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.
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.
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