This weekend my kids and I were visiting a friend and watched a delightful movie called “The Button Wars.” I was set in Ireland and in one scene, two small boys played pennywhistle during a victory celebration. It got me thinking about movies and music. Although I’ve always been involved in music, I find I ignore most of the background music in movies. But in some cases, the music has really made an impression, especially if it is incorporated into the plot. Some examples are “The Dead”, “The Secret of Roan Inish”, “The Shipping News”, and, in a different vein, “Mo’ Better Blues”.
I just wondered if anyone else has had any good musical experiences in the celluloid world that they’d like to share.
I know everyone’s gonna say this, but I love the music from braveheart, I finally got the soundtrack today. oh yeah, also the music from Tarzan, Phil Collins is awesome.
“Enchanted April” - It’s oboe, but some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard. I’ve watched the movie many times, sometimes just to listen to the music. It can actually bring tears to my eyes. There’s apparently no sound track available. I’ve searched high and low.
Susan
I’d never thought of playing the theme on my whistle but I just did and it’s beautiful!
[ This Message was edited by: susnfx on 2002-04-03 19:08 ]
A couple that stand out for me are Barry Lyndon, a Kubrik movie based on the Thackeray novel, that was mostly Irish trad music done by (I think) the Chieftains (including quite a bit of whistle); and McCabe and Mrs Miller, with music by Leonard Cohen.
The only movie I ever watched and went right out and got the soundtrack was " The Long Riders". ( James Gang western in the 80’s starring all real live brothers as the brothers in the movie which was an added bonus)Ry Cooder did a lot of the work on that one.Great music from the American Civil War Era.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. There’s a soundtrack cd, which I like, but the music made a tremendous contribution to the movie.
The opening scene to the first Star Trek movie, where the Klingons are investigating an intrusion into their space- very exotic and Russian sounding.
I liked the background theme to The Omega Man, a sci-fi from the 70’s with our favorite non-whistler, Charleton Heston.
Agnes Brown, a very entertaining video, released about a yr ago has great Irish music by the Chieftains, starting with a fast version of Banish Misfortune during a chaotic funeral scene, as well as some buskers on the street in Dublin.
The very recent Lord of the Rings sounded pretty cool. I thought for sure, they’d mess that up.
I’ll second Secret of Roan Inish, which has a great music score and cd.
Jeremiah Johnson had some very cool guitar picking, and totally different, was the music during the futuristic disaster scenes in Terminator. The credits stated “Burning in the Third Degree.”
Almost forgot. If you ever get your hands on the soundtrack to the old movie, Sounder, about the sharecroppers in 1930’s Southern US. Taj Mahal plays some incredible syncopated frailing banjo that should not be missed. There is a track of rhythmic hand clapping that is unbelievable, too.
(Yep, I always tune in to the music background in movies.)
Tony
The one that immediately pops to my mind is “O Brother Where Art Thou”. All this incredible old-timey bluegrass music that has become the “newest thing”. A great movie too. And the Coen brothers fit the music and the movie together so well. Long Live The Soggy Bottom Boys!
Michael Nyman’s music for THe Draughtsman’s Contract. It was weird harpsichordy modern cum Baroque stuff. The piece that’s interspersed with dialogue/catty remarks between people in the first (I think) scene of the movie was just amazing.
I’ve to admit, though, I didn’t spot a single one of the so-called clues in that movie that revealed who killed the victim. I guess I’m not a very visual person.
I liked quite a lot of the music
in movies mentioned above.
And I think we might add the sound
track to 2001, which may have been
the best use of classical music
in science fiction.
The score to the silent Eisenstein
movie ‘Battleship Potemkin,’ and
also the Prokofief score to Eisenstein’s
‘Alexander Nevsky.’ Two things about
the latter film–virtually every movie about
midieval warfare is based on the battle
on the plain of ice from that film
(between the noble Russian peasants and
the German Teutonic knights (guess
who they really are?). Second, the
movie starts in black and white, and
somewhere around the middle someone
rode up with color film and they
put it in the camera and presto!
Color! No explanation.
Well, I suppose musicals don’t count.
But if they did…
Two come to mind…the soundtack from The Power of One (including The Pennywhistle Song) and Mother Africa and the soundtrack from Waking Ned Divine, including a gorgeous song by Sean Davy called ‘Hear Me’.
I love “Duel of the Fates” from Star Wars Episode 1 - very dramatic. There’s also some really good music on the sound track of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.
I’m a Marc Bolan fan so I really like the sound track of the movie “Billy Elliot”.
the soundtrack from Waking Ned Divine, including a gorgeous song by Sean Davy called ‘Hear Me’.
I admit I wondered why no-one had mentioned this little gem of a film earlier.
The song you mention from it, when is it played? I, along with a lot of other whistlers, have been desperate to know the beautiful slow air the whistler plays when they’re carrying Ned to the church. Do you know if it is on a recording?
Best regards,
Neil Dickey
[ This Message was edited by: ndjr on 2002-04-04 00:35 ]
I love movie soundtracks.
My husband built his own speakers.
The bass is the size of a washing machine.
Seriously!!! It can really put out the sound
There are two mid-sized speakers and two tweaters mounted on the walls.
It’s like being in the theater when we rent out videos and crank up the sound.
We have a few compilations of movie soundtracks.
Hollywoods greatest hits by Erich Kunzel
Which has theme song from Jaws, Doctor Zhivago, Out of Africa (my favorite), Rocky…
Star Tracks by Erich Kunzel to name a few titles, Star Wars main theme, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters…
Then we cannot forget the Cartoon Classics from the Bugs Bunny days… The Barber of Seville, Hungarian Rhapsody.
One of my favorite soundtracks is Mission Imposible.
There are times when I lay off of the Celtic music and slip in these CDs.
Makes for some great motivation for the kids when I need housework done… they like it.
I answered my own question from page 1 of this thread. The movie ( VHS ) Waking Ned Devine and a CD of the soundtrack are available at Amazon.com. Here’s the URL:
O Brother Where Art Thou, which someone else already mentioned. The City of Angels (1998ish, Nick Cage and Meg Ryan) soundtrack has some great blues on it.