Program No. 62 - Music by Philip Sparke

There wouldn't be many brass band or concert band players out that aren't familiar with Philip Sparke's works.

London born, in 1951, and with his first composition in 1973 (Gaudium), Sparke has written well over 150 works for both brass and concert bands.

Over the years the bands that I have been involved in have played a number of his works, as they are often used as test pieces at both state and national level, both here in Australia, as well as overseas.

Tonight's program will look at only a small selection of his vast catalogue of works, and only for brass bands. Something tells me there will be one or two more shows in the future featuring more of his music.

So, what's on?:

1. Sandstone Centennial (2007)
This march was commissioned by Frodsham Silver Band to celebrate their centenary as a band, and is styled as a traditional march. This recording is by Brass Band De Bazuin Oenkerk with  Klaas van der Woude as conductor, from the album Colour of Brass (2008).

2. The Land of the Long White Cloud - Aotearoa (1979)
This was one of Sparke's first major pieces, and is probably the first piece I recall playing from Sparke. I think that this piece still stands up quite well, and doesn't sound as dated as other major works that I have heard composed in the 70s. This is now seen as a B Grade major work, though back in the 80s it was seen as an A Grade Test Piece. This just shows you how the standard of playing within the brass band movement has increased over the years. This particular recording is by National Youth Brass Band of New Zealand with Nigel Weeks as conductor, from the album Brass Aotearoa: Music for Brass Band from New Zealand (2003).

3. Fugue from Graduation Day (1986)
This piece (full name Prelude, Toccata and Fugue - Graduation Day) was commissioned by Salford College of Technology to be played at the college's 1986 graduation ceremony by their relatively new brass band. The music depicts both the traditional and contemporary sounds of the brass band repertoire at that time. This recording by Buy As You View Cory Band with Robert Childs as conductor from their album Diadem of Gold (2000).

4. Capriccio (1979)
This Eb Soprano Cornet solo was one of the first solo pieces written by Sparke. This recording is by Williams Fairey Band with Major Peter Parkes as conductor, from their album Double Champions (1993).

5. Hymn of the Highlands (2002)
This lengthy (36 minutes) concert piece was commissioned by Professor David King who was at the time conducting the Yorkshire Building Society Band, and was the played at the 2002 European Brass Band Championships Gala Concert, in Brussels.

The concept here was to develop a themed piece that would work as a half concert, and featuring a number of the band's soloists.

There are 7 movements in this work and all are named after locations in the Scottish Highlands:

1. Ardross Castle
2. Summer Isles (Euphonium Solo)
3. Flowerdale (Eb Soprano Cornet Solo)
4. Strathcarron - Sword Dance
5. Lairg Muir (Cornet Solo)
6. Alladale (Flugel Horn, Baritone and Tenor Horn Trio)
7. Dundonnell - Finale

The Flowerdale movement is often used as a standalone solo piece, for Soprano Cornet.
 
I especially enjoy the Finale, having played this on stage only a few weeks ago.

This recording is by Yorkshire Building Society Brass Band with David King as conductor from the album titled Hymn of the Highlands.

6. Music of the Spheres (2004)
This major work was also commissioned by Yorkshire Building Society Band for the 2004 European Brass Band Championships at Glasgow.

The piece reflects Sparke's fascination with the origins of the universe, and space.

The opening of this piece is played by the Tenor Horn at t=0 (or the time of The Big Bang, the creation of time and space). This is then followed by a slower section titled The Lonely Planet (Earth). This is then followed by Asteroids and Shooting Stars, depicting objects flying through space and the piece ends with The Unknown,

This recording is from that 2004 European Championships, and played by Yorkshire Building Society Brass Band with David King as conductor.

7. A Tale as Yet Untold (2010)
This was commissioned for the 2010 European Championships in Linz, Austria, though this time by Cory Band.

