Maurice Jarre: Film Music Composer Of The 20th Century

Music is used all over the world in movies, plays, and other entertainments. Musical composers are widely known for their talent to create their own original pieces. Each unique composer specializes in a different category of theater and occasionally many categories. One very famous film composer, John Towner Williams, is a very significant part of music history considering his family history, adult development, and musical accomplishments. John Williams, American composer, conductor, and pianist is highly appreciated for his marvelous work of fine arts.

Born on February 8th, 1932 in Floral Park, New York, John Williams has built a fantastic reputation over the past 60 years in cinematic and musical history. Even at age 83, he still composes and conducts musical concerts and film scores. Since 1952, Williams’s success as a composer and conductor has only increased and now he is one of the most popular and successful American orchestral composers of the modern age having created music for over eighty movies such as Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Seven Years in Tibet, The Lost World, Rosewood, Sleepers, Nixon, Sabrina, Schindler 's List, Jurassic Park, Home Alone, Far and Away, JFK, Hook, Presumed Innocent, Always, Born on the Fourth of July, the Indiana Jones trilogy, The Accidental Tourist,

Spike Lee is also known for his use of music and his use of symbolism and metaphor in his films. He has been

He also helped come up with concepts for music videos and served as a co-director in them. Once could have everything put together one minute, but by the next it could all come crashing

Steven Spielberg is a major icon in the film industry and is responsible for directing and producing major productions like Jaws, Star Wars, and Jurassic Park. In his youth, Spielberg was isolated from movies and television shows by his parents. But that didn’t stop his desire to become a filmmaker at as a child after seeing a motion picture. Following his family’s move to San Francisco, Spielberg began sneaking around movie sets at Universal Studios and creating many films of his own. Though his family never seriously encouraged it and he never got the best equipment, Spielberg kept making films and doing what he loved.

Originator Of the original composers we discussed in class, the one that stands out the most for me is Alfred Newman and his music score for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I have discussed this in an earlier paper, but the music used in the movie and in particular, the scene where Quasimodo is placed on display in the public square and is ridiculed by the villagers is the most memorable. The scene has very little dialogue, save for Quasimodo (Charles Laughton) begging for water. As the villagers mock his cries for help, the music comes in and suddenly captures the scene perfectly as the noise of the crowd fades out.

One of the songs he added is titled A Real Hero-College & Electric Youth. It is played frequently during the movie, foreshadowing the ending, it and becomes an irreplaceable part of the viewers final thoughts of the movie. The rest of the soundtrack intertwines with the mysterious/reserved protagonist and, due to the whole soundtrack being in low beats per minute, sophisticated and, electronically produced, it creates a mood of suspense.

Every prominent figure is known for their unique set of abilities, whether it is their ability to act, sing, produce, play a sport, model, etc. However, looking through that facade can either reveal an ethereal soul, or a chamber of ominous secrets. In this case, two notable figures, Richard Wagner and Michael Jackson, both held a number of offenses that would ultimately be deemed immoral by many. What mainly separates Wagner and Jackson from the regular, working class citizens is their fame. One might assume that because of Wagner and Jackson’s fame, people may choose to overlook the unethical actions committed because of their prodigious talent.

In Hollywood, it’s rare, very rare for a name to be associated with as many great projects as John Williams is. Aside from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, I can think of no one but Williams to sit on that throne, and rightfully so. The films he composed for are now either cult classics, regarded as genre-starters or artistic masterpieces. It is virtually impossible to list all of Williams’ scores, specially when most, if not all, are considered works of art that deserves full on explanation of their whys and hows. Having said that, some of his work reached and surpassed your good ol’ epicness level to reach a whole new level. Of those works, the most notoriously known is Star Wars.

The soundtracks of his movies help the audience become engrossed in the film. He collaborated with John Williams to create iconic soundtracks in movies that people of all ages will recognize, such as the Jaws theme and the adrenaline-based beat of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Case in point, Spielberg’s Jaws theme is recognizable by people who haven’t even actually watched the movie. His suspenseful buildup of dunun... dunun- and you know the rest- put Jaws on the list of top soundtracks.

John Williams has worked closely with Steven Spielberg, creating extraordinary compositions for Spielberg’s cinemas (Eldridge). John Williams’ stated, “So much of what we do is ephemeral and quickly forgotten, even by ourselves, so it's gratifying to have something you have done linger in people's memories” (Truitt). Without

His films are labeled as African-American Cult classics. Although most films are independent, it has gained notoriety within the African-American communities gaining dedicated and passionate movie watchers who mostly engage in re-watching Spike Lee Joints, and knowing almost every piece of dialogue said throughout each movie. Most moviegoers do not think of Terence Blanchard, the man behind the film score. Mr. Blanchard and Lee are the ultimate duo in the film industry. Spike Lee gets the script perfect and Terence Blanchard makes the movie come alive with the music score.

The dramatic contrast of dynamics between themes, pitch, chromatic harmonies and discords used in Night on Bald Mountain are still used in musical scores for horror movies. I remember hearing this music in Disney’s Fantasia and thinking, “Boy, do I need to run.” It still has that same effect. In the movie, Chernabog, the evil god, appears in the final segment of the film and summons spirits around the mountain. There’s not another score of music that could perfectly illustrate the final scene of Disney’s Fantasia than Night of Bald Mountain.

In the music world, Lin Manuel Miranda is well known for his musicals and his songs written for movies. Over the course of his musical career, Miranda has written countless songs for various things from musicals to movies. He has won over twenty awards for his projects, some of which are for his newest musical Hamilton, which took him six years to complete. Not only do his projects and music win awards, but he does as well. There are many, for example he has has one the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics as well as the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music.

Tempo is the speed in which a piece is played, Since there are multiple pieces of music combined in a film score there can be multiple changes in tempo per piece. Classical music on the other hand does not have as many tempo changes because it can be extremely complex. Classical music on the other had is quite a bit more complex in the general terms because it was all hand arranged and written while modern music has a lot of technological help. Classical music can be a film score but a film score cannot be classical music, I doesn’t meet the criteria required to be a film score. The tempo of music can influence the mood, a fast tempo can lead to an urgency or it can introduce a tension to the audience.