February 10, 2007

  • HB: Jerry Goldsmith

    Today would have been Jerry Goldsmith's 78th birthday (1929-2004).  The world lost this grand film composer a couple of years ago.  Goldsmith's music often made unwatchable films bearable, but when his gifts were matched with great pictures, they were lifted to classic status.  Most of Goldsmith's music broke new ground utilizing a variety of unusual sounds and also found ways to include the growing electornic instrumental sounds as a part of his orchestration instead of simply replacing the orchestra.  Of even greater interest is Goldsmith's fantastic sense of rhythm.  Jazzy syncopations and assymetrical rhythms would become commonplace devices in Goldsmith's hands that would make his action cues the most amazing pieces of music.  They are the reason so many film music fans enjoy his scores. 

    Throughout his long and distinguished career, the composer only managed to receive a few Oscar nominations.  His last nomination came for 1998's Mulan.  His score for 1997's L.A. Confidential was nominated and reflected a return to some of the film noir style that made his score for Chinatown (1974) a classic.  Goldsmith first received recognition for his unusual dramatic score for 1962's Freud.  His one and only Oscar came for the amazing score for 1976's The Omen.  Along the way the composer wrote a number of famous television themes including:  Dr. Kildare, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Room 222, The Waltons, Barnaby Jones, and later Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek Voyager.  He also worked on The Twilight Zone television series and later provided music for the 1983 film compilation.

    Towards the end of his life, Goldsmith embarked on a series of recordings of Alex North's music for Varese Sarabande including the first recording of music from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

    Here are a few suggested scores to get you started (bolded ones are highly recommended) followed by some compilation discs with a collection of the composer's music.

     The 1960s
    Studs Lonigan (of interest also because a young John Williams is the pianist)
    Freud
    The Prize
    A Patch of Blue
    The Blue Max
    The Sand Pebbles
    In Like Flint/Our Man Flint (guilty favorite)
    Planet of the Apes

    The 1970s
    Patton
    Papillon
    Chinatown
    The Wind and the Lion     (worth tracking down, a great score)
    Logan's Run
    The Omen
    Islands in the Stream (composer's favorite)
    Great Train Robbery
    Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    Alien (can be heard on the DVD restored, portions of the score replaced by Ridley Scott)

    The 1980s
    Poltergeist
    The Secret of NIMH
    First Blood
    Twilight Zone: The Movie
    Under Fire     (Pat Methany provides the guitar solos)
    Explorers
    Hoosiers (the Goldsmith score everyone wants on CD)
    Lionheart

    The 1990s
    Total Recall
    Medicine Man
    Forever Young
    Basic Instinct
    Rudy
    First Knight
    Powder
    The Ghost and the Darkness
    L.A. Confidential
    Star Trek: First Contact
    Air Force One
    The Edge
    The Mummy
    The 13th Warrior (perfect example of a great score, good companion to The Mummy)

    Final Years
    Hollow Man
    The Last Castle (Goldsmith adopted the main theme as an homage for 9/11)
    Star Trek Nemesis
    Timeline (replaced)
    Looney Tunes: Back in Action (his last score)

    The last 3 scores above are being repackaged by Varese Sarabande as the master's final musical output.