Classical Notes: February 21, 2006 Archive

It certainly is time for film music

Posted at 5:29 PM on February 21, 2006 by Don Lee

Bob, in reply to your film music post, I wanted to mention a friend and former colleague of mine named Andy Trudeau. As a film score fanatic, he would agree with your friend in the industry. For about ten years, Andy has analyzed the Oscar-nominated scores for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday. He presented the first of three installments this past weekend. (Click here to link to it.) Three of this year's four nominees are newcomers: Alberto Iglesias (The Constant Gardener); Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain), and Dario Marianelli (Pride and Prejudice). Good old reliable John Williams earned two nominations(for Munich and for Memoirs of a Geisha). Giving weight to the argument that film music is the "new" classical, Williams puts violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Yo-Yo Ma in the spotlight in Memoirs. I encourage you to listen to (not just read) Andy's analysis; he takes the genre seriously...but not too seriously.