composers in movies?

[Felixissimo]

Amadeus with Mozart and Le roi danse with Lully. That's all I know. Does anyone know any other?

[SeanHannifin]

There's Immortal Beloved and Copying Beethoven with Beethoven. There's the Russian film Tchiakovsky with Tchaikovsky. I'm sure there are plenty more, but those are the ones I've seen.

Nothing beats Amadeus though. :D

[keithjfuller]

do you mean movies about composers, or movies that have scores taken from previous composers?

[Skysaw]

There should definitely be more in this category.

I just saw the documentary on Wild Man Fisher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Man_Fischer), does that count? (Fascinating, by the way.)

[sakari.lindhen]

I remember an English film on Tsaichovsky, and a film about Chopin....and a documentary on Pucini...

also have seen plays about Schoenberg, and Stravinsky...

On the other hand, When Arnold Schwarzenegger was asked to pick a German composer that he would want to play in a film, he answered: I'll be Bach!~|

[Pingu]

There's an ok biopic of Glenn Miller - I think James Stuart was Glenn. There's one about Grieg, called Song of Norway, which is ridiculously Hollwoodised, and several about Gilbert and Sullivan.

[JMDNYC]

What about Ken Russell? He's made almost half his career on films about composers. A quick rundown on IMDB finds this:

"Elgar" (1962)
"Portrait of a Soviet Composer" (1963) - Prokofiev
"Bartok" (1964)
"The Debussy Film" (1965)
"Don't Shoot the Composer" (1966) - Georges Delerue
"Song of Summer" (1968) - Frederick Delius
"Dance of the Seven Veils" (1970) - Richard Strauss
"The Music Lovers" (1970) - Tchaikovsky
"Mahler" (1974)
"Listzomania" (1975) - Listz
"The Planets" (1983) - Holst
"Ralph Vaughn Williams" (1986)
"Ken Russell's ABC of British Music" (1988)
"The Strange Affliction of Anton Bruckner" (1990)
"The Secret Life of Arnold Bax" (1992)
"The Mystery of Dr. Martinu" (1993) - Bohuslav Martinu
"Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle" (2002)

True a lot of these were made for television and are hard to find, but "The Music Lovers" is perhaps Russell's greatest film and essential viewing. Russell hired John Corigliano to score "Altered States" after hearing his clarinet concerto in concert. So this is a man who knows his music. Plus, if you don't know Russell's films, he is a director unafraid to go way out there...

[buckshead]

There's also the films of Tony Palmer including Hindemith, Wagner, Purcell and so on

[Tom_Davis]

Here are a few movies about composers:

Immortal Beloved
Song of Scheherzade
Gesualdo Death for Five Voices
The chronicles of Anna Magdalena Bach
Tous les matins du monde
Beethoven Lives Upstairs
Kompozitor Glinka
God rot Turnbridge Wells
Le roi danse
Amadeus
Eroica
Farinelli
A Song of Summer
Night and Day
Lisztomania
Magic Fire
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
A Song to Remember
Rhapsody in Blue - the George Gershwin story
Death in Venice
Spring Symphony
Song of Norway
Topsy-Turvy
Testimony about Shostakovich
Duet for One
Impromptu
Song of Love
Song Without End
The Music Lovers
The Great Waltz
Blossom Time

[Felixissimo]

boy, have I been missing out ~| Thanks a lot. Now I'll be occupied all summer (maybe I should move my TV outside?) )(~

[Frank D]

Hey Felixissimo,

Funny how imprecise language is ... I interpreted your topic to mean, "Are there any movies where a famous composer actually appeared in a film". (LOL!!!)

In which case, I'd say, yeah, the classic is Hitchcock's 1956 remake of "The Man Who Knew Too Much", in which Bernard Herrmann (who did the score for this film as well as most of Hitch's movies between 1956-1966) appears as the actual conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (with a chorus) ostensibly playing Arthur Benjamin's "Storm Clouds" cantata at the Royal Albert Hall.

Herrmann is clearly seen in the film as the symphony's conductor in a few medium shots, as well as an exterior shot of the Hall's post board outside crediting that Herrmann would be conducting the orchestra for that evening's performance.

