Film Scores as Classical Music

I’d like to return to my series of posts opening up the topic of classical music. I believe I have sufficiently demonstrated that we are exposed to classical music through many means. However, we may not recognize that music as “classical” music. I have tried to use this music as a bridge from its use in popular culture to its greater expression in the concert hall. From there, I hope you might be motivated - or simply curious - to explore classical music in greater depth.

My last post in this series listed film scores that were created by composers who were generally known first for their output of classical music. Some of these films were musicals, so that’s not a stretch of the imagination to understand. Others wrote accompaniment soundtracks that had little or no musical "fact" in the plot itself.

There was a time when I was a voracious reader of periodicals that offered critical reviews of classical recordings. Some of these publications are no longer available.  Some have been bought out and included in other publications; e.g., High Fidelity magazine was taken over by Stereo Review, merging the two into one. I may be mistaken, but I think these together have further evolved into Sound and Vision, with a widened scope including video arts as well as musical arts. Other publications have apparently decided that there is no longer a need to review recordings of popular and often-recorded works, so they have turned to the unfamiliar, unknown and little-played composers and compositions. This is great for anyone who wants to get (almost) completely  off the beaten path to explore new music. Subsequently, I built a decent library, first on LPs, then on cassettes and now on CDs, of recordings that had received considerable acclaim in the critical realm. Of course, these reviews are all subjective, and I didn’t always agree with critics evaluations and conclusions. It was also frustrating to read a rave review of a familiar and loved piece of music, only to read another a short time later; it was a never-ending chase after the “best” performance.

Some years ago, I noticed that film score reviews began showing up in these periodicals. The case was being made, although often implicitly, that music composed as film scores could (should?) be considered a legitimate successor to the classical, romantic, impressionistic and early pre-20th century modern composers. Contemporary classical composers, always trying to find a new way to look at music, left traditional compositional, tonal, structural and instrumental elements to create “new” music that, to me, often just wasn’t very conducive to listening to and enjoying. Film composers,  since they must appeal to a wider audience, generally have been constrained to stay closer to traditional classical music.

So the question arises: Are people who compose film scores in line with the three Bs of classical music - Bach, Beethoven and Brahms? The issue has been hotly debated, so I’d like to offer a definitive answer. Yes...and no. That is my humble opinion. All that follows are collected random (an oxymoron?) thoughts that have entered my mind from time to time.

Traditional classical composers often composed for larger instrumental groups, utilizing the instruments that were available to them. Yes, there were solo compositions and works for smaller groups, but it seems that the majority of the music was for larger musical forces. Classical composers used different keys and tempos (speeds) to focus on a particular mood or pace of action. Traditional classical composers worked within tonal structures, that is to say, the recognized major and minor musical keys with their appropriate intervals between each note. Classical music is often descriptive, that is, a musical portrayal of something else. In simplest terms, Beethoven’s “Moonlight” sonata is a musical representation of a moonlit evening. Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique tells a story of passion; a young man falls in love with an actress, who refuses his attentions. In a rage, he kills her, then, ultimately, is judged and convicted and given a death sentence. After a musical representation of his head being separated from his body and rolling away, there follows the sound of the rollicking joy of wicked spirits who delight in all that has happened. Another example can be seen in Richard Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony, which depicts an entire day’s events from sunrise to night time, with the majority of the music describing one explorer’s ascent and descent into the Alps and what he encounters. He meets with cows in a meadow, with gusting wind and a heavy rain storm among other things. These were nearly always harmonious, although composers sometimes threw in a short dissonant section for some effect. Composers of film scores follow these same elements, although they may not be as developed as classical music. So there are a number of ways in which composers of film scores clearly acknowledge their classical heritage.

However, classical music often follows a strict pattern that prescribes its form. It may have 3 or 4 or more sections (or movements), with each one separate from the others, although there may be a repeated theme, or motif, among several sections. It is said that classical music is “linear” in that there is a steady progression from beginning to end of each section as well as from section to section, finally reaching its conclusion at the end of the entire work.
Film composers don’t follow this pattern; they write music to accompany  the action of the screen. There is primarily one movement with several parts, including “cyclical” repeating themes but they do not always follow classical form. A couple examples of these recurring themes are “Tara’s Theme” from Gone with the Wind, and “Lara’s Theme” from Dr. Zhivago. Perhaps another is the two-note threat theme that recurs menacingly in Jaws. These sometimes occur at unexpected times in classical music forms.

Perhaps another aspect of classical music vs. film score lies with the audience. Whereas past generations seem to have been able to sit through longer works in their entirety, today’s audience has become accustomed to hearing sound bytes. Popular songs run 4 to 6 minutes in length. It is hard for many people to hear and understand the continuity of a longer piece of music. It seems that the longest sound bytes now, other than movies themselves, come to around 8 - 10 minute segments of television programming between commercials. I am inclined to think that many people “miss” most of the music in a film simply because of its length and its “lesser” role of accompanying what’s really important on the screen.

The parallels between classical music and film music are not exact, but offer strong hints of their continuity. Purists will decry any such similarities, but it seems that their reasons are more emotional that rational. They insist that classical music is “high art,” while movie scores are not. Who can really say what is high art and what is popular art?  Much of the music written by classical composers was written as popular art, not high art. I’m sure my limited insights into the question and its resolution are not the last thoughts, and that the debate will continue. If you listen to and compare classical music and popular film music (which I encourage you to do), what do you think?