How to Write Music for Rolling Boulders

[robcat2075]

NYT has an extended essay, with numerous audio examples, on John Williams' scoring for scenes you often don't notice the music to...

How to Write Music for Rolling Boulders (free to read)

John Williams may be America’s most famous living composer. He’s definitely the world’s most celebrated living film composer. You can probably whistle some of his famous anthems from memory: the heraldic fanfare from the soaring theme from "Star Wars" and the gutsy (and slightly impertinent) march from “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” But these melodies are just a small fraction of his contribution to audiences’ experiences of those films — and only hint at the complexity of writing music for the screen...

[tbdana]

Fun article. Thanks for sharing.

[baBposaune]

An article worth reading and listening to the clips with music alone and with the complete scene. I just saw Indiana Jones 5 and it's wonderful! The movie was well done and the John Williams score is a real treat. Also, my wife and I stayed in the theater and watched ALL of the end credits to read the names of people in the orchestra.

I've said that I'd see it again and after reading the article I would go to TRY and listen to the underscore more closely. Of course, I could buy the soundtrack album, and I just might.

Matt Varho

[JohnL]

Thanks for posting this, Robcat.

What occurred to me after reading the article is that John Williams would have written completely different music for "rolling boulders" (i.e., an avalanche) than he wrote for "trying to escape a huge rolling stone ball deathtrap" - and that's part of what makes him a great film composer.