JERRY GOLDSMITH

Yeah! Let's wage war on all the haters of our favourite Kelvin Wheelbarrow! We'll stop being nice! We failed as a knight!

Anyway, yeah, Goldsmith was the most versatile composer of them all for sure. I love his devilish intelligence and not just because he scored The Omen so well!

Well, back on topic... I know there were Jaws and Star Wars in the 1970s, but to me Goldsmith at that period of time was unbeatable. Chinatown, Patton, Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Omen. Creativity at its finest.

COMA was an amazing 70's film score too, it's not one I personally enjoy but it's perfect in the film.

That about nails my thoughts to the letter! Jerry's the man!






Though Mr. Williams sits along side him shoulder to shoulder. But then, Jerry........

Indeed Steven. They are the trinity of score Gods!

for me Jerry's brilliance is more spelled out by the movies he scored the music for.

John Williams had iconic characters to work with (Superman, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Star Wars) and legendary directors to work for, but I always felt that Jerry Goldsmith received the lesser of Williams (Supergirl, King Solomon's Mines, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend). Though Goldsmith had a wonderful collaboration with directors like Schaffner, Verhoeven and Dante, somehow Goldsmith was able to put so much into films that rarely deserved it. And while every movie of Spielberg was / is iconic, Goldsmtih didn't have that luxury the last 20 years. And what Goldsmith did on those weaker pictures shows that he could deliver outstanding music no matter the quality of the source.

I know Williams worked on weaker pictures too, but somehow it always felt that Goldsmith worked on lesser quality productions, and got away with them because he could make em feel like the best things on earth. While mostly for Williams, he was already working on the best things on earth.

It's unfair because these 2 composers are what keeps filmmusic so magical, but for me Goldsmith always surprised me more than Williams, simply because I never expected that specific score to be so amazing. While I knew Williams' scores to be amazing simply because of the source it was supporting

As I said, I love him for his intelligence. He always had those great ideas that got the story in its entirety and quite deeply.

What exactly was Goldsmith's genius? I'm not trying to start a fight here, I'm genuinely curious. You all keep talking about his intelligence and brilliance. To what are you referring? Is it just that he gave mediocre (or worse) films good scores? Or is there something about his music that makes it more "intelligent?" I've heard that some of his action music is in 5/4 time. That's pretty brilliant if it's true. Is there more? Did he score films at his dinner table without a piano (Delerue and Morricone could/can do that)? Is there something else?

I agree with Thor. I think that he's held up as the paragon of film composers (on one message board in particular), but his music has never done as much for me. I wouldn't put him in my top 10 favorite film composers. Now, there are some of his 90s themes that are absolutely gorgeous - some of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. I love those. I find myself enjoying the rest of his music less than the average film music fan.

Jerry understood on most productions EXACTLY what the movie needed, by the way of a theme or a certain sound. He could insert little touches of genius, and use sound effects so creatively without becoming cliched or feeling out of place, well most of the time if I think about Legend.

And he could turn a movie (good or bad) into something even better by using his undeniable talent for great melodies and rhythm. That's what I love most about him really, his sense of rhythm, using the percussion in interesting ways, or just to slam dunk his impression into your ears.

He is a legend in my book.

Another way to express his genius:

I think it was the long multi part interview (uploaded to Youtube) where he decribes his work on some of those live TV shows, playhouse like shows, where he had to make changes to the music right there, on the spot -- as people are watching on TV, as a commercial rolls. You got to be fast, and you got to be versed. And quick edits. Not every composer can pull that off. Not a lot of composer names repeated over these kinds of shows. He scored a lot of one of them as a result.

Reminds me of a week ago reading at FSM that Shirley Walker could site read an entire orchestra staff and play it on a piano (sorry if Iget the description wrong), which blew away other composers. That's genius.

Or that multi part interview on people who knew, for the most part, Georges Delerue (I think I posted that in the Delerue thread). I believe it was the Richard Kraft interview where he would describe being at Georges' house and Georges would sit down and start a cue, like "Main Title" and a few minutes later Kraft would hear, "Finnis" and he's go over there and the cue was done and orchestrated.

It's true that you find fringe fanatics for most composers, but I still maintain that Goldsmith fans are somewhat a breed of their own, especially as far as the 'group mentality' is concerned. FSM may be the worst/best/most clear example, but it's really evident in other film music forums too. The 'trigger-happiness' is somehow more prevalent with a larger group of people than I've seen with any other composer.

I don't know, it's just something that I've observed online over the years.

You do visit JWfan regularly don't you? They're just as insane!

-Erik-

Yeah, but for other reasons (I don't really get the 'tone' of that place). There's plenty of Williams criticism to go around over there. Besides, it's a dedicated fan board for that composer. I'm talking about a more widespread phenomenon in more general film music forums.

you know, finding a theme is already pretty difficult for a movie, finding a right theme that works as an action theme and as a love theme even more. For me, his brilliance was that he always relied on a theme, and wrote the music around it, mostly with various other themes, motifs or interesting melodies. Today you don't hear themes anymore, but music that supports the action. It's pretty brilliant to unleash music that supports the movie with themes and motifs as cornerstone

I know, most composers back then did, so they're equally brilliant as Goldsmith. But me, he was just doing it again and again, in movies that demanded total diversity and thereby understanding.

If you compare that with the scores we receive today, you realize the composers of yesterday were brilliant.