Joel McNeely

Well, after FOUR YEARS (!) of working on various incarnations, Tinker Bell will be released on DVD next week. I am so proud of how it turned out. The wait was worth it. John Lassiter’s creative guidance and Bradley Raymond’s beautiful direction has created a rich world for our heroine, one I hope avid fans will find worthy of her great character.

So, a few words about the score. Firstly, it was HUGE honor to work with all the gifted musicians who played on this score. Most significantly, the brilliant Irish violinist, Mairead Nesbitt. It is a fantastic thing to write not just for an instrument, but also for an artist who you know will play the music. I focused on learning her particular styles, she is a brilliant Celtic fiddler, but she also has a classical background and a lyrical style which lended itself so beautifully to the score. She is featured on almost every cue!

The soundtrack from Disney Records has a seven and a half minute suite of my score cues from the film.

Read the rest of this entry »

Blogs are more and more proving to be a thing of great value to me. I LOVE Michael Ruhlman’s blog on the food world. And Alex Ross‘ music blog is a must. So I was delighted to see a fascinating discussion blossom on our beloved Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra blog, that above all others, proves to me what a real and useful medium this is becoming.

The discussion is started by esteemed composer Kevin Puts, who relays a comment uber-esteemed composer John Adams made at a lecture. The comment is almost less significant than the discussion it sparks, which to me is really interesting. It concerns many things about being a concert composer in today’s climate, but begins with a debate about the dilemma a composer faces, in whether to write in a calculated way to please today’s audiences. The discussion is a little spread out over many different headings, so to make it easier to navigate I’ll put links to it here in order.

Excellent comments abound from some really interesting thinkers, including music director Jeffrey Kahane. I am having my students at USC read and discuss this and Kevin mentions he is doing the same at Peabody. Check it out!

1. A Climate of Fear
2. Re: A Climate of Fear, A response from Jeffrey Kahane
3. On Audience Perceptions of ‘modern and contemporary’
4. A Life Changing Epiphany
5. Continuing Discussion on John Adams

Well, the straws have been counted and the results are in. Mind you, I did a very rough counting, and I’ll only list multiple votes, mainly to reveal trends in what would be most popular.

It goes something like this:
Rozsa was the big winner with:
Quo Vadis 14
Sinbad 12
Jungle Book 8
Thief of Baghdad 4
Double Life 2

Herrmann in second with:
On Dangerous Ground 7
Beneath the 12 Mile Reef 4
Obsession 4
Man Who Knew Too Much 3
Bride Wore Black 3
Devil and Daniel Webster 3
Journey to the Center of the Earth 2
Hangover Square 2

Walter Schumann:
Night of the Hunter 7

Gold:
Exodus 4

Waxman:
Tarus Bulba 8

Newman:
Wuthering Heights 3

Williams:
Black Sunday 2
Family Plot 2

So, there it is. Rozsa seems to be what you all want most. I was really surprised not to see more requests for North or Jerry Goldsmith. Why do you think that is? And now I have to learn the Schumann score to Night of the Hunter, because I do not know it and so many of you voted for it.

THANK YOU all for taking the time to vote here, and as well for supporting classic film music. Your input was informative and valuable.

Happy New Year!
Joel