Rejected Film Scores

Here I'm going to compile all of the rejected film scores available on Youtube, along with what hasn't yet been released.



2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Alex North

Probably the most well known example. 8 years after success of SPARTACUS, the studios wanted Alex North to score Stnaley Kubrick's magnum opus. Kubrick didn't want a composer for the start, and was simply leading North up the garden path under the request of the studio bosses.

It's pretty hard to imagine this rather archaic score (in line with his sword and sandal epics) being more effective than Kubrick's temp track score, but it's an interesting 'what if? 'anyhow.

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THE EXORCIST - Lalo Schifrin

William Friedkin apparently wanted something much more subtle, whereas Schifrin delivered a skin crawling and rather disturbing work, written in the style of Penderecki's avant garde works from the 60s (i.e. Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, Utrenja, Polymorphia etc...), later used in the film's temp track modernist score (which later inspired Kubrick for THE SHINING and more recently, Scorcese for SHUTTER HAND - both of which use early Penderecki). I haven't studied this score, but I'd wager it uses the graph notation, and various aleatoric effects (aleatory meaning down to chance, an approach first pioneered by John Cage) - i.e. Instructions to play 'low clusters on piano', 'highest pitches' on violins, 'glissando ad lib', 'play between bridge and tailpiece', 'play this series of notes and gradually increase speed' etc...

That said, apparently the combination of the visuals and this music caused audiences in test screenings to become physically ill.

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WATERWORLD - Mark Isham

I don't know about this project, though I've looked into it. The only music on Youtube I can find is an unnamed cue, set to a video of a fish tank in Melbourne...

From what I've heard and read, it's an introspective, intelligent and perhaps too understated for the film the studios wanted. With the deadline fast approaching, for some reason Universal throughout Isham's score and hired consistent hack - James Newton Howard, who produced a predictable 90s synth-orchestra hybrid clone.

I've always liked Isham's work, from NEVER CRY WOLF (1983) and THE HITCHER (1986) to the relatively recent CROSSING OVER (2009). There's a dreamy, reflective quality to his compositions that's highly unique in the industry. Put simply, his music hits on a deeper level of character and ideas, than most of today's superficial, factory-preset junk.

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TORN CURTAIN - Bernard Herrmann

An absolutely terrific score, and one the finest for any Cold War thriller, with a grossly warped orchestra in the finest Herrmann tradition - not 8 but 16 horns, 8 flutes, 8 trombones all together, 8 celli, 8 contrabasses, 2 tubas, and 2-3 timpani. Echoes of both early to mid Stravinsky and Shostakovitch, the two of the most important influences on Herrmann. Wonderful, polytonality here in the main title - with that opening chord more complex than in sounds. C in the bass, followed by Bb-Db-F (Bb minor), F#-A-C# (F# minor), and Eb-Ab-C (Ab second inversion). So we're not talking bitonality here, but tritonality - even more rare! In fact, if you condensed all of these triads into one octave, it'd form a small tone cluster of Ab-A-Bb. Clusters being a rarity in Herrmann's idiom, with the exception of the iconic Psycho 'stabs' of descending major 7ths (D# down to E, then F, then Gb) - . But never will you find the kind of dense clusters so common in say John Williams's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. But the overall effect was in Herrmann's words, to create “a steeliness and aridity” that reflected the film's desaturated cinematography.

Most you are likely aware of the nature of the split up between Herrmann and Hitchcock, though I'll try to summarise it here for those that aren't. Allegedly Hitchcock was been pressured by studio execs to hire a younger, more 'hip' composer with a pop sensibility to attract the youth market. From then on, Hitch was determined to find a 'new sound' for his films, stressing "The need to break away from the old fashioned cued-in type of music that we have been using for so long.”

Hitchcock stormed into the recording studio, and demanded that the session be cancelled immediately. Herrmann insisted he just finish off the cue he was recording, but Hitchcock would have none of it, once again bringing up the need for a marketable love theme. Herrmann responded “You don’t make pop pictures. What do you want with me? I don’t write pop music."

Instead we got this, courtesy of John Addison.


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That's it for now, boys and girls.

Excellent summary, Sharkus. Thank you. I will defend James Newton Howard's score for Waterworld, though, particularly this cue from 02:33 in:



Dangerously 'new age' and sentimental perhaps, but then everything involving children is. All I can say is it works very well in context.

Back on topic, Walton's The Battle of Britain is another famously rejected score.

I have to admit, that is a nice cue. I think it's the action cues that don't do it for me. Too obvious and predictable. That new age ambient cue brings back to early trips to the Natural History Museum, and the synth music found in the Ecology and Earth galleries.

In general what of kind of 90s synths are we talking about here - digital I presume?

Sharky wrote:

In general what of kind of 90s synths are we talking about here - digital I presume?

Most likely a NED Synclavier. Howard wasn't short of a few bob.

ambler wrote:

Sharky wrote:

In general what of kind of 90s synths are we talking about here - digital I presume?

Most likely a NED Synclavier. Howard wasn't short of a few bob.

Synclavier eh? That's a real relic. Much like the Fairlight CMI, it's been out of fashion for quite a while.