I'll quote directly from Sparke himself about what this piece is about:

The ‘tale’ of the title is an autobiographical one which the composer feels need not be divulged to explain the programme of the music, which deals with a much more general human condition. The first movement opens with a nervous repetitive figure in the cornets, under which an impassioned theme develops. This is cut short by a closely related faster section which comprises two alternating moods: an aggressive ‘toccata’ interspersed by a yearning 6/8 melody. The second movement is the heart of the work and symbolises the ability of the human soul to overcome the ‘Sturm und Drang’ of the first movement with an indomitable sense of optimism. The third movement tries to negate this feeling of peace but ends triumphantly in a salute to the power of the human spirit.

This was used as the test piece for the Elitedivisjon of the National Brass Band Championships of Norway this year. The recording tonight is from that contest and features the winning band, Eikanger-Bjørsvik Musikklag, with David King as the conductor.

Next week's topic - staying with brass bands, and looking at brass band arrangements of movie music (for something different!)

Program No. 61 - ABC Classic 100 Movie Countdown (2)

Last week, in the first part of our review of music not included in the ABC Classic 100 Countdown - Music in Movies, we looked at music in the general classical genre that had been successfully used in movies.  This week, in our second and final instalment, we look at music specifically composed for movies.

This was a very difficult list to compile, for a number of reasons. Firstly, most (but certainly not all) of the great scores had already been included in the Top 100 scores (as you would expect). Secondly, and more importantly, because everyone has different taste in music it will mean that there will be a level of discussion (even argument) over what music is more worthy of being included in one of these lists. There is a third reason, specific to my radio show. As we seek to feature brass playing, we will discount or ignore movie scores that perhaps do not feature brass predominantly. This will almost always mean that lighter score work will be overlooked, as will most contemporary music (guitars/drums/keyboard).

That still leaves us with a lot of music to choose from.

I chose, in a lot of instances, with movie scores that I had bought after watching the movie. I think that the mark of great score is one that not only works well within a movie but also as a piece (or pieces) of music on its own. I think most, if not all of this music on tonight fits that category.

I also decided that I wanted to look at some of the composers who have become legends in the genre of movie scoring who failed to get a mention in the Top 100 (even 200). I will explain more about this later.

So without any further delay (and in no real order) I present my playlist for tonight:

1. Fanfare for Rocky (Bill Conti)
Bill Conti has not produced music for many movies. Apart from the Rocky franchise, his other well known works would probably include the original Karate Kid movies, For Your Eyes Only from the James Bond stable, as well as the TV themes for Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and Cagney & Lacey. He also received an Academy Award for his work on The Right Stuff (1983).

The music for Rocky, and more specifically the instrumental Gonna Fly Now (which topped the charts in 1977), is what made Conti famous. This recording of the Fanfare for Rocky is from the 30th Anniversary release of the soundtrack, and is a great introduction to this program.

2. Batman (Danny Elfman)
3. Beetlejuice (Danny Elfman)
A few people queried the omission of any works from Danny Elfman in the Classic Countdown Top 100. The theme from Batman actually comes in at 196.

Elfman has had a very long professional relationship with movie director Tim Burton, having scored almost all his movies (the two exceptions being Ed Wood and Sweeney Todd). Whilst Elfman has never won an Academy Award he has been nominated 4 times.  We will be ignoring those scores nominated and instead play from Batman (1989) (with Jack Nicholson as The Joker), because I think it is one of his best scores,  and Beetlejuice (1989), because my sister asked for it.

4. Welcome to Australia Overture - Australia (David Hirschfelder)
I think Baz Luhrmann gets a bad rap for his movies. I quite like his style, and there is a definite connection in the five movies that he had directed to date, as he knows how to do a love story.

I think that in particular, his 2008 movie Australia gets harshly judged, and unfairly so.  As part of this, the musical work of Australian David Hirschfelder has been largely ignored. Whilst the score uses a number of well know tunes (such as Waltzing Matilda, and Over the Rainbow) Hirschfelder expertly weaves these tunes with his own work. He also collaborated with The John Butler Trio and Mark Lizotte in various parts of the score. The Welcome to Australia Overture is at the start of the movie (obviously) and provides a good range of the music to be heard throughout the movie.

