Intrada Soundtrack Forum

We all know that film music is stuffed full of quotes, semi-quotes and homages to earlier music, whether classical or any other genre.

Listening as I have been to three of Intrada's recent releases, I've noticed three prominent examples (to my ears anyway) that weren't mentioned in the liner notes. So because I can't get these references out of my head, I thought I'd plant them here.

In The Alchemist (a score I just adore and have for years), I finally realize that there's a short motif threaded through the score that is identical to the small idea that threads through Goldsmith's Omen and that Marco Beltrami featured in his remake score to same; It's three notes (two tones), repeated with the lower tone up an octave, like this: up-down-up, up(higher)-up-down-up. Don't know for sure if it's intentional (though sometimes I think Richard Band is clearly writing under the Goldsmith Influence), but it sure smacks me upside the head.

In The Verdict, Johnny Mandel's end title (cue 15) is clearly influenced by the finale of Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms - both the instrumentation/vocal forces and the pulse/harmony (not identical, but far too particular and close to be a coincidence.)

And the one that struck me most is in the opening of Fielding's Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia, which suddenly (1'01" to 1'10') becomes a paraphrase of a major fanfare from Bartok's second piano concerto, which otherwise appears nowhere else in the score (and certainly doesn't particularly evoke all things Spanish).

I'm not criticizing anyone here, because each of these works have their own merits, but it's nice to know where some of these ideas originate.

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Sean Nethery

There's a bit of Laurence Rosenthal's "Echo of Thunder" that almost but not quite turns into "On the Street Where You Live". I'd point you toward a specific track and time but this bit always seems to play when I'm keeping several balls in the air at once and by the time I've stopped the moment's passed.

As above, no accusations of anything, but it IS there, I think.

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Karl Morton IV

"Enjoy every sandwich."
-- Warren Zevon

I heard the hint of "Piper's Dreams" in The Alchemist too; I'm surprised you don't mention "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme") in Zone Troopers. I have not commented on this here yet because I still have to read the liner notes, but your topic was a good place to mention this.

I like both scores, by the way, especially The Alchemist-- great music.

Olivier: Good point on Zone Troopers/Empire Strikes Back. I think the reason this one didn't rise to the surface for me is because the similarity is traceable more to the original source of pompous, military-style marches than particularly to the Darth Vader Is Coming To Town March. I guess I don't think Band is so much aping Williams, as they're both aping a cliche "evil nazi march" approach.

It's funny that I don't think of the Goldsmith motif as "The Piper Dreams" -probably just because it's part of the bridge of the song, not the main melody. Thus my need to belabor the description of the motif.

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Sean Nethery