[78-L] Marvin Hamlisch dies

[Philip Carli]

I was very angry at Hamlisch at the Academy Award ceremonies that year when he accepted his STING Oscar - not even one mention of Joplin's name the whole night, and I never forgave that; at the time he just seemed an arrogant guy who was lucky.  I had a piano teacher then who in addition to my Chopin, Beethoven, and other standard lit was willing to work with me on the Joplin, Joseph F. Lamb, and James Scott I brought in excitedly.  (This teacher also put me onto Gottschalk, a lifelong love.) Ignoring Joplin at the Oscars raised my immature indignation. After that  I always referred to Hamlisch as "Ham-misch" and my mother playing the CHORUS LINE lp over and over on our Zenith console drove me crazy; when the family went to see the show in LA I deliberately opted out.  I think he changed once things weren't so lucky and effortless for him; I'm sorry he passed at a time when I think he was contributing something beyond his compositions to musical life, had some personal perspective that showed in his interviews, and it saddens me now that he's gone.
________________________________________
From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com [78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com] on behalf of Cary Ginell [soundthink at live.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 1:33 PM
To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
Subject: Re: [78-L] Marvin Hamlisch dies

Remember that all bets are off when you are composing for a soundtrack. It's when 'source' music is anachronistic where I have a problem with it. Source music meaning the characters on the screen are hearing the music as well. Alex North's music for "Spartacus" is a perfect example. There are only a few instances, if that, where music is actually performed by the characters in the film. One is when Antoninus, played by Tony Curtis, sings a "song," which is actually spoken free verse, with no musical accompaniment, perfectly plausible for that period. Yes, the ragtime music in "The Sting" worked perfectly and I have no problem with it. I only question why instrument-specific music isn't used more in movies. Why must it always be a large symphony orchestra? Think about the use of the zither in "The Third Man," or a New Orleans jazz band for Woody Allen's "Sleeper"? Why can't filmmakers be more imaginative in use of music? George Roy Hill wanted a piano-centered score for "The S
 ting" and he was brilliant to think of it.

Cary Ginell


> From: bowiebks at isomedia.com
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2012 10:27:20 -0700
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Marvin Hamlisch dies
>
> I like the idea that the film maker decides what music sounds right for the
> situation, regardless of when in time the story might be set.
>
> The great stories are timeless and should not be restricted to music of the
> period. I don't think there was a lot of music like Korngold back in the
> days of Robin Hood, but that seems to work well in the movie, as does the
> genteel rag stuff in The Sting.
>
>
> Taylor
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Cary Ginell" <soundthink at live.com>
> To: <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 9:41 AM
> Subject: [78-L] Marvin Hamlisch dies
>
>
> >
> >
> > The interesting thing about "The Sting" for me was how off-base Hamlisch
> > was, timewise, in selecting ragtime for that score. "The Sting" took place
> > in the early 1930s, 20 years after ragtime's heyday ended. Nobody listened
> > to ragtime then, ...
> > but somehow, the charm of the music worked perfectly for that film, just
> > as bluegrass worked for "Bonnie & Clyde." Bluegrass wouldn't be
> > established for a decade after that. What is it about the 1930s that
> > filmmakers couldn't get? Would those films have worked just as well if
> > they had used music that was appropriate for the period?
> >
> > Cary Ginell
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>
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