July 3, 2007

  • HB: David Shire

    Today marks the birthday of film composer David Shire (b. 1937).  Shire's most remembered for several scores in the 1970s, though he has been busy a lot in television through the past few decades.  It's a few mid-70s scores that stick out most in his early career. 

    1974's tense thriller The Conversation is the first score that Shire fans point to as a sign of his genius.  The "less-is-more" mostly piano score was an interesting touch in a transitional Hollywood period of pop songs over orchestral scoring.  That year also featured my favorite Shire score, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 which features an awesome funky ostinato pattern. 

    1975 found the composer exploring two different genres.  First was Farewell, My Lovely with a dour Robert Mitchum playing detective Philip Marlowe and Shire provided an updated film noir approach.  Then came the disaster flick The Hindenburg with an amazing central theme. 

    All the President's Men (1976) found Shire back at minimal scoring again.  The music here is so subtle that even when it plays you really forget that it is even there on the soundtrack. 

    While work was steady, the big break of other composers never seemed to find Shire who quietly created one masterpiece after another it would seem.  Younger film fans might even remember the paraplegic horror filck Monkey Shines (1988) as another memorable Shire score.  But by now he had faded into the background of the "big" Hollywood names choosing instead a career teaching a number of the future film composers. 

    He has been nominated only twice for an Oscar and in both instances it was for songs in the same year, 1979.  The first being "I'll Never Say Goodbye" the gorgeous love theme from The Promise.  The other for "It Goes Like it Goes" for Norma Rae.  The latter won. 

    This year Hollywood was all abuzz with news of Shire's music for Zodiac.  It turns out that the buzz was worth it and Shire's score is really an amazing piece of dramatic writing that shows restraint and uses everything he has been noted for in his music.  The thematic idea, heard at the end of the CD release, allows you to go back and hear how Shire had deconstructed and distributed various threads and motives from this idea throughout the fabric of the score.  It's really amazing and one can hope in a year so far that has been rather lackluster, that some may remember him come awards time.  It will be a long shot, but it is one worth hoping for at any rate.