Personal wrote:Now, because this is in the Concert and Jazz ensemble page, I don't want you to necessarily think of those composers. You see, I am kickin' back listening to a Danny Elfman CD right now, and was wondering what people thought of composers like John Williams, and Leonard Bernstein, and others such as that. So, if you like Williams, post, but if you prefer Bethoven, then post also.
Okay, films:
Danny Elfman has some good stuff out there. Unfortunately, his music tends to be very predictable and repetitive after 15 years or so. It's like Haydn Symphonies; you listen to 'em and you go "Yep, that's an Elfman score" and you turn the page to something. Batman? Psh. Nightbreed was a better dark and serious score. His light-hearted soundtrack to "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" is simply OUTSTANDING and remains his 2nd best work. His magnum opus is easily "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
John Williams is a hack. He has a handful of good scores (The Cowboys, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park, Hook), but the rest of his stuff sounds like rip-offs (Jaws, 1941) and retreads (Home Alone, Midway); not to mention his scores that are just plain crap (Earthquake, Always).
David Arnold showed a lot of promise: his first orchestral movie score is one of the best ever (Stargate, 1993). Unfortunately, his score for Independence Day seemed like it used all the ideas not good enough to make it into the Stargate soundtrack, and he hasn't impressed me with anything since.
James Horner has written a lot of good stuff (Willow, Aliens, Die Hard, Field of Dreams, Glory, Sneakers, Braveheart, Titantic), but possibly his best score is forgotten because it was the first big hit of Eddie Murphy: 48hrs.
Hans Zimmer only seems to do his best work on animated films (The Lion King, The Prince of Egypt). I was not at all impressed with his score to Gladiator.
Basil Poledouris is another interesting case. His music for "Conan the Barbarian" and "The Hunt for Red October" is simply phenomenal... but the remainder of his scores are rather pedestrian.
Rachel Portman, the first female composer to win an Oscar, has some really nice scores out there ("Sirens", "Emma" and "The Cider House Rules" stand out first and foremost).
I still have no idea how
Bruce Broughton wrote the fantastic scores to both "Silverado" and "Tombstone" when the rest of his works are so cheap and throw-away.
Back in the olden days, of course,
Bernard Herrmann's credentials are impeccable (am I the only one who hears the influence of Rachmaninoff in Herrmann's scores?) and he stands out the most, over other qualified composers like
Maurice Jarre,
Franz Waxman and
Erich Wolfgang Korngold, just to name a few.
Currently, I'd say the best composer in Hollywood is
Jerry Goldsmith. Has been since Bernard Herrmann died, in my opinion. He's written 10x the number of quality scores that John Williams has written, yet only has one Oscar to show for it (The Omen, 1976). I think this is because he doesn't have a working relationship with a blockbuster director. Williams has Spielburg, Horner has Cameron, Goldsmith... well, Goldsmith has written some fantastic scores for some real bombs. But even that doesn't fully explain it, because he's written some great scores for some big name Oscar winners, too, like "Patton" and "Chinatown." I just don't know how this guy has only won one Oscar: he's been nominated
EIGHTEEN TIMES. Here's my short list of his great scores: The Planet of the Apes (original, 1968), Patton, Rio Lobo, Chinatown, The Wind and the Lion, The Omen, The Great Train Robbery, Alien (the original, note), Poltergeist, The Secret of NIMH, Hoosiers, Leviathan, Total Recall, Sleeping with the Enemy, Congo, Chain Reaction, Star Trek - First Contact, L.A. Confidential, Mulan, and The Mummy.
Whew.
Composers, I'll keep it short. My favorites:
5. Phillip Glass
4. Ottorino Respighi
3. Piotr Tchaikovsky
2. Aram Khachaturian
1. Dmitri Shostakovich