Intrada Soundtrack Forum

This will probably sound obvious and trivial, especially to composers, but as I was listening to Glenn Miller's "In the Mood", among the bonus tracks on Quartet Record's Partners (Georges Delerue), I was reminded how remarkable it is that some (many) pieces of music that rank among the best and best known boil down to mere repetitions and variations (if I may be so bold as to say so) on a single theme (or phrase, which I, as a layman, understand or consider as something longer and consisting of several segments or motifs).

Naturally, it is not so simple at all and requires a great sense of orchestration, arrangement and rhythm (on a large scale), so that the piece remains interesting, keeps building and developing, retaining the listener's interest from start to finish.

With music in my headphones (I'll be listening to something else shortly), it's hard to think of examples right now, though, however many there may be.

Ravel's Boléro is one rather long example, and certainly the first one that struck me as such when I first heard it as a kid and enjoyed it, when the others found it a boring repetitive thing.
Poledouris' "The Orgy" comes to mind.

Yup, change in instrumentation, tempo and connecting motifs can really strengthen a listener's appreciation of any particular melody.

I even look at it in comparison to how the melodies are presented in different cues within an entire work. "Rocky's Reward" is a perfect example for me. The melody featured in that cue has a bold, hectic presence in "Going the Distance" during the big fight. While I very much enjoy that rendition, especially in the context of the film, its fugue-like presence in "Rocky's Reward" grabs my interest on a higher level.

There are entire scores that are essentially dual-thematic where every variation fascinates me just about equally. Robert Folk's There Be Dragons is one recent example.