5. Overture - Ben Hur (Miklós Rózsa)
6. King of Kings (Miklós Rózsa)
7. Overture - El Cid (Miklós Rózsa)
Rózsa's musical career included not only movies, but a significant number of other works for orchestra, piano, chamber music and choir.  The Hungarian born Rózsa scored over 100 movies between 1937 and 1982. It was difficult choosing from his vast list. I have gone with three epic movies. 

Ben Hur (1959) is the only movie that coined its own saying (Bigger than Ben Hur), unless you also include the first prequel from Star Wars (Worse than Phantom Menace). Starring Charlton Heston in the title role, this movie would go on to be nominated for 12 Academy Awards, and to win 11, including for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Rózsa's third). There were 12 recording sessions for the score, lasting 72 hours, and in the end, of the 3 hours of music composed for the film, 2 1/2 hours were used in the final cut. Ben Hur is considered by many to be Rózsa's finest movie work.

This was the only score of Rózsa's to be listed in the Classic Countdown at 118.

King of Kings (1961) is the story of Jesus Christ, very unlike Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004). Rózsa's score was nominated for a Golden Globe. This movie has the record of being the first major studio sound film in English to actually depict Christ's face.

El Cid (1961) is one of my favorite movies of this era (Martin Scorsese called it "one of the greatest epic films ever made"). It also starred Charlton Heston as well as Sophia Loren and Frank Thring (who was also in King of Kings). This movie was nominated for three Academy Awards, including for Original Music Score.

8. Suite from Henry V (William Walton)
The full name of this movie is The Cronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France (1944) and is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Henry V. It was directed by, and starred Laurence Olivier. It was nominated for 4 Academy Awards, including William Walton for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, but won only a special Academy Award to Laurence Olivier for "for his outstanding achievement as actor, producer and director in bringing Henry V to the screen."

William Walton is now best known for his choral and orchestral works, most notably the massive cantata, Belshazzar's Feast. It is a testament to his work on Henry V that it is now seen as a piece of orchestral music in its own right. Interestingly Walton has been recorded as noting that film music is ineffective when performed out of context.

The Suite from Henry V is in 5 movements:

1.      Overture - The Globe Playhouse
2.      Passacaglia: Death of Falstaff
3.      Charge and Battle
4.      Touch Her Soft Lips and Part
5.      Agincourt Song.

This recording is by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Andre Previn as conductor. This came in at 184 on the Classic Countdown list.

9. Independence Day Suite (David Arnold)
Independence Day (1996) was a blockbuster film about aliens attacking Earth. The music is by David Arnold. Whilst the movie was fairly average, I remember this buzz about the soundtrack, including some discussion about the insane scoring for the brass section. That's enough for it to be played on tonight's show. Arnold received a Grammy Award for this score.
 
10. Promise Me - First Knight (Jerry Goldsmith)
Jerry Goldsmith wrote a great many scores over a 50 year period, yet the Classic Countdown only includes his work on the Star Trek movies (5 of them). Looking through his list of scores and I see the Rambo movies, Basic Instinct, Mulan, The Mummy, Gremlins, Chinatown, The Planet of the Apes; the list goes on and on. He was nominated for 18 Academy Awards, and won only one, The Omen (1976). Interestingly he attended classes in movie scoring that were taken by Miklós Rózsa.

I have chosen the movie First Knight (1995) for tonight's show as it was one of those times that the music captured my attention more than the movie when seeing this for the first time. It may not be considered his finest score but it one of the ones I have enjoyed listening to the most.

11. Back To The Future (Alan Silvestri)
The only nomination of Silvestri's works on the Classic Countdown is for Forest Gump (No 138). I don't like that score much, but greatly respect other works by him, including Avengers (2012), The Polar Express (2004) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). However for those of you around my age, he may probably be best known for his music for the Back To The Future trilogy (1985, 1989 and 1990). This one was originally chosen by my sister for tonight's show but I must admit I am happy to agree with her.

12. The Battle The Duel The Victory - Robin Hood (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
This score is considered by many to be the finest score ever written, which is then amazing that it only reached 103 in the Classic Countdown.

Korngold composed his first orchestral work at age 14, and drew the attention of both Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler. He has written a large number of orchestral and choral works as well as a couple of dozen movie scores, but was not well known as a composer around the time of his death in 1957.

