Byzantium's Shores: chronicling the misadventures of an overalls-clad hippie

Every Usenet newsgroup has topics that crop up now and then, some of which result in inevitable flamewars and others that result in thoughtful discussion. And then there are some that result in both. On rec.music.movies, the main group in which I used to participate, one such topic was the relationship between film music and classical music.

Generally speaking, film music afficionadoes tend to feel "looked-down-upon" by classical music people. This perception is not without cause. Many lovers of classical music tend to look upon film music as something of a bastard step-child; it's "classical lite", and the people who love it are merely goofy folks and geeky fanboys who have never been able to develop the finer aesthetic sensibility or the attention-span required to really plumb the depths of the world's great music. Likewise, many film music lovers tend to sneer at classical people, thinking them snobs who think themselves the occupants of the Artistic High Ground and who are thus incapable of seeing the many wonderments film music has to offer.

As is often the case, to a certain degree both camps are correct about the other.

Film music lovers tend to fall into three different camps, as far as their attitudes toward classical music goes. First there are the ones who are quite happy to listen to film music and little else; their classical experience is limited to a handful of the "biggest" classical pieces out there or a concert work written by a film composer. They might have a Beethoven CD or two, or maybe a "Highlights from Wagner's Ring Cycle" CD, but little else. These folks tend to not like classical music much at all, which is surprising since they are already familiar with the orchestral sound, but they find that there isn't enough "payoff" in classical music.

Then there is a smaller camp of people who mainly love classical music, but also follow film music out of what they perceive to be a filet-mignon lover's enjoyment of hamburgers and hot dogs. They claim enjoyment of film music, but squarely on a level that's quite a bit below classical, or an intellectual film critic's appreciation of Hong Kong kung-fu movies.

And finally, there is the third camp that loves film music and classical music equally well, for different reasons, and sees film music as a "sub-genre" of classical that has its own charms that a lot of concert music does not, while granting that concert music is strong in other areas that film music is rarely able to explore. This is what I call the "centrist-inclusive" position of film music fandom, and it's where the most level-headed and reasonable folks reside. Including, of course, me. (Did you expect anything else?)

The relationship between classical music and film music is one I've thought about for a long time, and I'm planning to explore it a bit in a series of essays, of which this is the introduction. Basically, I want to explore just why I love film music as much as I do, and where it stands in relation to the great music of the past, which is also a central part of my creative life. Stay tuned….