Like most people, I love music. But I’m no connoisseur. Especially when it comes to classical music. In fact, if I’m honest with you, I can’t tell my Elgar from my Elbow.
Yet I probably listen to more orchestral music than I realise. Chances are you do too, only we don’t even give it a second thought.
But just think about it the next time you get ready settle back to watch a movie.
Of course, plenty of folk adore classical music, with its rich history and spine-tingling refrains. In terms of popular intake, however, film scores might just be the greatest success story classical music has had in the past century.
Millions of people the world over who’d never dream of sticking on a symphony happily spend hours listening to the fine work of an orchestra every week.
Cinema may well be a visual medium, primarily, but without the music that accompanies it, where would we be? In pre-audio 1924, I suppose. And even then the films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were usually accompanied by a pianist in the cinema.
Without a score, some of film’s greatest moments would just be… people doing a bunch of stuff. Running. Kissing. Looking worried. Getting shot. Having their boat eaten by a big ol’ shark.
Add the right music and suddenly you’re on the edge of your seat, thrilled, wiping away a tear or wondering whether it really is safe to go back in the water.
That’s the true genius of film music. It bypasses the logical bit of your brain and heads straight for the emotional part. Before a character has said a word, the composer’s already plotted whether you’re about to laugh, cry or hide behind your £9 bag of popcorn.
The obvious masterpieces deserve every accolade, of course. Lalo Schifrin’s Mission: Impossible theme remains one of cinema’s catchiest earworms. Bernard Herrmann’s screeching strings in Psycho have traumatised shower curtain owners for generations.
Then there’s the sweeping, brass-heavy work of John Williams (Star Wars, Jurassic Park), the pulse-pounding, electronic-infused walls of sound created by Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, Interstellar) and the quirky, gothic and whimsical melodies crafted by Danny Elfman (Batman, Edward Scissorhands).
Then there are the scores that creep under your skin instead. Some of my personal favourites include – and yes I am a hipster Millennial, thanks for asking – Jonny Greenwood’s unsettling work on the greatest film ever made, There Will Be Blood.
Then there’s the late Jóhann Jóhannsson’s suffocating sense of dread in the Denis Villeneuve films Sicario and Arrival. And anything that Cliff Martinez has done too, but specifically his work bathing the neon Drive in cool, hypnotic synths.
They’re not tunes you necessarily whistle on the walk home from the multiplex. They’re more moods that elevate the art you’re experiencing.
Truly great film scores have serious longevity too. Some can really linger in the cultural consciousness – Rocky was made 50 years ago, but I defy anyone not to mentally hum the theme song as soon as you read the film title.
Perhaps that’s why film music is so fascinating.
Most of us are happy to spend time arguing about actors, directors, stories, endings and plot twists, yet it’s often the score that lingers longest in the mind.
Whether it’s something wonderfully complex like Howard Shore’s leitmotif-packed Lord of the Rings composition or something beautifully simple like one of Ennio Morricone’s whistleable spaghetti western ditties.
Which brings us to the Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame. Every year it sparks something of a cinematic conversation, asking film fans the question: ‘What’s the greatest film score ever written?’
Sure, the established classics will always be there, they kind of have to be. But every movie buff has a dark horse they’d love to see climb the rankings. Even though horses, famously, can’t climb. Not even Black Beauty (that was a TV show, but it had a great theme tune…).
If you’ve spent the last few minutes subconsciously compiling your own shortlist of soundtrack favourites, you’ve already done the hard part. Now all that’s left is deciding where your vote goes. So why not have a browse and pledge your allegiance?
Metro is partnering with Classic FM on the Movie Music Hall of Fame. Click here to cast your vote. The poll shuts at midnight on August 16, with the top 100 being announced on Monday August 31.