Music To Live By

I love movies because of the way they tell stories that relate to our lives and to human experience; music is a major component of film; hence listening to the music divorced from the film is a way to channel those storytelling experiences on a more abstract level, and also appreciate the music in its own right. There are feelings I define in my life because they emotionally sound like Star Trek, or Logan's Run, or Take A Hard Ride, and they are deeply primal. They are the simplest expressions of themselves and like a great poem the act of explaining them is so much longer and clumsier than the thing itself." (FSM Vol. 9, No. 7 p.44) 

I remember the first time I ever really noticed music in a movie and immediately asked my parents for the music from this film: Star Wars.  Unfortunately, my parents, in their honest efforts bought me the Meco disco record instead.  You can't begin to count the times I tried to figure out where this song actually played in the movie.  You could just color me confused.

But several years later my grade school decided to read Thornton Wilder's play Our Town in class.  And then watch the 1940 movie as well.  I'm sure my teacher had no idea that the thing that would stick with me would be the haunting Aaron Copland music - but to this day it remains some of my favorite music ever written for film. 

I have continued this passion for many years, always amazed at the effect music can have.
Here's a few scores that have probably not received enough attention for one reason or another...