the moment I became a student at Coe
• Concert Choir - I don’t know what we’re going to do this year yet, but Dr. Falk is an amazing conductor and I love choir
• Playing celesta for the Coe College Orchestra on the Nutcraker Suite! First of all, I love the celesta (it’s the Harry Potter bell-like instrument that plays the main theme in the beginning in case you didn’t know!). Second of all, its the Nutcracker Suite. And just saying Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is fun. As are dreams of walking nutcrackers… my grandma has a whole wall of them, kinda scary if they’d come to life… I’m rambling…
• Teaching piano lessons - I have my largest amount of students going into the semester, and teaching has become something that I love… it makes my day!
• Preparing for my junior piano recital

Looking back on my summer, a lot of stuff in my life has changed. I’ve matured in ways that I didn’t expect to, and felt really challenged by God to improve in areas that I was content in, mostly in the way of friendships and how I deal with them. I still definitely feel like most of the issues brought up this summer are a work in progress, but there is improvement.

I’ve learned how much I love teaching. There was a moment in the summer when my mindset shifted. I remember it very clearly. One of my students int he music theory class I taught this summer didn’t turn his homework in, and in that moment of considering how to respond, I had two clear options. One, let it go and just let him not succeed if he didn’t want to put the work into it, or two, give a little bit more of my energy to help him succeed. I remember thinking, “How would Dani respond to this situation?” It was a very cool moment. I held my natural response in check, and I haven’t looked back. Now, I’m not just a piano lesson giver. I am a teacher, concerned for my students success and well being. Not that I wasn’t before, but there were limits as to what I would do for them… there still are limits, but they are not nearly as low as they used to be.

I have read like crazy this summer. Mostly just as a relaxing activity, something to keep my mind active. I’ve played relatively few video games and watched even less TV. I’ve spent good time with friends. Had some challenging times with them, but that’s part of a relationship. I’ve journaled. I’ve started a story. I’ve practiced piano. I’m in the process of finding a new church. I’m content with taking things slowly.

And now, I’m going to go clean the bathroom and help out with some chores… Movie Music Monday review comin’ sometime today!

Apologies! I was so busy getting my music up, I forgot all about Movie Music Monday… that bodes well for its continuation, doesn’t it?

Matt’s 9th favorite soundtrack of all time:

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow by Edward Shearmur

Ok, so the movie itself is pretty corny and rather predictable… the idea behind the movie is that it was supposed to look like an mid 20th century comic book brought to the big screen. Which explains why gigantic tin robots (you know the ones I’m talking about, square head, square body, nothing appealing or functional about their appearance whatsoever) destroying New York City and the hero saving the world in a WWII fighter plane are in perfect contrast to the marvels of technology that keep an entire airfield flying above the clouds and the evil villain is not a human, but a *gasp* cyborg with fully function AI… enough so that it can plot to destroy the world on its own!

The score itself, however, is pure adeventure. The opening theme gives me chills everytime I hear it. I even converted it to a ringtone. Ok, so that’s nerdy. But the sheer brassiness and over the top action sequences mesh well with the lighter moments of the film.

Shearmur has scored a wide variety of movies, provideing background score to romantic comedies like Win a Date With Ted Hamilton, Comedy/Action like Miss Congeniality and Johnny English, horror scores like Skeleton Key. He was originally slated to score the upcoming movie Inkheart, based on a young adult fantasy novel that involves bringing characters from books to life. However, my understanding is that the film’s production has been delayed (it was going to be released in 2007, now we’re looking at a 2009 release) and during that time, Shearmur has been replaced with the composer of another of Matt’s Top 10 soundtracks! All in all, I think this is a wise choice. Shearmur isn’t exactly known for his subtlety. For a successful fantasy film, not so good. In a movie like Sky Captain, all the better.

So, some highlight tracks from the soundtrack include:

The World of Tomorrow

The Zeppelin Arrives

The Flying Wings Attack

Flight to Nepal

Finding Frankie

Back to Earth/Over the Rainbow

Once again, I’m working on figuring out how to get audio samples for you to listen to! Thanks for your patience.

Woo hoo… it’s taken quite some time for this to appear… lots of hours the last week trying to configure settings and download software (thanks Dad!) and upload files and manage files and organize files and rename files and work around off and on internet and losing a post to the down internet and starting over and there it is… it’s beautiful. At least to me. It’s the product of my labor this week.

Now, I just wish there was a way to be able to comment on my pages… any hints, fellow wordpressers? Dani, I am trying!

And it’s really hot in my room again… I’m opening my windows and turning on my fan… woo hoo!

…

There we go, much better.