MUSIC 246
Lecture 12
Thursday, March 29, 2012

Igor Stravinsky

Jaws
- shark music no longer played (kids pretending to be sharks, guy throwing meat in water + shark comes out of water)
- no warning music anymore
- fugue (..a round on steroids)

Star Wars
- returned prominence of orchestra to movies
- George Lucas told John Williams to make it sound like Korngold
- tonal

- when Kenobi dies, Leia's theme is played... love of family??

Style of Williams
- 19th century orchestral tradition
- but aware of the newer techniques
- No Pop songs
- Starts with a basic orchestra and then adds what is necessary
- Use of themes - developed throughout the film

1980-93 he is the conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra:
- his film work is reworked into orchestral works
- self-contained concert pieces


James Horner (1953-)
- American Born
- Grew up in England where he attended the Royal College of Music
- Felt that film composing was not a serious artistic outlet
- Began composing for film while at UCLA in 1978 for the American Film Institute (AFI)
- The Lady In Red (1979)
- Breakthrough score was for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
- Greatest success came in 1997: Titanic for which he won two academy awards (Best original Score; Best original song "My Heart Will Go On")

Characteristics:
- Strong melodic composer, often works with the conventional orchestra
- Also capable of incorporating electronic and avant-garde sounds in his work
- Very strong at synchronizing music to visual elements such as scene and camera changes (not Mickey Mousing)
- Despite not having a strong background in Popular music, is also adept at writing in popular styles - "My Heart Will Go On" with Celine Dion


Glory (1989)


Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan
Collegno
