Film Music

Music criticism

The artistic merits of film music are frequently debated. Some critics value it highly, pointing to music such as that written by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Aaron Copland, Bernard Herrmann, and others. Some consider film music a defining genre of classical music in the late 20th century, if only because it is the brand of classical music heard more often than any other. In some cases, film themes have become accepted into the canon of classical music. These are mostly works from already noted composers who have done scores; for instance, Sergei Prokofiev's score to Alexander Nevsky, or Vaughan Williams' score to Scott of the Antarctic. Others see the great bulk of film music as meritless. They consider that much film music is derivative, borrowing heavily from previous works. Composers of film scores typically can produce about three or four per year. The most popular works by composers such as John Williams are still far from entering the accepted classical canon, though there is a growing appreciation for the broader contribution of composers such as Williams among some classical composers and critics; for example, the Norwegian contemporary classical composer Marcus Paus has said that he considers Williams "...one of the great composers of any century," who has "found a very satisfying way of embodying dissonance and avant-garde techniques within a larger tonal framework," and who "might also have come the closest of any composer to realizing the old Schoenbergian utopia that children of the future would be whistling 12-tone rows." Even so, considering they are often the most popular modern compositions of classical music known to the general public, major orchestras sometimes perform concerts of such music, as do pops orchestras.