Korngold received an Academy Award for his work on Robin Hood in 1938.

13. For The Love of A Princess - Braveheart (James Horner)
The score of Braveheart was another one of those overlooked in the Classic Countdown, coming in at 108, which surprised me, as I expected it to be in the top 20.

It is one of the many scores by Horner nominated for an Academy Award. Admittedly not a great deal of brass in this score, but just enough to sneak in it for tonight's show.

14. Quaritch - Avatar (James Horner)
Avatar is the second highest grossing movie of all time - behind Titanic. Both scores were from James Horner, although both are very different from each other.

Horner worked with an ethnomusicologist to create a music culture for the N'avi. Horner has stated that this project has been his biggest, to date. One of my all time favourite soundtracks.

15. Legend of Navarone - The Guns of Navarone (Dimitri Tiomkin)
Tiomkin, together with Alfred Newman (see below) and Max Steiner, were considered the godfathers of film music. Their combined works for over 600 movies during their respective careers have earned them this title.

Tiomkin himself scored over 120 movies, and was nominated for 22 Academy Awards, winning 4.

I chose music from The Guns of Navarone as one of the movies scored by him that I remember from watching TV back in the seventies. The Classic Countdown only has High Noon from Tiomkin, in at 144.

16. Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare (Alfred Newman)
17. How the West Was Won (Alfred Newman)
Newman scored over 200 films over his career. He received 9 Academy Awards, the most for any composer and second only to Walt Disney and was nominated an astonishing 45 times, only behind Walt Disney and John Williams.

The Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare is heard before the screening of every Twentieth Century Fox film, making this the most heard piece of music in cinema history.

The score for How the West Was Won was listed at number 25 of the 25 best scores as decided by the American Film Institute in 2005.

18. Anvil of Grom - Conan the Barbarian (Basil Poledouris)
I have read the declaration on many different websites that the soundtrack to Conan the Barbarian is the greatest film score of all time, which is strange that it is all but ignored in both the Classic Countdown as well as the American Film Institute's list.

Even so, I think this is a cracking soundtrack, although probably not the best mixed one.

19. One Summer's Day - Spirited Away (Joe Hisaishi)
OK. I must admit that Hisaishi would not have featured anywhere in my top 200. There were quite a few on Twitter during the Classic Countdown that queried why he wasn't in the top 100. At that time, I didn't know what he had scored and why people thought so much of him. Then I did some research.

Hisaishi had scored over 100 movies, mostly from his own country of Japan. From an Australian perspective, he is most known for his collaboration with animator Hayao Miyaziki as having scored many of his films, including Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbour Totoro (1988), Spirited Away (2001), and Howl's Moving Castle (2002). These animations are more than "kids' films" even though they have been marketed as such here in Australia and also in the USA. Steven Spielberg is a big fan of Miyaziki, and is instrumental in introducing him to western audiences. From there, the connection with Hisaishi is made.

The Score for Spirited Away comes in at 152 on the Classic Countdown. I have chosen One Summer's Day from that soundtrack for tonight.

20. Hero - Kung Fu Panda (Hans Zimmer)
Excluding Fantasia, the only animation to make it into the Classic Countdown top 100 was Zimmer's score for The Lion King (1994). This is a shame, and probably at least partially reflecting of those that actually voted for the Countdown not being exposed to many current animations (and I do include CGI here).

Having two youngish kids meant that I have seen most of the animated movies over the last 12 or so years, and I reckon that some of the best music over that time has been written for that genre.

King Fu Panda (2008) should have made it in the top 100, I believe. Or at least the top 200. Hans Zimmer has created a wonderful score, and should at least have been nominated for best score in 2009, given the competition that it was up against. This is a score that references many a kung fu movie over the years, providing an adult shine on a very well thought out animated movie. Hero, is the music from the opening sequence of the movie. Think Kill Bill, here.

21. The Incredits - The Incredibles (Michael Giacchino)
From their first feature movie, Toy Story (1985) onwards, I don't believe that Pixar have produced a bad movie. Critics may not agree, and in particular have panned Cars, and its sequel, but I disagree. They appear to have the Midas touch.