If you have never seen this film, do so! "The Man Who Knew Too Much" is the quintessential film that uses source music (the performance of "Storm Clouds") as an integral component of the drama ... you see, at the piece's climax, right at the time a percussionist will play a FFF cymbal crash, an assassination will take place in the concert hall! During the piece, Hitch even shows us several close-ups of the percussionist's score part, providing even more tension for those of us who read music! We know when its coming!

Hitchcock plays the Royal Albert Hall sequence all through the "Storm Clouds" cantata right up to the climax without any dialog ... 12 minutes of building musical suspense!

Despite being the film's composer (and an actor!), Herrmann did not compose "Storm Clouds". In fact, there's actually relatively little original underscoring in the 1956 remake. Herrmann, who could have (but declined) to compose a new concert piece to replace "Storm Clouds", thought the piece Benjamin composed for the original 1934 version of the film (also by Hitchcock) was perfect as-is for it's dramatic staring feature. It is a great piece of music!

Regards,

Frank

[Felixissimo]

Hey Felixissimo,

Funny how imprecise language is ... I interpreted your topic to mean, "Are there any movies where a famous composer actually appeared in a film". (LOL!!!)

I'd love to see Bach doing a car chase scene )(~

I'll keep on eye on for that movie as well. Sounds great! ~|

[reberclark]

http://home.comcast.net/~reberclark/bachrace1.jpg

[PaulR]

Herrmann is clearly seen in the film as the symphony's conductor
Frank

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFMLTtNpamM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkxv8-uN48A&feature=related

[conwaylemmon]

don't forget mr. holland's opus
lol

[upsider]

Someone mentioned Ken Russell's Lisztomania, with ROger Daltry as Liszt.
That movie (1975) is truly off its head, and worth watching for at least 20 mins (ok maybe 15) just for a unique view of drugs and its effects on cinema in the 1970's. Wagner turns up too - hilarious, I think...:wow:

[karvasika]

Even if it wouldn't quite count, there's an old film called Sun Valley Serenade where Glenn Miller is in the film with his orchestra (but I think his name is not Glenn Miller in the film). Anyway, it's good music and they film the orchestra a lot when they play.

[reberclark]

RE: Lisztomania - I was a projectionist at the time this came out. Fantastic stuff! Wagner's piano had guns coming out of it that fired as he played and he and Liszt have a battle. That's just one scene, there are many many more that are just crazy. I loved this movie at the time. Now I'd put it somewhere between "The Trip" and "Zardoz."

Also don't forget Danny Kaye's "A Song is Born" about a music prof in a conservatory which happens to attract a bunch of real music guys - Benny Goodman, Louie Belson (I think, if not Krupa), one of the Dorsey brothers, Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, Mel Powell and a cast of many many more real musicians. The music jokes are very good, if dated, and we all probably know one or two of the professors - the characterizations are hilarious. Not strictly a "composers in movies" movie, but fun.

[JMDNYC]

http://home.comcast.net/~reberclark/bachrace1.jpg

If you find this image funny, then do I have the movie for you:

http://vimeo.com/4915499

Bach had a more active life than you knew.

It's a film on which I did the sound mix; the music is by a friend of mine, Donald Sosin.

[AlanPerkins]

Don't fall for the ones about Beethoven with the picture of a shaggy dog. They are about a shaggy dog.

:)

[Felixissimo]

Don't fall for the ones about Beethoven with the picture of a shaggy dog. They are about a shaggy dog.

:)

Haha!!!!!!)(~

[reberclark]

If you find this image funny, then do I have the movie for you:

http://vimeo.com/4915499

Bach had a more active life than you knew.

It's a film on which I did the sound mix; the music is by a friend of mine, Donald Sosin.

That was great! Who knew? and did I hear the "Iceberg Variations?" The Scanning Tunneling Metronome was hilarious! Good stuff, great mix and fine music. :):wow:)(~~|

[trentpmcd]

If you find this image funny, then do I have the movie for you:

http://vimeo.com/4915499

Bach had a more active life than you knew.

It's a film on which I did the sound mix; the music is by a friend of mine, Donald Sosin.

And if I couldn't find enough things to love about Bach, there is this! Hilarious. )(~