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From: leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Re: Music in films set in history
Message-ID: <775@mtgzz.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 29-May-85 00:08:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: mtgzz.775
Posted: Wed May 29 00:08:13 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 24-May-85 02:16:35 EDT
References: <759@mtgzz.UUCP> <465@wjvax.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Middletown NJ
Lines: 83


On why some scores seem appropriate to some periods of history and
others do not:

 >I did not like much of the music of Ladyhawke, and will try to
 >convey my  feelings on why.
 >
 >I think you are really close.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but
 >you are trying to say that although the music seemed
 >anacronistic, a different score (say, a orchestral
 >arrangement) would seem more appropriate, even though it's
 >just as anacronistic.  Why?

Yes, that is what I am asking.  In specific it would have a feel of
that specific period.  I guess Basil Polidouris' spectacular score for
CONAN THE BARBARIAN is another example.  It feels right for the period.
The rock score that Dino DeLaurentiis at first wanted would have felt
wrong.  Whatever I am responding to, it is not the music of the period.
I think the music was pretty primitive.  I guess it is just music
reminiscent of older music line Carmina Berana so it feels old enough
in style, even though Carmina Berana could not possibly have come from
whatever age the Hyperborean age really corresponds to.

 >
 >One could argue that orchestral music, for instance, is
 >'timeless', 
 
But it really isn't!  That is my point.
 
 >equally appropriate for 'A long time ago in a
 >galaxy far far away', the middle ages, or the present.  
 
I agree with all but middle ages.  Unless you are not really trying to
capture a feel of the period.  Then of this choice, only the present is
accurate.
 
 >But, I have a feeling that a synthesized score without the
 >rock-and-roll drums would have been wonderful for Ladyhawke.

I would have thought so, but I am not sure why.

 >Some of the quieter music fit the scenes so well I hardly
 >noticed it.  Part of the problem, then, is the rock (or pop)
 >feel of the main theme.  It included a lot of pop music
 >cliches that are inextricably tied to a particular era.  And
 >it's the wrong era.

The rock music score might attach to a 10-year period, the orchestral
to an 80-year period.  That's a wild guess.  I don't know much about
music history.

 >
 >Here's the other part:  Some music mediums are more
 >'transparent' than others.  For instance, orchestral music
 >can set a mood without making a statement.  You can watch,
 >oh, Quest for Fire without thinking 'Gee, they didn't have
 >violins in the stone age'.  I think the same is true for
 >synthesized music.  It's not strongly typed.  But throw in
 >the drum kit and electric gituar and suddenly your
 >*instruments* themselves are making a musical statement.
 >Tied to an era.  And sound funny in other settings.

Yes, but why.  The piano should tie the film to the 19th or 20th
century but does not sould out of place in a film set in the middle
ages.  I guess, to give a film the right feel, use of few noticable
equivalents of the instruments of the period.  The score for JASON AND
THE ARGONAUTS has a measured drum beat, but like that of the man who
beat the drum for the galley slaves.

 >
 >So the question of how appropriate a score is boils down to
 >two parts: 1)  Does the compositional style fit, and 2) do
 >the instruments lend themselves to establishing the correct
 >mood.  The score to Ladyhawke blew it on both counts.
 >
 >That's all I've got.  This is as hard as defining the
 >concept of 'quality'.  --  __

Well, we may have beat the topic to death.  But I think we are getting
closer to the answer.  Thank you.

				Mark Leeper
				...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper