The Music of Our Lives
“There is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.” – Edward Elgar
If you had to define your life through music, could you? The CineConcerts staff has spent some of our time during this period of social distancing to reflect on the music of our lives. Not just the work we do with live concerts, composer interviews and profiles, playlists and podcasts, but the music that has shaped us into the kind of people who spend their lives celebrating music.
What has shaped yours?
Although we represent different ages, genders and backgrounds, we actually found that for all of us, the music we loved as kids plays a big role in the music we love today. For each of us, Disney movies and musicals were among our first memories of the connection between music and film. The opening of Beauty and the Beast, Roger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella starring Brandy, and The Jungle Book all hold special places in our hearts. Who among us does not remember the plastic smell of a new Disney “clamshell” VHS tape, and the excitement of popping it in the VCR? The 1997 version of Cinderella starring Brandy is credited with the relaunch of “The Wonderful World of Disney” and was seen by over 60 million people when it aired, so of course it is a major influence in our lives! For some of us, it was the rooftop dance between the Puerto Ricans in West Side Story that cemented our love of a good piece of music. Another key moment we found was the 1997 film Titanic. The grandness of that ship of dreams was conveyed not just through amazing effects, but James Horner’s score that went along with it. And of course no list of childhood musical influences would be complete without Star Wars. With the amazing John Williams setting the bar for film music, some of us may have even felt let down when we explored film scores beyond his.
For some of us, it was music in movies that landed us here in the first place. Now that we have spent time learning and educating others about the importance of the score in classic movies and TV, we look back on our favorite movies and see how the music influenced our feelings in the first place. Why something we saw years ago is still top of our minds. Our favorites include Blade Runner, Wonder Woman, Shine, The Legend of 1900, A Little Princess, Aliens and The Simpsons. We could not have a more varied list! Some of these are music-forward, like Shine and The Legend of 1900. Taking these sorts of movies into our hearts does not just inform our feelings about movies, but also about the music they celebrate. The Legend of 1900 has a score by the incomparable Ennio Morricone, losing him recently struck a chord we were not expecting. For those of us who favor sci-fi movies, the otherworldly music by Vangelis and James Horner transport us, scare us, and ultimately thrill us in a way that a lesser score might not. We cannot deny that the music is a huge part of why we love these movies.
Although our work is in film music, that does not mean we exclusively listen to movie scores! Our current rotations include classic 60’s and 70’s songs about the Vietnam War, Lady Gaga’s newest album, Perfume Genius, Vampire Weekend, Ella Fitzgerald, and Jenny Lewis. Some of this music helps highlight our feelings during this strange time at home, and some of it offers an escape from the daily reality. A few of us choose music based on our current moods, and others like to tap into a feeling and heighten it with what we choose to listen to. We can recapture the magic of the first concert we went to, the love we share with our family members, or the memory of our ears ringing for days after witnessing a live Metallica show. Sometimes we use music to distract ourselves, classical music like Tchaikovsky for some, for other Wu Tang Clan or early 2000’s rap offer a reprieve. It’s amazing how each of us goes to something completely different!
As cliche as it sounds now, these are unprecedented times. Everyone at CineConcerts is feeling the loss of live entertainment acutely, and while we are finding ways to adapt, expand and innovate, we are using this time to take stock of how lucky we are to have music in our lives, and define so much of ourselves through song.
When we are not revisiting our own favorites, we always find time to explore the CineConcerts Composer playlists, which helps extend our favorites even further. If you are looking for more ways to explore be sure to subscribe to our Score Cue of the Day Playlist on Spotify, for something new to listen to every single day.