Tag Archives: film music

“Overture” from Ben-Hur by Miklos Rozsa (1959)

One thing that must be understood about “classic” Hollywood films (usually anything made before 1960) is that in those days, the large epic films were constructed very much like an opera or a play would be. By this I mean, they would have separate screens labelled “overture” (as Ben-Hur does above), “Intermission” and also “Exit Music” (music that would play while the audience left the theatre).

This overture was composed by the Hungarian composer Miklos Rozsa for the 1959 epic Ben-Hur. He won the Academy Award for Best Score and many cite it as being one of the greatest film scores of all time. The image is an extreme close-up of the figures of Adam and God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Above is the first eight measures from the beginning of the overture (from the original score)

I love this overture because of how it begins, with this attention-grabbing fanfare from the brass and woodwinds. The call repeats three times and swells at the last moment before the brass breaks through with the immortal “Hallelujah” motif (my term for it), the timpani thundering in the background. The motif repeats again, and again, building and swelling and then…dying away into the main love theme and other side themes that recur throughout the film. That’s a technique seen multiple times in film overtures: beginning with a brassy motif and transferring to strings (*cough* think of Star Wars *cough*)

The overture ends as it began, with the brass and woodwind trumpet call, more firm this time. This signals that the overture is ending and the main story is about to begin.

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James Horner talks Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

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It is always invaluable to hear a composer speak about why he created a film score in a certain way. Just imagine if it had been possible to videotape Beethoven or Mozart speaking about THEIR works.

Resources like this become all the more valuable (and poignant) when the composer passes away suddenly. While many of the greats (including James Horner) have passed on, at least we have a portion of their thoughts set down and recorded.

In this interview, James Horner (who is greatly missed) talks about his thought process behind writing the genius score for one of the greatest Star Trek films of all time. After the critical failure of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, director Nicholas Meyer wanted to create a totally different feel and sound for the sequel. The director had a particular vision of “Horatio Hornblower in space,” which inspired Horner to create a distinctly nautical sound in the music for The Wrath of Khan.

The score is also more heavily based on leitmotif’s, with very few “hummable” themes, a direct contrast to Goldsmith’s score for The Motion Picture (think of Ilia’s Theme or the Klingon’s Theme). There are a few subtle homages to Goldsmith’s score for The Motion Picture however: during Khan’s surprise attack, Horner employs the “blaster beam” which was used in the previous film as a notable sound effect for the V’Ger alien.

Horner’s score for The Wrath of Khan is widely considered to be the greatest score found in a Star Trek film, though some prefer Eidelman’s score for The Undiscovered Country. Again, I hope you enjoy listening to this interview from the late, great, James Horner.

See also:

James Horner talks Aliens (1986)

James Horner talks Field of Dreams (1989)

James Horner talks The Rocketeer (1991)

James Horner scoring Braveheart (1995)

James Horner talks The Perfect Storm (2000)

James Horner talks A Beautiful Mind (2001)

James Horner talks Windtalkers (2002)

James Horner talks Avatar (2009)

James Horner talks The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

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Jerry Goldsmith talks Alien (1979)

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Jerry Goldsmith talks Alien (1979)

A look inside Goldsmith’s thought process when he created the score for the ever-terrifying Alien (for a sense of contrast, keep in mind that he composed Alien in the same year as Star Trek: The Motion Picture!!) In fact, if you listen closely, some say that you can hear some of the same minor themes in both films. Primarily listen to the music early in Alien when the camera is panning through the empty corridors of the Nostromo and compare to the music in the scene where Spock is stealing a thruster suit rather late in the film.

*Alien credit to Bill Gold

Jerry Goldsmith talks Chinatown (1974)

Jerry Goldsmith talks Lionheart (1987)

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

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A Tale of Two Spocks: Spock’s Theme in Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country

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Whenever a film franchise is fortunate enough to grow into a large series, it is very rare that each of the films can be scored by the same composer (Star Wars being a happy exception). Because most film franchises (i.e. James Bond, Mission Impossible, Star Trek) change film composers frequently, it is common for themes to differ from one film to the next. For example, if you listen to the themes of Mission Impossible and Mission Impossible 2, you would notice a huge difference in terms of style.

Occasionally though, themes created by different composers for the same character can sound very similar. In this case, I draw your attention to a set of themes, each created for the character of Spock from the original Star Trek series. The first theme was created by James Horner for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in 1982.

The music begins with a soft glass-edged melody that gently drops down into the secondary theme (plucked out by the harp). This melody is a perfect characterization of Spock: he is Kirk’s rock, the perfect voice of reason. Kirk cannot conceive of a world where Spock is not by his side (which makes the ending of the film all the more upsetting).

“Spock” Wrath of Khan (1982)

The second theme was composed by Cliff Eidelman for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. I apologize if the quality of sound isn’t as good, I’m still looking for an audio-only clip of this theme and when I find it I will post it here. At any rate, listen to the theme below and note how similar it is to Horner’s theme (I find both to be exceptionally beautiful).