There are favourites, though. One of my top 3 Pixar movies would have to be The Incredibles (2004) (don't ask me what the other 2 are. You'd be disappointed). The story, of a super hero family, takes the genre and turns it into something not dealt with before, making this movie much more than a kid's film.

Giacchino received the IFMCA Award in 204 both for Composer of the Year as well as Score of the Year for The Incredibles, as well as Grammy award nominations for both the score and the composition we will be listening to, The Incredits. Although he received subsequent awards for other Pixar movies such as Ratatouille and Up, I think that the Incredibles Soundtrack is superior. Some interesting comments about the recording of the soundtrack can be found here.

22. Lieutenant Kijé Suite (Sergei Prokofiev)
I can hear many readers saying "What?" I don't blame you. This was on my sister's list and again I needed to do some research. But I am more than happy to have this on tonight's playlist.

Prokofiev, is seen by many as being one of the 20th century's most important composers. For most, he is best known for his piece Peter and the Wolf, though he has written many orchestral works, as well as being an accomplished pianist and conductor. The Suite is arranged from music composed for a Soviet comedy called Lieutenant Kije (1934). Its five movements are titled:

1.    The Birth of Kijé
2.    Romance
3.    Kijé's Wedding
4.    Troika
5.    The Burial of Kijé

 As with Dimtri Shostakovich and his score of the 1956 film The Gadlfy, where the music is remembered long after the film has disappeared from memory, so too is the music from Lieutenant Kijé. There are two parts to this suite, though that may be familiar to people, though. The first is the theme in Romance, which fans of Sting may recognise in his 1985 hit song, Russians.  The second is in the theme in Troika, which has been used in numerous films, depicting a wintery scene. There was also an arrangement of this by British instrumental group, Sky, on their album, Cadmium.

23. Finale - Tron Legacy (Daft Punk)
This one is on the list against my better judgement. My sister believes it should be here which is the sole reason why it is being played tonight.

Daft Punk is an electric music duo, otherwise known as Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangelter. Better known for their house music, they have only worked on one movie score, that for Tron Legacy (2010). And whilst they composed the music, it is actually orchestrated by Joseph Trapanese, so a first for everyone there. The piece we will be playing is therefore an all-round collaboration.

 24. Main Titles - Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Michael Kamen)
I remember seeing this at the cinemas with my girlfriend (now my wife), being enthralled by the music and opening credits sequence and being disappointed with the movie. Kevin Costner will never make a good Robin Hood. The music tried hard to save the movie, and it is only on the strength of it that I can recommend this for others to see.

Michael Kamen had a varied, and a very successful career, both as a movie scorer as well as an arranger for pop and rock music. As an arranger he worked with Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Queen, Aerosmith, etc.etc.etc. As a scorer, his movies include X-Men (2000), The Iron Giant (1999), Mr Holland's Opus (1996), Die Hard 1, 2 & 3, as well as the underrated Adventures of Baron Münchhausen.

Rather than using the original soundtrack, I have gone with a recording by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra with Erich Kunzel at the baton, from the album The Great Fantasy-Adventure Album (one of my favourite albums).

25. Promontory - The Last of the Mohicans (Randy Edelman & Trevor Jones)
The score of this movie is excellent, but the story behind it makes you wonder how it became this good. The director, Michael Mann, originally asked Trevor Jones for an electronic score for the film, but then much later decided an orchestral score would be more appropriate for the film. Jones than struggled to rearrange the music for orchestra in time, leading to Randy Edelman being called in to assist Jones as deadlines approached. Unfortunately the score was ineligible for nomination of an Academy Award as the rules at the time disallowed co-contributors from being nominated (this has since changed). Had the rules allowed it, I think this would have won the Award for best score in 1993.

The main theme has been taken from an old tune, titled The Gael.

26. Main Title and First Victim - Jaws (John Williams)
It was an absolute outrage that the score from Jaws did not make it into the top 10 of the Classic Countdown. Even more astounding is at that it came in at 102, not even in the top 100. This same score had been ranked at number 6 of the top scores in the last 100 years in 2005.

