Film Soundtracks and Early Ego Boosts.

When I was a young boy my step father used to wake the household with rousing classical music, played at a healthy and bed shaking volume.  To wake to Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkries' may not have done much to quell the ego or dispel any latent feelings for dictatorial tendencies that may have stirred within my young mind, but it certainly got me out of bed with a start.

My classical education began young and despite complaining and grumbling at the time I am profoundly grateful now.  Although I still contend that some opera is nothing but ‘screeching and caterwauling’, but only some.

Over the years I have started to appreciate classical film soundtracks more and more and often, if I am in the mood for classical music, I will reach for one of these albums first.  By their very nature they are composed to be stirring or evocative or to compliment quieter moments in the film. They tend to have an over-arcing narrative which follows the story of the film and often build to a crescendo.  It may be my modern sensibilities, but I have grown to love certain soundtracks more than comparable classical music.

I particularly love Hans Zimmer’s ‘The Last Samurai’ and it’s blend of strings and more traditional instruments never fails to stir me.  There is one moment on the soundtrack where a group of Samurais yell and shout which makes me jump most times I listen to it, but apart from that it’s a very emotional and moving piece of music.  More importantly, since listening to the album as a piece of music in it’s own right I have grown to appreciate it’s place in the film whenever I now watch it.  Film music has an often overlooked and potent place in any production and I have gradually learnt to listen out for it and respect it.

The Last Samurai Soundtrack

Another piece of music I adore is Angelo Milli’s ‘Seven Pounds’ soundtrack and I was delighted recently to repay the musical favour and buy this for my step father as a present.  This soundtrack is more subtle than some of Zimmer’s compositions and the use of choral work on this album lift it above many other soundtracks I have heard recently.  This is definitely one of those albums I mentioned that has a narrative all of it’s own and the way it builds makes it all the more powerful.  By the time ‘Requiem’ comes along I am a quivering wreck and I feel my emotional strings being plucked and played almost as potently as the instruments creating the music.

Seven Pounds Soundtrack

Other soundtracks, like the ‘Garden State’ soundtrack use existing music to augment the scenes on film and I like these as much as other albums I own.  But there is something rousing and lifting about some soundtracks that have been composed specifically for the images on screen.  They are wonderful to listen to if you have seen (and been moved by) the film, but more often than not they can be enjoyed and loved in their own right.  The two mentioned here are just the ones that immediately come to mind and are particular favourites of mine, but I always listen out now when I watch a film to find the next sublime composition to enter my life.