I get what he’s saying about the fragmentary nature of film compositions. And serving an industry will inevitably have a certain meat grinder aspect to it that constrains artistic freedom.
I think even run-of-the-mill film music serves an important purpose of adding gravity to a scene. But when you have a master at work, it can be a somewhat bittersweet experience that leaves you craving for something you cannot have.
To take Williams as an example, in The Force Awakens, I thought Rey’s theme was hauntingly beautiful, but you’re only left with a glimpse of it. Where a film takes its music from a symphony, you can go listen to the latter afterwards to get your fix. I suppose that’s analogous to how a film adapted from a book leaves you the option to read the latter if you’re looking for more of the narrative?
But history is full of run-of-the-mill music written in a meat grinder way. You take someone like Joseph Haydn working at what essentially amounted to a symphony mill, churning out one after another. Most of this type of music doesn’t last the test of time, and there are plenty of forgotten composers. Will Williams be among them? I seriously doubt it, though only time will tell.
I get what he’s saying about the fragmentary nature of film compositions. And serving an industry will inevitably have a certain meat grinder aspect to it that constrains artistic freedom.
I think even run-of-the-mill film music serves an important purpose of adding gravity to a scene. But when you have a master at work, it can be a somewhat bittersweet experience that leaves you craving for something you cannot have.
To take Williams as an example, in The Force Awakens, I thought Rey’s theme was hauntingly beautiful, but you’re only left with a glimpse of it. Where a film takes its music from a symphony, you can go listen to the latter afterwards to get your fix. I suppose that’s analogous to how a film adapted from a book leaves you the option to read the latter if you’re looking for more of the narrative?
But history is full of run-of-the-mill music written in a meat grinder way. You take someone like Joseph Haydn working at what essentially amounted to a symphony mill, churning out one after another. Most of this type of music doesn’t last the test of time, and there are plenty of forgotten composers. Will Williams be among them? I seriously doubt it, though only time will tell.