Thread: If classical composers were film composers...

A fun little excercise

Imagine that classical composers were able to write film scores. My question is this: which genre would each composer be typecast for? By which I mean, the music of which composers would lend themselves to which of the genres listed below. These aren't the only genres so add ones you can think of. Here’s my list:

Action - Stravinsky
Adventure – Brahms / Mahler
Comedy – Poulenc / Satie
Crime – Schoenberg
Drama - Beethoven
Family - Mozart
Fantasy – Debussy / Szymanowski
Film-Noir – Morton Feldman
History - Palestrina
Horror - Xenakis
Mystery – Berg / Webern
Romance - Rachmaninov / Tchaikovsky
Sci-Fi – Holst / Sibelius
Thriller - Bartók
War - Shostakovitch
Western - Copland

I approve of this thread.

Nice list. I can't improve on it.

Oh well, I might add Ginastera to action.

Both Stravinsky and Shostakovitch wrote film music. But I'm not sure if Stravinsky actually wrote anything that wound up on the silver screen.

On reading the first post, I wondered if the poster was aware of just how many 'classical' composers have actually made a major contribution to the genre of film music.

Most obviously there is Shostakovich, who wrote more than 20 film scores between 1929 and 1971. His most famous are probably the scores for The Gadfly (from which comes the famous Romance) and the 1964 version of Hamlet.

Other composers who made a substantial contribution to film music include:

Arthur Bliss
Aaron Copland
John Corgliano
Benjamin Frankel
Arthur Honegger
Jacques Ibert
Aram Khachaturian
Wojciech Kilar
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Sergei Prokofiev
Alan Rawsthorne
Miklós Rózsa
Camille Saint-Saëns (inasmuch as he wrote the very first score for a silent film in 1908)
Alfred Schnittke
Toru Takemitsu
Ralph Vaughan Williams
William Walton

Adventure=Dvorak.

Originally Posted by Delicious Manager

On reading the first post, I wondered if the poster was aware of just how many 'classical' composers have actually made a major contribution to the genre of film music.

You do right to wonder. I do indeed recognise that many classical composers have written film scores.

However, my question is not; which classical composers wrote film scores? My question is; imagine all composers were given the oppertunity to compose for film and given that fictional premise, which genre of film would they most likley choose given their musical sensibilities.

I know it's difficult to explain, but I thought my example would have made it clear what I was trying to communicate. Anyone who can properly word my question gets bonus points!

Originally Posted by Delicious Manager

On reading the first post, I wondered if the poster was aware of just how many 'classical' composers have actually made a major contribution to the genre of film music.

Most obviously there is Shostakovich, who wrote more than 20 film scores between 1929 and 1971. His most famous are probably the scores for The Gadfly (from which comes the famous Romance) and the 1964 version of Hamlet.

Other composers who made a substantial contribution to film music include:

Arthur Bliss
Aaron Copland
John Corgliano
Benjamin Frankel
Arthur Honegger
Jacques Ibert
Aram Khachaturian
Wojciech Kilar
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Sergei Prokofiev
Alan Rawsthorne
Miklós Rózsa
Camille Saint-Saëns (inasmuch as he wrote the very first score for a silent film in 1908)
Alfred Schnittke
Toru Takemitsu
Ralph Vaughan Williams
William Walton

Also very prominently: William Alwyn and Malcolm Arnold.

Originally Posted by Art Rock

Also very prominently: William Alwyn and Malcolm Arnold.

Yes, silly of me to miss Alwyn and (especially!) Arnold.

I suppose another 'A' could be Georges Auric.

How about: which genre of film would the music of these composers suit?

I'd like to add Bruckner to the film noir category. Everytime I hear Symphony No. 8 I somehow think of Miklós Rózsa's film noir scores.

Children's fantasy - Debussy, Tchaikovsky

Other children's/Family - Raymond Scott

Horror - Penderecki (if disturbing/graphic), Josquin, Dufay and Isaac (if gothic in theme)

War - Part, Gorecki

Myth/Tragedy (theatre adaptations) - Lully, Charpentier, Rameau

Germanic fantasy (sword & sorcery) - Weber, Bruckner, Nielsen

Greek/Roman/Old Testament epic - Handel

Romantic epic - Mendelssohn, Verdi

Film noir - Webern, Berg

Comedy - Rossini, Bizet

Drama - Schubert

Action - Beethoven

Adventure - Mozart, Haydn

Science fiction - Shostakovich

Documentary - unsure

Gay & Lesbian - Bernstein

Arthouse/experimental - Crumb, Varese, Berio

The Scherzo of Bruckner's 8th Symphony could very well be Star Wars.

Many Debussy's piano pieces can be used for playboy profile videos, very sensuous.

Movies about Robin Hood - Rachmaninoff