Your favorite movie soundtracks from period dramas!

[StringPicker6]

Here's the theme song:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3DB-uJ0TxKQ&ra=m

[Silence Dogood]

This thread has me wondering about some things, like: how do the modern composers stack up against "the masters," etc?  Were the great composers great because they were innovators, or were there just not as many people doing it then?  Maybe both are true to a degree? 

Something that has occurred to me many times is that I often get bored to death listening to Bach or Mozart, but I can listen to the same movie soundtrack over and over again.  Why do I like one more than the other?  Is my modern ear more tuned to a movie soundtrack?  Or do I find it objectively more appealing and beautiful? 

In part, I think I sometimes make things harder than they are.  I've been told all the old classical music contains meanings, storylines, etc, but I have never been educated in how to understand or appreciate it.  Same with the paintings in a museum. 

"Can you see what the artist was trying to say here?..." 

Me: "Nope, but I love the painting." 

In modern music, I just listen and enjoy it.  But with the old music, I often feel like I'm not immersed enough in the history and culture of it all enough to enjoy it fully. 

[StringPicker6]

I have a book called "the vintage guide to classical music". I bought it years ago because I have a lot of my deceased Dad's old records of classical music. To date, I have not read the book, and the records are largely unplayed.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray...

[B0WIE]

This thread has me wondering about some things, like: how do the modern composers stack up against "the masters," etc?  Were the great composers great because they were innovators, or were there just not as many people doing it then?  Maybe both are true to a degree? 

 One important thing I heard pointed out recently (might have been Billy Corgan, but I'm not sure) is that we only know about the brilliant composers of the past. There are tens of thousands who are forgotten. I'll bet a lot of them were even great. Think of how many writers and painters who never saw fame in their lifetime, but someone saw their work later on. Classical musicians are unlikely to be remembered that way because rediscovering an opera is quite complicated.

  I feel there's also a lot of brilliant modern composers. Problem is, most of them have to make a living so commercial interests affect how expressive they can be. And, a lot of great composers don't write classical music. I think of Frank Zappa as being brilliant as a composer, but he chose to amuse himself and create pieces that were challenging rather than prioritizing what would please the public.

[BlueBowman]

Sorry, been away for a couple days due to life stuff!

Something that has occurred to me many times is that I often get bored to death listening to Bach or Mozart, but I can listen to the same movie soundtrack over and over again.  Why do I like one more than the other?  Is my modern ear more tuned to a movie soundtrack?  Or do I find it objectively more appealing and beautiful? 

Story + music = greater emotional impact. I think that's why the movie and TV soundtracks stick with us more than, say, a random piece of classical music  When done well, the two go beautifully together. I've been turned on to lots of classical music via movies and TV, where I'm not so sure I would've had the same reaction had I listened to the music on its own. Interesting to think about. I'm also a fan of many broadway plays, where I many times greatly prefer the music to the plays themselves.

In part, I think I sometimes make things harder than they are.  I've been told all the old classical music contains meanings, storylines, etc, but I have never been educated in how to understand or appreciate it.  Same with the paintings in a museum. 

I'm not a big symphony guy, but I do love Beethoven's 9th ("Ode to Joy"). That symphony is telling a story, no doubt in my mind. And like a story, perhaps not every single moment is filled with excitement. There are parts of the 1st movement that don't blow me away, but the music is setting us up for what comes next: the beginning of the 2nd movement, which I think is some of the most powerful classical music ever written. Straight up SICK is what I wanted to say. Dude that wrote that felt...deeply.

I'm of the opinion that classical music, especially a piece like the 9th, needs to be listened to on the best sound system one can find, and it needs to be listened to loudly.

[Silence Dogood]

Story + music = greater emotional impact. I think that's why the movie and TV soundtracks stick with us more than, say, a random piece of classical music  When done well, the two go beautifully together. I've been turned on to lots of classical music via movies and TV, where I'm not so sure I would've had the same reaction had I listened to the music on its own.

I think there's truth in what you say, but it's also strange that many of the soundtracks/scores that really blow me away are from movies I've never seen.  I tend to get interested in a composer (e.g. John Barry, James Horner, at al) and I'll go down a rabbit hole of their music.  I think there must be some kind of modern emotional connection I have with the way they compose music vs how someone did in the 1700s or 1800s.  But then again, and along those lines, I tend to love the music of Turlough O'Carolan.  His melodies sound fresh to me and he lived in the 1600/1700s. 

All said, it's all a bit mysterious to me.