Thread: What is this piece? Epic-sounding music

Hello,

There's a certain piece of music (which may or may not be a classical piece), which has been bugging me for a while, because I can't figure out what it is.

I first heard this music on the first trailer for the 1978 Superman movie. I'm bringing it up because of the fact that I've heard it in two other places since. I heard it in a trailer for an incredibly bad late-70s sci-fi film called Laserblast, and in the opening of another horrible early-80s sci-fi film called Galaxina. (After all, this was the era when all space operas had to have music invoking 2001, John Williams' Star Wars or Jerry Goldsmith's Star Trek: The Motion Picture...)

Anyway, someone on a film music forum said that the film Galaxina used canned library recordings of classical music (including Wagner) in lieu of an original score. I also heard Liszt's "Preludes" in the film.

The fact that it was used in a film which apparently utilized only classical music leads me to assume that it is indeed a classical piece.

It seems like a 19th century Romantic piece of some kind, and it sounds like Wagner, or Strauss, or Liszt.

Or am I just wrong, and this is a more modern production library track that just *sounds* like a classical piece? I've never heard it except in those three places, and all three uses of it come from between 1977-1980...

I've attached the mystery piece. Does anybody here recognize it?

Oh -I loved Laserblast. I thought the little Claymation aliens are charming and the best actors in the film.

However, I don't recognize this piece. It does sound very Wagnerian.

It's a rather short clip. Because it's so short, I'm rather reluctant to think it's a piece of "classical music" by a famous composer. I agree with Weston that it sounds very Wagnerian, pretty much to the point of overt imitation. This also makes me think that this is not a real classical piece.

I could be dead wrong (would not be the first time), but it sounds like some sort of Hollywood stock music which imitates the style of Wagnerian romanticism. It's effective, even rousing, but not a real part of the repertoire, I'm tempted to argue.

(Someone prove me wrong, please!!)

Originally Posted by Tapkaara

It's a rather short clip. Because it's so short, I'm rather reluctant to think it's a piece of "classical music" by a famous composer. I agree with Weston that it sounds very Wagnerian, pretty much to the point of overt imitation. This also makes me think that this is not a real classical piece.

I could be dead wrong (would not be the first time), but it sounds like some sort of Hollywood stock music which imitates the style of Wagnerian romanticism. It's effective, even rousing, but not a real part of the repertoire, I'm tempted to argue.

(Someone prove me wrong, please!!)

I was going to say the same, but I thought I'd let someone else take the plunge first

There have been similar instances where I come across interesting sounding classical music that might be much better if explored outside the small context it is given in a film, but I often find that such music is just from the great stockpiles of Hollywood imitation sounds, and that was my immediate impression of this piece.

Now that I listen to it again, I agree with all of you. It doesn't sound to be a real classical piece to me.

So I guess I'll go ask some people who know more about production library music, and maybe they can help...

The thing is, for all we know this is the ouverture to an epic Strauss work we haven't heard yet.

Recently, I listened to Siegfried's funeral march from Wagner's Götterdämmerung, and I have determined that this mystery music is a ripoff of that.

It's certainly from a contemporary production library, but I'm not sure which.

Nothing new to contribute, other than my opinion that the Mystery Science Theater episode dedicated to Laserblast is among their funniest.

The opening music is Franz Liszt's 'Les Preludes' here's a YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnITC-IkPVg

djm

Originally Posted by djm

The opening music is Franz Liszt's 'Les Preludes' here's a YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnITC-IkPVg

djm

The music he is asking about is not Les Preludes. The piece in the Superman teaser trailer is in the very opening of Galaxina, after that it switches to Les Preludes for the credits.
I also suspect it may be library music, as I have never heard this piece elsewhere. It could be an obscure 20th century classical piece, maybe one of the lesser known Soviet composers, or very progressive late 19th century piece, definitely not anything in the standard repertoire. It could be taken from another film soundtrack, but I also collected soundtracks rather addictively and have never heard this, so Library music is my hunch.
Hope someone finds out. I think because it is a longer excerpt, it sounds better in Galaxina than in the Superman teaser.

I've got good news and bad news. First, the bad news. It's very likely that you will never know the name and/or composer of this music and that is a shame because it sounds amazing. Now for the good news. Other than a little noise at the beginning of your clip and a somewhat abrupt end it sounds fantastic and is in all probability complete. You could burn a cd of your favorite classics with your clip at the beginning using it as an intro and you would be good to go.

He may be right. I took similar comfort in that it sounds reasonably complete for a library cue, if that's what it is, and in fairly good SQ on the Galaxina blu-ray. It would still be nice to know what it is, and have it complete in the best sound quality, if it is from a longer piece.

After listening to this music many times and trying to find an answer to what it is, it has become painfully obvious that if it is a rip-off of any classic it is a rip-off of Also Sprach Zarathustra. Think about it. ASZ was the opening music for 2001: a Space Odyssey. Galaxina was meant to be a spoof of space movies and tv shows. It used the music in question as the opening piece. The first few notes are almost exactly alike with the same pitch (C, G, C). The only difference is Galaxina's tempo is slower and an extra G is thrown in before the third C. The last chord or whatever you want to call it is exactly the same for both pieces. By that I mean that they end exactly the same. I'm no music expert so I can only hope that what I have presented here makes sense. It is somewhat problematic that the mystery music was used for the Superman trailer before the Galaxina movie opened. But nonetheless that is my feeling. By the way, I actually emailed Crown International Pictures asking about the music and they politely replied that it was too long ago and they couldn't help me.