This is undoubtedly one of John Williams' finest scores, and the bass and tuba theme is probably one of the most recognisable themes in movie history.

27. Hymn To The Fallen - Saving Private Ryan (John Williams)
I conclude tonight's show with a piece from a movie that has, for some reason, had a significant impact on me.

The Steven Spielberg movie, Saving Private Ryan (1998), was a movie set during World War II, starred Tom Hanks, Edward Burns and Matt Damon. It was nominated for 11 Academy awards in 1999, including best score, and won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound Effects, Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing. Funnily enough the opening half hour is one of the most dramatic movie openings ever, recreating D-Day, and has no music whatsoever.

It is the final scene, where Private Ryan visits the war graves of those that saved him that is one of the most emotional and poignant scenes I have seen in a movie. Music assists in creating the emotional narrative of a film and this is why I believe Hymn to the Fallen to be one of John William's greatest pieces.

Well, what do you think? Has any music been missed that doesn't feature in either the ABC Classic Countdown or in my shows over the last two weeks? Please feel free to add your comments below.

Next week we go back to brass bands as we explore the works of Philip Sparke.

Program No. 60 - ABC Classic 100 Movie Countdown (1)

So, during the Queen's Birthday long weekend, ABC Classic FM ran their annual Classic100 Countdown. This year's theme featured Music in the Movies. You can see what music was voted in by the ABC listeners here.
 
As movie music is one of my favourite music genres, I took special interest in this particular Countdown, and managed to listen to every piece played over the long weekend (9am-7pm Friday, 9am-5pm Saturday and Sunday and then 9am-7pm Monday - Sad, isn't it.) In addition, for a lot of that weekend Countdown, I actively participated in online discussion through Twitter, as pieces were analysed for their inclusion within the Top 100 (I even had one of my Tweets read out on the radio - Sadder, isn't it.).

The interesting discussion points revolved around the listing of those movies and music that did not feature in the Top 100. As it was a count down from 100 to 1, hopes were held high for certain scores and pieces of music, right up until the top 10, and then top 5 were announced. An obvious case was the theme from Jaws, that most people online thought would be in the top 10, and then were astounded when it didn't even make the top 100.

The other topic that came up over the course of the 4 days was the lumping together of music specifically written for movies with music of the classical genre used in movies. This meant that works such as Beethoven's fifth piano concerto (The King's Speech - 2010), Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor (Gallipoli - 1981) and Mozart's Requiem (Amadeus - 1984) were all included, and in fact all were voted in the top 20.

So, from all of that, the topics of the next two programs became evident. Those works that missed out, that I think should have been included in the top 100. And to spread it out, tonight's program will be for "classical' music used in movies, whilst next week's program will feature music composed for movies.  Interestingly, during the week the ABC released the list of music that was voted from 101-200.  This supplementary list may or may not have influenced my play list for the next two weeks.

Now, one of the criteria that ABC Classic FM used was - No Musicals, which we will honor, in spirit, over the next two weeks.

So, what "classical' music will be on the show tonight?

Remembering that my show is called "Brass Monkeys" and features brass instruments over all genres, here is the playlist:

1. Carmina Burana - O Fortuna (Carl Orff)
I first heard this used in Excalibur (1981), starring a, then young, Helen Mirren. It has also been used in Natural Born Killers (1994), as well as dozens of TV shows and documentaries. A special mention also for this award winning beer advert. It came in at 117 on the ABC Classic Count Down. Tonight's recording is by the London Philharmonia Orchestra with Zubin Mehta as conductor.

2. Swan Lake (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
There are two movies that I recall hearing this used, and both to great effect. The first is in Billy Elliot (2000), at the very end of the movie, when Billy has become a professional ballet dancer. The second is in Black Swan (2010), the movie that earned Natalie Portman an Academy Award for her role as Nina Sayers and The Swan Queen. Interestingly according to IMDB website, the original soundtrack for Black Swan, composed by Clint Mansell, is a variation of Swan Lake, but played backwards, and in a distorted manner. This was 160 on the ABC Classic Count Down.  Apologies to the unnamed orchestra on this particular recording.