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country “Spock and Valeris”

In fact, the two themes are so complementary to one another, that one wonders if Eidelman took direct inspiration from Horner’s theme when he put this score together (it’s no secret that they wanted James Horner to compose Star Trek VI, perhaps Eidelman was instructed to imitate Horner’s style. Of course it could just all be a coincidence, but i love to speculate on these things).

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"Overture" from The Magnificent Seven by Elmer Bernstein

See also: Film Soundtracks A-W

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The Empire Strikes Back: “The Imperial March” by John Williams

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The famous Imperial March a.k.a Darth Vader’s theme. This music never fails to send a chill down my spine. What’s interesting is the contrast between the main “Imperial March” that everyone knows and the softer “B” melody, that’s played in the middle. The woodwinds create an unbelievable sense of tension that sets the listener up for the return of the primary “A” melody which quickly modulates into a different key.

The theme is first heard in The Empire Strikes Back when we cut away from the Rebel base to get our first look at the Imperial fleet, but it is also notably used to herald Vader’s arrival in the ruins of Hoth base, and as the remaining heroes rush for the Millennium Falcon, the camera repeatedly comes back to Vader striding through the ice caverns.

Later on in the film, during the climactic lightsaber duel between Luke and Vader on Cloud City, the theme comes back rather menacingly as Vader begins to use the Force to hurl objects at Luke to distract him.

Though there are other instances after this one, I would like to highlight one final time we hear the Imperial March and that is, ironically enough, at the end of Vader’s death scene at the end of Return of the Jedi. Just after Vader/Anakin dies, listen very carefully to the music in the background.

Right there on the harp, is the last iteration of the melody, so soft you can barely hear it, and nothing like the strident march first heard in The Empire Strikes Back. Fitting for a villain who was successfully brought back to the side of good.

See also: Film Soundtracks A-W

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“Main Theme” from Star Trek First Contact by Jerry Goldsmith

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This haunting theme is the main title from Star Trek: First Contact. This 1996 film is a continuation of a story begun in “The Best of Both Worlds Parts One and Two”, the third season finale and season four opener to Star Trek: The Next Generation. In those episodes, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) was kidnapped by the Borg and forcibly turned into a cyborg himself.

Now, six years later, the Borg have returned and Picard must confront his greatest enemy once and for all. I always found this theme to be incredibly beautiful. In fact, composer Jerry Goldsmith originally wrote this theme for the earlier film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. In that earlier film, this theme represented “friendship,” namely the friendship that existed between Kirk, Spock and McCoy, who would literally do anything to help each other. To hear the theme in that movie, watch the opening scene when Kirk is climbing El Capitan, and you can hear a brief echo of the theme, which returns later in the campfire scene.

I hope you enjoy it.

Above is a simplified arrangement of the opening measures of the First Contact theme

See also: Film Soundtracks A-W

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Star Trek Insurrection:”Ba’Ku Village” (1998)

See also: Film Soundtracks A-W

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"Ride of the Firemares" by James Horner

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Krull is one of the first films to feature a score by James Horner and is personally one of my favorite pieces of film music period. The movie was a combination of science-fiction and high fantasy and attempted to cash in on the popularity of sci-fi after the debut of Star Wars in 1977. The plot centers on Prince Colwyn gathering allies to rescue his betrothed, Princess Lyssa, from the clutches of the extraterrestrial Beast, who wants to marry her himself. “Ride of the Firemares” is set in the latter part of the film when the heroes are riding to the rescue of the princess on “firemares”; horses that can travel incredibly fast and leave trails of fire in their wake. They have to arrive quickly because the fortress Lyssa is being held in changes location every 24 hours, and firemares are the only way to reach the fortress’s location in time.

Krull “Ride of the Firemares”

The heroes on firemares

In truth the “firemares” were large draft horses with fake fur attached to their legs, but the scene is enjoyable nonetheless. I especially enjoy the little detail where the horses move so fast that they can actually run on the air (essentially they can fly). If you like quirky science-fiction/fantasy from the early 1980s, this is definitely the movie for you. Is the plot perfect? No. It’s blatantly obvious in some points that the film is borrowing from Star Wars, but if you take the film as it is, it’s very enjoyable.

Colwyn and Lyssa

See also: Film Soundtracks A-W

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“Enterprise Clears Moorings” from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

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This is one of my favorite pieces from James Horner’s score for the second Star Trek motion picture. In this scene, Admiral Kirk has boarded the Enterprise as it is about to leave for what is supposed to be “a minor training cruise” with some cadets from Starfleet Academy. Right before they depart however, Captain Spock decides that Cadet Saavik should be the one to pilot the Enterprise out of space dock (even though she has never done so before).

McCoy: “Would you like a tranquilizer?”

“Enterprise Clears Moorings” (Soundtrack Version)

The best part (in my opinion) begins at the moment when the ship begins to move out of space dock. The way Horner builds and swells the music, it reminds me always of an actual sailing ship moving out into the open water.

Enjoy!

To hear the music in context, check out the clip below (music begins at 0:43)