Intrada Soundtrack Forum

Quite often I hear that Max Steiner is one of the best western composers and that he scored something like 30 western movies.
But when I see tracklistings of western compilations or Steiner compilations, I see only one or two extracts from his whole career. For instance, the recent Silva "Magnificent Westerns" compilation presents only ONE cue from Steiner over 4 CDs and that's THE SEARCHERS, which was already on their 2 CDs Steiner's collection of scores and the only represented western along with THE HANGING TREE, if I remember correctly.
Besides, I must say that those 2 extracts don't have the typical big western sound of Dimitri Tiomkin or Elmer Bernstein. It's like they don't sound like what we now call a western score.
There's also something disturbing in Marc Shaiman pure western score CITY SLICKERS II where he obviously quotes a Max Steiner excellent score, THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, which is NOT a western (it's set in Mexico, in 1925). Why not quoting an actual Steiner western score if he has composed so many ?
So what's the deal with Steiner's western scores ? Are they hidden and unreleased gems or is THE SEARCHERS the best he could do in the genre ?

Well, They Died With Their Boots On certainly is a milestone of the western genre. The Morgan/Stromberg re-recording is one of their best so be sure to check it out.
There are a few other Steiner western scores available that I can think of (mainly from SAE or BYU) : Pursued, Distant Drums and South of St Louis. But I'm particularly fond of his score for Dodge City coupled with The Oklahoma Kid (also on BYU). Dodge City has some great themes and exciting action music. Classic Steiner. I guess most of these scores may sound old fashioned today (and indeed they are !), but that's part of the charm and freshness of Steiner's music -- at least to me. I guess he approached the genre as a specifically american one and thus invented his own americana sound made of folk tunes and original themes that sound like folk tunes. Pursued is interesting, because it is both a western and a noir film. The score reflects that duality and is darker than the others I've mentioned.

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Basil Poledouris is the other exception. Lonesome Dove and Quigley Down under are amazing. Here's hoping for expanded (or complete) versions of both scores...is Quigley within the realm of possibility for you guys to pull a Silverado on?
Yavar[/quote]

I would add Eric Colvin, a young protege of Basil Poledouris, as another composer working within the tradition of Coplandesque western scoring. He has scored recent Tom Selleck TV westerns such as MONTE WALSH/CROSSFIRE TRAIL.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Max Steiner did not like scoring westerns, preferring Bette Davis romances.

I have heard quite a few Max Steiner western scores, and never really thought of him as being in the same category as Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, Jerome Moross, or even Dimitri Tiomkin. Having said that, I do like THE SEARCHERS ("Indian Idyll" and the Comanche motif, although John Ford apparently hated it), DODGE CITY, RATON PASS, and DEEP VALLEY. I also like the cavalry march (a close relative of CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE) in A DISTANT TRUMPET. But I don't think I would label Steiner a western composer. His talents were more on display in other genres (DARK VICTORY, for example).

b.

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Unfortunately, I'm afraid that most fans of contemporary film music will find Korngold's and Steiner's music equally old fashioned. And I believe too they have a lot in common, as far as the way their music works within the context of the film is concerned. Every score that tends to be musical and dramatic rather atmospheric seems to be considered old fashioned today, anyway.
I also prefer Korngold, Waxman, Rozsa and Friedhofer to Steiner. They usually have a much more subtle way of underscoring their films. Steiner's music tends to underscore the obvious and it isn't right for all films. Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a good example : his 'pardner' theme always sounded out of place in the film to me, way too light and cheery for this tragic story.
And I think Doug is right about the European sound of many early westerns. We talked about Friedhofer's Broken Arrow score before, and I guess it's this kind of scores (along with Copland's or Virgil Thompson's film works) that spawned the most interesting western scores.
But I felt I had to speak in defense of Steiner : he left us many good scores and I believe someone had to write this kind of western scores before other composers could write more modern ones.