Film and Video Game Music
Discussion
The 20th century brought us such a diversity in our entertainment, wherein we can enjoy all the finely crafted classical from previous eras. But now we get jazz, rock and roll, musicals, film scores, and video games. For some odd reason, music for video games are not taken seriously. Perhaps because the earlier video games had music composed and created on the early synthesizers, so the sound quality is not comparable to a full orchestra. However, give the composers who created the pieces for those early great games credit for some of the most infectious melodies created. You'll see from the examples below. Film scores were initially not taken seriously by academia, again, because it wasn't "serious" music. Early film scores had a certain style to them, quite melodramatic in comparison to other styles. But you can see from some of the examples, they're quite good, well formed pieces. I am also adding this interview that James Horner does discussing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, as he lays out some of the important aspects of film composing.
When composing or arranging for film or video games, control shifts away from the composer, far different from staging an opera or a musical. The composer has far more power in those mediums. In film, however, music takes a step to the background, and the focus is on the visual aspect. A composer can still have a tremendous impact upon the success of a film, but the composer needs to collaborate with the director in terms of how the music plays a part. For video games, a composer is even more restricted because it depends now on the actions the player of the video game takes, so a composer needs to plan out how the music will sound with the creator of the game.
Highly Worthy Music for Your Listening and Research Pleasure
Film
Max Steiner: Gone With The Wind - Tara's theme from the film, 1939.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: The Adventures of Robin Hood - an example of the high swashbuckling soaring music of the 1930s.
Sergei Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky scene - the famous battle on the ice scene from the Sergei Eisenstein film.
Bernard Herrmann: Vertigo - this is the beginning music from Hitchcock's Vertigo, and Herrmann's most iconic score, filled with fantastic uses of scales and harmonies. You can see some of his original score here, which highlights cues that the music has to hit to match the film's actions.
Bernard Herrmann: Psycho - another fantastic score from Herrmann.
Elmer Bernstein: The Magnificent Seven - bringing quite an Aaron Copland vibe to film.
Elmer Bernstein: To Kill A Mockingbird - Bernstein's subtle score for Harper Lee's film from 1962.
Maurice Jarre: Lawrence of Arabia - main theme from 1962.
Elmer Bernstein: The Great Escape - conducted here by Bernstein himself.
Ennio Morricone: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly - I'm linking to the ending scene from this film. This shows just how to build tension and payoff with the music along with masterful directing.
Henry Mancini: The Pink Panther - an iconic score from the 70s.
John Williams: Superman Theme - one of the best film scores with the most iconic theme.
John Williams: Star Wars Theme - the main theme to Star Wars, conducted here by John Williams in 2020.
John Williams: Empire Strikes Back: Imperial March - outdoing himself with the sequel with the Imperial March, conducted here by Williams in 2020.
John Williams: Raiders of the Lost Ark - the main theme in a rondo form, conducted here by John Williams.
Vangelis: Chariots of Fire - a mixture of synthesized sounds with acoustic that won Vangelis a lot of praise.
Basil Poledouris: Conan the Barbarian - fantastic film score.
Basil Poledouris: Conan the Barbarian - another piece from this score.
James Horner: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - the Battle of the Mutara Nebula scene, showing Horner's mastery of great music for the cues.
Danny Elfman: Batman - astounding score from Elfman.
Trevor Jones: Last of the Mohicans - the final scene of the film with its iconic score.
Jerry Goldsmith: LA Confidential - one of the pieces from the film.
Philip Glass: Truman Show - For this film, Glass repurposed some of the music he composed for previous works that fit beautifully with the style of the film, as seen in this scene.
Don Davis: The Matrix - a suite from Davis's score for the film.
Hans Zimmer: Gladiator - astounding score from Zimmer.
Howard Shore: The Lord of the Rings - a suite of Shore's score for Lord of the Rings.
Philip Glass: The Hours - Glass composes scores in minimalist style, which works well for some films.
Michael Giacchino: The Incredibles - this short scene from Mr. Incredible training.
Tom Holkenborg: Mad Max Fury Road: Brothers in Arms - one scene from the fiery film from 2015.
Ludwig Göransson: Wakanda - the main theme for Black Panther, from 2018.
Hildur Guðnadóttir: Chernobyl: Bridge of Death - more atmospheric style of music, but fitting very well with its show, from 2019.
Video Games
Koji Kondo: Legend of Zelda (NES) Intro - Kondo has composed over eight hours worth of the most well known themes, including the Legend of Zelda.
Koji Kondo: Super Mario Bros - Kondo plays solo here some of his themes from Super Mario Bros.
Bear McCreary: God of War - McCreary discusses how he created the God of War theme.
Nobuo Uematsu: Final Fantasy Series - prelude from Uematsu's Final Fantasy score.
Lena Raine: Celeste - Resurrections, from the game.
Akumajou Densetsu: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse - full eight bit sound, with very catchy themes.
Mahito Yokota: Super Mario Galaxy - Gusty Garden Galaxy. By this point in the Mario worlds, we get full orchestral compositions.