Classic FM Greatest Soundtrack poll
Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:44 am
I have just read the Classic FM poll of the 150 greatest movie soundtracks and it has depressed me, although not in the slightest surprised me. In the top 150 'definitive' poll E.W. Korngold gets only one mention with The Adventures of Robin Hood at No. 64. Max Steiner, Franz Waxman, Alfred Newman and Miklos Rozsa fared only slightly better. At least Hugo Friedhofer got a mention too! Some of the films which beat Robin Hood are The Da Vinci Code, The Thomas Crown Affair, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Forrest Gump, Ladies in Lavender, Apollo 13, Last of the Mohicans, Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Carribean etc. I do not wish to denigrate these scores as most of the scores in the list really are fine scores. But better than Robin Hood? Or the Sea Hawk etc, etc?
John Williams is top composer with 19 scores in the list. Naturally number 1 goes to Star Wars, which is an underhanded compliment to the likes of Korngold, Rozsa and their era. To be fair to Williams though, he says in an interview in the magazine, "...I should say though that polls like this may be a little deceiving. Every score functions in a different way. So it might do some disservice to other scores that have worked brilliantly in their roles but wouldn't be recognised in a poll like this." The magazine have listed the top 10 composers based on their numerical positions in the poll. From 1 to 10 they are John Williams, Bernard Herrmann, Maurice Jarre, Ennio Morricone, Thomas Newman, Hans Zimmer, John Barry, Elmer Bernstein, Patrick Doyle and James Horner. All fine composers, but is Thomas Newman really better than his father Alfred etc, etc. Of course, one should never get too hung up on such polls. Classic FM polls have Vaughan Williams Lark Ascending as the greatest piece of music ever. Enough said (again, not to denigrate a fine piece). My biggest complaint is only the use of 'Definitive' when taking a poll judged on popularity and not necessarily on quality.
So what do we Korngoldians think about it. Should we be concerned or should we just let an unimportant matter lie, while we smile the smile of reason and sit comfortably with the soothing thought that we know better.
Peter
John Williams is top composer with 19 scores in the list. Naturally number 1 goes to Star Wars, which is an underhanded compliment to the likes of Korngold, Rozsa and their era. To be fair to Williams though, he says in an interview in the magazine, "...I should say though that polls like this may be a little deceiving. Every score functions in a different way. So it might do some disservice to other scores that have worked brilliantly in their roles but wouldn't be recognised in a poll like this." The magazine have listed the top 10 composers based on their numerical positions in the poll. From 1 to 10 they are John Williams, Bernard Herrmann, Maurice Jarre, Ennio Morricone, Thomas Newman, Hans Zimmer, John Barry, Elmer Bernstein, Patrick Doyle and James Horner. All fine composers, but is Thomas Newman really better than his father Alfred etc, etc. Of course, one should never get too hung up on such polls. Classic FM polls have Vaughan Williams Lark Ascending as the greatest piece of music ever. Enough said (again, not to denigrate a fine piece). My biggest complaint is only the use of 'Definitive' when taking a poll judged on popularity and not necessarily on quality.
So what do we Korngoldians think about it. Should we be concerned or should we just let an unimportant matter lie, while we smile the smile of reason and sit comfortably with the soothing thought that we know better.
Peter