Movie Music: Is it Classical?

There is some debate out there about what constitutes "Classical Music".  One of the biggest questions is, "Does movie music count?" It's big! It's orchestral. It seems like it should work.

Movie music is often referred to as modern classical music. My local classical radio station even has a show called The Score that is all about movie music. But it is really considered classical music?

The short answer from industry insiders, including composers who compose both classical music and movie scores, is "No."

The most compelling argument against movie music being classical is context.

Classical music is written for it's own sake. When you come to our concerts, you come expecting to hear music...and nothing else. Sometimes we put on a show (like when we played the Planets and showed you video), but mostly it's about the music.

Movie music is about what's on the screen. The music is written to enhance what you are visually enjoying. Even played in a concert hall, because of the movie, the patron comes in with preconceived ideas about what they should think about while listening. We played music from The Polar Express at our Christmas concert, and while the music is orchestral and wonderful, it's the associations with what's on the screen that gives it it's meaning.

Another way to look at it is the concept of how a musical idea is examined.  In a classical piece, a musical idea will be expressed in the song, and then often composers will take that little idea, turn it on it's head, then inside out, and dance around it a bit in one movement of a piece. The most famous example of this is the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.  Everyone knows the first four notes.

Beethoven takes those first four notes and turns them upside down and all around, leaves them for a while, then comes back to them. You as the listener are taken on a musical ride. But there is, in Beethoven's music, no prior association (except one that you may have on your own).

So no, movie music isn't "classical music".

But it's fun, and it can be a gateway into the world of classical music. So listen guilt free and enjoy it all.

For some Christmas fun, here is the opening of the 2018 movie, The Grinch. If you are familiar with the 1960s version, you'll enjoy a lot of the musical nods wrapped into Danny Elfman's soundtrack.