The barrier between the concert hall and the cinema has always been porous.
Classically trained Europeans wrote many of Hollywood's finest Golden Age film scores, and plenty of composers best known for their symphonies, operas and ballets spent at least some time penning film music -- including Serge Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland.
More recently, scores by classical composers like John Corigliano and Philip Glass have found favor, with Corigliano earning an Oscar in 2000 for "The Red Violin" and Glass Oscar-nommed for "Kundun" (1997) and "The Hours" (2002).
Which isn't to say that these collaborations are tension-free. Classical composers are accustomed to creative freedom; compromise isn't normally part of their vocabulary. But film is a collaborative art, and composers, their fame notwithstanding, must write music that enhances what's onscreen.
"If the director says 'I don't think that's the right idea,' you have to change it," says Glass, who first gained fame as a film composer with 1982's "Koyaanisqatsi." This year, he has two scores that could be Oscar nommed, "The Illusionist" and "Notes on a Scandal."
Though certain musical tropes characterize all his work, Glass insists that his film and art music vary considerably. "There's no question that when you're writing for a potential audience of 20 million versus a potential audience of 2,000, you write differently," he says. "If you're in a small room, you talk a certain way. If you're in a bigger room, you talk in a different way. And if you're in a stadium, it's completely different again. When I'm writing a score, I'm very aware of what kind of audience it's going to be for. I'd be a fool not to."
Yet the composer links his success in movies with his work in the opera house, noting that both disciplines are collaborative and require the integration of four elements: image, movement, text and music. Though he still considers himself primarily a composer of art music, he acknowledges that the gap is closing. "Until recently, I could say I've written more operas than film scores," he says, "but that's changed now. And now I'll never catch back up with operas, because opera is slow, and film is fast."
Still, film scoring requires plenty of time and effort. For "Notes on a Scandal" that meant extensive conversations involving Glass, director Richard Eyre and producer Scott Rudin. "That went on for months," Glass says. "It was like an advanced course in psychology. We analyzed and dissected the characters. We talked about what the music should be doing and saying. These guys are talkers! I did quite a lot of rewriting."
A less common, though increasing, phenomenon finds artists associated with high art performing scores by those lacking classical training. A prime example is the relationship between Clint Mansell, best known for scoring Daren Aronofsky's movies, and the cutting-edge Kronos Quartet, generally associated with playing newer classical works.
"When I wrote the music for 'Requiem for a Dream,' I had never written for an orchestra or a quartet. I had only done electronic music," says Mansell, referring to his score for Aronofsky's second feature, the first to involve Kronos. "My background is in rock 'n' roll. I think about rhythm, melody, progression. People have said nice thing about my music for 'Requiem,' but Kronos brought it to life. Their ability to make the music do what they wanted gave it character."
Mansell was not planning on using Kronos for "The Fountain," Aronofsky's latest film. "Originally, it had a bigger scope," says Mansell. "We expected a lot of percussion and a big orchestra. I scored the trailer that way. But when I took those themes and meshed them against the film, you could tell it was all wrong, too big. The melodies were fine, but it needed to be scaled down. And once you go, 'OK, it's going to be a small ensemble,' then you go, 'Kronos is the best in the world.'"
The results -- which combined Kronos' efforts with that of Mogwai, a Scottish rock band -- pleased all concerned, and Mansell's score earned a Golden Globe nod a few weeks ago, upping its chances for Oscar recognition.
"Clint's a melodist," says David Harrington, a founding violinist of the Kronos Quartet. "Once his music gets in your imagination, it doesn't leave. I think he belongs in the same sentence as Bernard Herrmann."
In fact, Kronos is so besotted with Mansell's music, the group is playing it in concert. "We've actually been doing a suite of music from 'Requiem,'" Harrington says. "And I think we'll be doing a suite from 'The Fountain' soon. I'd like to see Clint step away from his film work. I think it's time for him to write some concert music for us."
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