3. Overture to The Thieving Magpie (Gioacchino Rossini)
This was used in A Clockwork Orange (1971), and whilst the movie is as old as I am, I have yet to see it, so will rely on my sister's suggestion for it to be included tonight.  This did not make the top 200 of the Countdown.  The recording on the actual film soundtrack is an abridged version of the overture. Tonight we are playing it in full, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra (conductor not credited).

4. Finlandia (Jean Sibelius)
Used on Die Hard 2 (1990), (the one that wasn't very good) as well as dozens of TV shows and documentaries. It's 193 on the ABC Classic Count Down. This recording performed by London Symphony Orchestra (once again conductor not credited).

5. In The Hall Of The Mountain King - Peer Gynt Suite (Edvard Grieg)
This has been used in well over a dozen movie trailers, such as Dinner for Schmucks, The Borrowers, Night at the Museum 2, but movie trailers don't count. It was used in the end credits for Rat Race (2001), Scoop (2006), the Aussie movie Young Einstein (1988), as well as Johnny English Reborn (2011), whilst an "interpretation" of it was used in Social Network (2010).  This wasn't included in the top 200 of the Countdown. This recording was made by Philharmonia Slavonica with Alberto Lizzio (apparently a pseudonym) as conductor.

6. Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis (Ralph Vaughan Williams)
"But Steve," I hear you all cry, "there is no brass in this piece". You are all correct. I tend to have one or two pieces in each show that may not strictly fit the "Brass Monkeys" criteria. I have included this because I was certain it was going to be in the top 20 of the Countdown, and it only ended up at 126. This was used to great effect in Peter Weir's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), starring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. Some of the music from this movie made it higher up on the Countdown, but I believe that the interaction between this piece and the scene that it was used in (a sailor unable to be saved after falling off the ship in a fierce storm) should have made this a much more voted track. This recording come from the soundtrack and is performed by New Queen's Hall Orchestra, with Barry Wordsworth as conductor.

7. En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor (Joaquín Rodrigo)
8. William Tell Overture (Gioacchino Rossini)
Both these next two pieces are from the movie Brassed Off (1996), the biggest promotion for brass bands ever, starring Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald, and Ewan McGregor. The ABC Classic Countdown chose to represent this movie with Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance, which was a shame as these two pieces are better used in the film.

En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor was listed just outside the Classic 100 Countdown at 101, whilst the William Tell Overture was much further down at 171.  Both pieces have been used in a variety of other films but no other films have used the brass band arrangements in this film.

Special mention must be made to Grimethorpe Colliery Band, and their conductor John Anderson, dressed up as the fictitious Grimley Colliery Brass Band. It's not the first time that a brass band has been used for a movie score (see Dimboola 1979) but never where the band is effectively the star of the movie.

9. Wedding March - A Midsummer Night's Dream (Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy)
Sometimes the most obvious ones get missed. This wasn't in the top 200 of the Classic Countdown, however I would suggest that this is one of the most used pieces of music in movies, although you never get to hear all of it, mostly just the first few bars. This is the "go to" piece when a wedding features in the storyline. The IMDB website shows dozens of references to this piece in both movies and TV shows.  I won't single any of them out, as they are all pretty much of the same quality. I just thought it strange that this didn't get featured anywhere on any list. The recording tonight is by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Sir Colin Davis as conductor.

10. Nessun Dorma - Turandot (Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini)
 One of the best known tenor arias from any opera, and came in at 175 on the Classic Countdown. They have it connected with The Killing Fields (1984), but has been used in quite a lot of other movies, including The Sum of All Fears (2002), The Witches of Eastwick (1987) and The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996). Today's recording is by Berlin State Opera Orchestra, with Placido Domingo as the tenor, and Nello Santi as conductor.

