Random question of the day: How will Film Scores be categorized two hundred years from now?

[charlie and algernon]

Yeah, I know, random. But I'm listening to a classical brass station on Pandora and it's now played both the Main Star Wars Theme and the Empire Strikes Back March. So that got me thinking, if John Williams is getting played next to Copeland and Stravinsky and Mozart now, how will the great film composers and their scores be looked at two centuries from now when their music is as old as Mozart's is today?


I would certainly hope beyond hope that Beethoven, Bach, Copeland, and Mozart are still being played by the National Symphony in 2212. However, will there be nights two hundred years from now where the London Orchestra has the following program:

"Jupiter" - Holst
"Mars" - Holst
"Jurassic Park" - Williams


We currently divide the music into different periods: Classical, baroque, Romantic, etc. Will the music scholars of two hundred years from now have to include film score era from 1900-2012 as equal to the other major eras of classical music?

[navarth]

1. well....

if we're all Marching Morons by then it might be greatest hits of elvis next to Stravinsky. if that indeed does happen, I'll be glad I'm dead.

[charlie and algernon]

5. I guess that's the other side of the question

Does "Rock and Roll" get looped into what's seen as the natural progression from the music of the 1600-1700's? So that future orchestras have to include musicians who can play electric guitars. Or does classical music and modern rock/pop remain seperate entities with film scores joining the music of Mozart and Beethoven?

[NV Whino]

2. I've long said that some of the best contemporary classical music

Is film scores. So, yes, I think they will stand along side what we consider classical music.

[rug]

3. John Williams and Non John Williams

[charlie and algernon]

4. nah, it'll be Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, and Ennio Morricone at the top

Those three account for 85% of all the famous scores out there.

The 2nd Tier will be James Horner, Randy Edelman, and Vangelis.

[navarth]

11. I strongly disagree with that

You have neglected the vast majority of the great film composers in your list. No disrespect to Williams, Morricone and Goldsmith (Goldsmith was a great guy, I played some pops concerts with him) but they most certainly do NOT account for 85% of famous scores unless you're talking about famous among people who know nothing about great film music and restrict it to films since 1980. To leave out David Raksin, Alex North, Max Steiner, Hugo Friedhoefer, Elmer Bernstein, Quincy Jones....the list goes on and on....that's just wrong.

Not a big deal, nobody will die from it, but it's a pet peeve of mine.

[OriginalGeek]

6. I thought "classical" was a designation of style, not period

Isn't there classical music being produced today? They may invent a term for this period but it would still be classical, wouldn't it? It's not rock or hip-hop or country or even Jazz so I'd guess classical is classical....

[charlie and algernon]

7. Now, it's all refered to as "Classical music" but there was a Classical Period.

Baroque from 1600-1750 (JS Bach)
Classical from 1750-1820 (Mozart and Beethoven)
Romantic from 1820-1910 (Chopin and Mendelssohn)

[OriginalGeek]

8. Always learning on DU!

thanks for the explanation.

I think my Winamp is reading my posts...as I was reading this thread Handel's Water Music popped up in the playlist. I'm not trying to pretend I know much about classical - I got this album called 100 Masterpieces of classical music because I want to learn more about it. I put it on my music server at work and load everything I have and hit randomize so I just listen to whatever comes up (mostly metal and regular rock though) and Handel conveniently came on just as I was reading a post about classical music...Hmmmmmmmmmm (lol)

[HopeHoops]

9. "Loud", "Louder", "REALLY fucking Loud"

[Populist_Prole]

10. Oh yeah, no doubt!

Scores and effects volumes are getting ridiculous. My thumb gets gets quite a workout, as does my remote volume buttons. Up & down, up & down, up & down. One minute I've got the volume jacked up high enough to hear the dialogue over the score, then some LOUD effect sound near blows the windows out of my house before I can turn the volume down low enough. Sometimes I'll even hit the mute button so my neighbors won't think I lit an M-80 in the house.

Seems real bad on movies from the 90's on.