Today I found myself captured in the beauty of John Powell's composition. I am not a classically trained musician, far from it in fact. I can read little music, though I know the theory behind it, it does not come naturally to me and would take some intensive practice to speak music like I can english (although by anyone's standards that knows me, that would be difficult). I can only play the guitar and sing a little, but my appreciation of music spans broadly.
Always having been a massive fan of films, I noticed today as I was listening to John Powell's score for the Italian Job, that music can speak louder than anything visual. Asked when I was younger whether I would prefer to lose either my sight or my hearing, I had always said my hearing. Naturally I love having both, but it is a curious consideration. Why did I wish to have my sight so much? True, seeing the colours of The Birds of Paradise flowers, the elegance of a crested crane, the fantastically green eyes of the love of my life, they are all things which I so much take for granted. But it occurred to me today, how different would my life be if I could no longer see, but could still hear? My appreciation of what I considered beautiful would be transformed. I do not mean to say that I wish I was blind, that is not it at all, but I no longer wish to take any of it for granted.
This seems all very off topic, but to bring it all intertwined into the same context, what I wish to illustrate is how in the same way one would trust a guide dog to take them the safe route to wherever they needed to go, the score of a film tells the story without necessarily needing the visuals to elaborate. Although the same can be said of orchestral pieces composed by the fantastic Beethoven and Mozart, I find a fascination and a connection with film scores. It is not mainstream, often with no vocals at all, it is the layering of the instruments and the heightening of various emotions through emphasis on strings perhaps to portray sadness, or brass instruments to suggest cunning, or perhaps drums to build up to a climax of adrenaline. Whatever it is, the film scorer is a crucial part of the film making process which cannot be undermined in the slightest.
If I were able to read and write music, this would be my ideal job. A film without music is like a play, it is all in the spoken word, the portrayal of those words by the actors involved; yet, finding a perfect match for the (until now) "play" with music creates a complexity and tiered effect of emotion within the story that causes the audience member to connect that much more. Given the choice, I would always choose the music over the viewing of the film. I choose to put my trust in composers such as Howard Shore, John Powell and Michael Giacchino to take me on a magnificent journey that carries me into another world entirely.
To this day, the scores for the Italian Job, Lord of the Rings, Up, and Battelstar Galactica (Bear McCreary) send shivers down my spine, and it is a place where I find total escapism and relaxation.
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