11. Gnomus (The Gnome)
12. La Grande Porte de Kiev (The Great Gate of Kiev)
 - Pictures at An Exhibition: A Remembrance of Viktor Hartmann (Modest Mussorgsky/Maurice Ravel)
A brilliant work this was originally composed as a piano piece by Mussorgsky and then orchestrated by many composers, most notably Maurice Ravel.  Gnomus was used in The Big Lebowski (1988). La Grande Porte de Kiev has been used in a few more movies, but one of the more interesting selections is Jabberwocky (1977). Neither piece made it in the Classic Countdown top 200.

Tonight's recording is from the London Symphony Orchestra, with Richard Williams as conductor.

13. Night on Bare Mountain - (Modest Mussorgsky)
The 1940 Disney movie, Fantasia was ground breaking in many ways. This was a gamble by Walt Disney to create a movie of a series of cartoon pieces set to classical works. And whilst it has been emulated many times since (including an Italian parody called Allegro non Troppo (1976), it all started with Fantasia.

This came in at 123 on the Classic Countdown, but I am surprised that it did not make it further up the list, as I think it was a better combination of animation and music than the two other pieces that did make the top 100 from Fantasia, The Sorceror's Apprentice (No 37) and JS Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor (No 48).

The recording tonight is from the original soundtrack, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and conducted by the great, Leopold Anthony Stokowski.

14. Pines of Rome (Ottorino Respighi)
15. Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro (Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich)
16. Firebird Suite (Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky)
 In 1999 Walt Disney Studios released a follow up to the, now critically acclaimed, Fantasia. It was called Fantasia 2000. In my opinion the choice of music, quality of animation and obvious sound quality are all vastly superior to the original movie. This then makes it disappointing that the movie was pretty much ignored on the Classic Countdown Top 200 (except for the one piece connecting the two movies, The Sorceror's Apprentice).

Now it's debatable about whether the Fantasia movies and Brassed Off, mentioned earlier are seen as "musicals" or not. Given the significant theme about all three movies is "music" some may question why they are on the list. I am just going by ABC FM's rules.

Now, I could have chosen all of the works featured in Fantasia 2000 - but have settled on these three. If you get a chance, you should see the movie in its entirety. I believe most of it can be found on YouTube. The recordings tonight are from the original soundtrack, performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with James Levine as conductor.

Well, that's the first part of my list. The second part, looking at music specifically written for movies, will be on next week.

What do you think? Aare there any other works that I (and ABC FM) have missed, which you think should be certainties in the list of top movie music. Let me know your thoughts below.

Welcome

Hi everyone and welcome to the blog post for the show Brass Monkeys.

As the blog description states, Brass Monkeys is a two hour radio show heard on Sunday nights on our local radio station in the Kinglake Ranges, 94.5 KRR FM. The transmission reach of the show is across most of Melbourne, though meaning that we have a potential audience of a couple of million. In addition, we can be heard online through the radio station's website found at kinglakerangesradio.org. I know I've had a few listeners online since the show started back in January 2012.

Brass Monkeys seeks to find and play brass music in all its forms. This will include jazz, blues, swing, classical, movie scores, brass bands, funk, contemporary and pretty much any other genre you can mention.

I structure each show along a different theme. That theme may be based on a genre, or a composer or artist, or based on timelines, events or subject themes. A good example of this is for the first 5 shows I played this year:

Show 45: Howard Shore - Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit
Show46: Peter Graham - Brass band music composer
Show 47: Australiana theme - to coincide with Australia Day
Show 48: an introduction to the Euphonium
Show 49: Jazz legend James Morrison - his early albums

The music all comes from my own personal music collection that has been developed over the last 30 years or so. My love of brass comes from my hobby as an amateur trombone player in brass bands since the mid-eighties. I am not a professional musician/musicologist/DJ (I am an accountant by profession) so expect the odd slip, made up "fact" or incorrect inclusions or omissions along the way.

Why the blog? Well I have had a social network presence since the start on both Facebook and Twitter, but I wanted to have somewhere to place on record the music that I am playing, together with my observations and comments about that music. It's taken me a while to get this up and running (my 60th show is on this weekend), but better late than never.

Feel free to leave comments on this blog, though don't be too harsh if I get stuff wrong. I will correct stuff, along the way. Just feel free to share your enjoyment of the music that I play on the show every Sunday night.