Of course he didn’t! It’s a stupid question! Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote The Sound of Music.
But I ask that question because James Horner, among all composers, produced some of the most beautiful sounds of music ever to grace the silver screen. He’s easily in my top five favorite movie score composers, and I say that only because once you reach that level of greatness, it’s meaningless to rank them any further.
It’s one of life’s dilemmas to decide whether it’s better to read the book before seeing the movie or vice versa. Long ago I settled that question to my satisfaction.
There are arguments for either side. If you see the movie first, your experience of the book will be tainted by the images you see on the screen. You’ll never know what images the book would have created in your mind. You’ll always see the sets and the actors in the movie as you read the book and never your own imaginings, even if the movie’s images and the author’s descriptions conflict.
Yet reading the book first and seeing the movie afterward usually results in being disappointed with the movie. The two media are worlds different from each other. Continue reading Is It Better to See the Movie or Read the Book First?
Television show theme songs come in a colorful spectrum of styles, from forgettable to downright works of art. But they all have one thing in common: they’re short. At least when they play during the opening credits of the show.
But what you hear in that minute or so while you go grab some chips and dip from the kitchen isn’t always the whole story. Lurking behind many of the songs introducing the show and its actors is a more developed piece of music that you rarely or never get to hear.
