How awesome is the music
God Love John Williams, even in the '60s he made amazing music.
shareVery awesome, I've never seen the movie but the music is great.
Williams recorded a 20 minute piece with narration with the Boston Pops Orchestra.
MovieChat Forums > The Reivers (1969) Discussion > How awesome is the music
I AGREE!!!! I bought the vinyl album (on Columbia) when it first came out, loved it so much I bought the CD when it was released. It is an awesome score, all the better because Williams wasn't as well-known then. Hard to believe it didn't win the original score Oscar that year ..... it instead went to Burt Bacharach for his score to "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" ..... but Williams came into his own when he scored all the "Star Wars" pics, plus many, many more. It stills remains, for me, his best, most enjoyable score.
shareit was ridiculous that silly "pop" films like HELLO DOLLY and BUTCH CASSIDY were nominated over films like the reivers..it should have had noms for picture,script,cinematography,costumes,art direction and more..it was williams'
finest score,totally capturing the time and place..burgess meridith's narration deserves special mention as well
This was my introduction to the genius of John Williams. It has always been a favorite soundtrack of mine!
This is where his composing career really began for me.
share I couldn't agree more. John Williams almost personally revived and sustained the symphonic orchestral soundtrack at a time (the early 70's) when it seemed about to be replaced by soundtracks of current popular songs. Today, a film like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid seems a bit dated by it's songs where the music to the Reivers is timeless.
The Reivers is a particularly fine score by Williams, and one of his earliest. With it he was able to craft an "Americana" sound that was not totally dependent on Aaron Copland. Copland's music had virtually given birth to the Western soundtrack, but its suggestion of vast spaces was not suited to the 1905 South. Williams used as large an orchestra but kept the musical cues closer to life on the Mississippi than Monument Valley. He deftly approaches popular songs of the day like Camptown Races but never directly quotes them.
All of this is done with a magnificent orchestration that incorporates folk instruments like harmonica and banjos which lend an authenticity to the music and never seem out of place or gimmicky. It effectively illustrates the scenes of the film whether soft and sweet or soaring like a waltz from Der Rosenkavalier.
It's worth noting that this score got the attention of Spielberg, who admired its Americana sound. It's also worth noting that it works beautifully as a stand alone piece to simply listen to.