MovieChat Forums > The Cowboys (1972) Discussion > Music score

Music score

posted 10 years ago by ewaf58
6 replies | jump to latest

Just been watching the film and was impressed by the dramatic score. So I looked to see who composed it - yes our very own John Williams.

[–] fugazzi49 9 years ago

The score is one of the great elements in The Cowboys and is now considered a classic. It was Williams' second score in an "Americana" vein, the first being for the Steve McQueen movie, The Reivers (also highly recommended viewing). The Reivers took place in Mississippi at the turn of the century, so there is more banjo and Southern elements, even a paraphrase of Camptown Races. The Cowboys is all-out Western, with the orchestral style begun by Copland and continued by composers like Jerome Moross (The Big Country), and Elmer Bernstein (The Magnificent Seven). John Williams had a special talent for this type of music and I wish he had scored more Westerns. As it turned out, he became mor identified with the heroic Richard Straussian music of Star Wars.

But he really hit the mark with The Cowboys. Not only is it a great Western score, but the music also perfectly captures the impetuous, rowdy spirit of boyhood.

[–] ewaf58 9 years ago

Yes - when you're watching a film for the first time (as I was with 'The Cowboys') and it has a great score - that score suddenly stars getting under your skin and you begin to notice the melodies.

Too many films - and TV series - have very bland music written for them - which doesn't get any better with repeated listening.

On a personal note I used to prefer series which used strong and repeated musical themes throughout their runs (Think Star Trek TOS)

John Williams is a great composer and I remember reading that tries to avoid listening to other scores so that he isn't in danger of copying any to remain original.

However the opening crescendos of Superman are very similar to the openings for a piece written for the 1969 film 'Battle of Britain'

I'm sure he'll do a great job for the new Star Wars film.

[–] jmillerdp 9 years ago

The sound mix doesn't seem to have a lot of dynamic range, much like a lot of movies at that stage in cinema. Too bad that the score's fidelity is affected.

Williams was having a good year, with this and The Poseidon Adventure. I was glad to have seen both in '72!

I. Drink. Your. Milkshake! [slurp!] I DRINK IT UP! - Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood

[–] ewaf58 9 years ago

Thee is a 1995 CD available on Amazon but can't tell if any improvements were made.

[–] jmillerdp 9 years ago

I love all kinds of music, but certainly didn't earn any "cool" points by my love of film scores as a teen!

So, I know more about them than I should.  Anyway, at that time, film composers like Williams would perform and record two versions of a film score, one for the film, one for record.

The one would be timed as needed for the film, and might be customized for the often-mono soundtrack. Meanwhile, the second version would be fully stereo, and might be a different score edit, since you were trying to create something that would be best for listening-only purposes.

There is a deluxe version of Williams' 1978 "The Fury," that includes one CD of the film cues, and one CD of what appeared for the record album.

The CD for "The Cowboys" might have takes that were especially recorded for a soundtrack album.

I. Drink. Your. Milkshake! [slurp!] I DRINK IT UP! - Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood

[–] Etherdave 9 years ago

It's got a lot of 'The Reivers' in it. The more intimate, chamberish orchestration is peculiar to the period, but gives us hints of the scores to come. It's quite a substantial score, and seems to be larger in writing than 'The Poseidon Adventure'.