I love Jack Nitzsche's score for Carpenter's STARMAN, which was all done on a Synclavier, according to Wikipedia.

Yeah, the main problem and attraction of the Synclavier was that it was a closed system . When NED went down in 1993, there were a lot of angry rich people.

Notable Synclavier tracks are Michael Rubini's Graham's Theme and Genesis' Mama. Both are almost entirely Synclavier.

Closed shop - very bad marketing move, especially for synths, when new technological advancements are always somewhere around the corner, musical fads changes, and rivalry is the name of the game. In contrast for example, Bristol Fighter - the car manufacturer. They can simply keep producing slightly evolving variations on the same design and features, and maintain their small but high paying customer base.

Regarding Michel Rubini, I also like his work on Tony Scott's THE HUNGER. Along with the cinematography, the music provides what the film solely runs on - atmosphere.



Is that a Synclavier there?

Sharky wrote:

Is that a Synclavier there?

Quite possibly. There are some similarities to this track which features an early Synclavier:



Incidentally, David Bowie had nothing to do with the track, the Youtube poster is talking out of his arse. It's Moroder through and through.

(BTW, Bristol Cars isn't a good example as they went bust last month.)

ambler wrote:

Sharky wrote:

Is that a Synclavier there?

Quite possibly. There are some similarities to this track which features an early Synclaivier:



Incidentally, David Bowie had nothing to do with the track, the Youtube poster is talking out of his arse. It's Moroder through and through.

Moroder - absolute synth-master. I even admire his work on SCARFACE, even though it was outsourced to about 3 different people other than himself (Arthur Barrow, Sylvester Levay, Kristian Schultze). That along with of course CAT PEOPLE, MIDNIGHT EXPRESS and his METROPOLIS re-score. Lots of diverse that synths that man used - Synclavier II, Moog Modular, Minimoog, DX7, Jup-8, Prophet V etc...

ambler wrote:

(BTW, Bristol Cars isn;t a good example as they went bust last month.)

Ah, well then you see - closed shop is a bad idea all round.

Cars for the people!

A YouTube search for "rejected score" turns up all kinds of stuff, a lot of which I didn't know existed, like Elliot Goldenthal's unused score for HEAT and Ennio Morricone's rejected work for WHAT DREAMS MAY COME. Some of the more expected ones show up too (it seems like there are plenty of samples of Gabriel Yared's rejected work for TROY, which isn't a great score, but is nevertheless far superior to what Horner eventually delivered).

Arkadin wrote:

A YouTube search for "rejected score" turns up all kinds of stuff, a lot of which I didn't know existed, like Elliot Goldenthal's unused score for HEAT and Ennio Morricone's rejected work for WHAT DREAMS MAY COME. Some of the more expected ones show up too

Here are some more. I won't do any prefaces this time due to my lack fo knowledge, so I'll leave it to your minds:

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MISSION IMPOSSIBLE - Alan Silvestri

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HEAT - Ellitot Goldenthal

Really need to comment here: Don't the title of this video mislead you. This cue was infact tract into Neil Jordan's Michael Collins, when it was Elliot Goldenthal's unused finale from HEAT. Obviously Mann and his editor thought Moby's God Moving Over The Face of the Waters worked better for the scene in question, and went with that instead of Goldenthal's cue.

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WHAT DREAMS MAY COME - Ennio Morricone

It's a similar tale of commerciablity versus artistic weight to the TORN CURTAIN one, except of not as a great a magnitute. The filmsmkaers simply thought while very spirtiual and moving, Moriconne's score wasn't personal enough, so they decided to go with Kamen and his standard pop song tie-in approach at the time. Both nice scores thta don't exactly hit the mark, and possibly swing too far away from the desired goal - in opposite ends.

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SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES - Georges Delerue

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2 DAYS IN THE VALLEY - JERRY GOLDSMTIH

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And of course:



ALIEN - Jerry Goldsmith

As for his reasoning behind this original Main Title, look to this documentary.

Arkadin wrote:

(it seems like there are plenty of samples of Gabriel Yared's rejected work for TROY, which isn't a great score, but is nevertheless far superior to what Horner eventually delivered).

I don't know about. I'm one of the most critical of Horner around these parts, though even I have to admit that his work on TROY is superior to Yared's. A composer who I find utterly unremarkable, and is quite frankly tedious to listen to. His work on TROY is far too overblown, with mickeymousing galore, with too much reduntant, signposting scoring. James Horner 100th variations on Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 1 works (barely) because it's understated, and captures some of the hidden nuances of the film. Yared only sees the surface.

Here's the rejected score to M:I, supposedly:
http://www.mp3sale.ru/release.php?ms_releaseid=320129

If it is, I think the rendition of the theme is terrible. Elfman was the better choice.

Mr. Brown wrote:

Here's the rejected score to M:I, supposedly:
http://www.mp3sale.ru/release.php?ms_releaseid=320129

If it is, I think the rendition of the theme is terrible. Elfman was the better choice.

It sounds like the City of Prague Philharmonic strikes again. Only they could play it so poorly.

Sharky wrote:

James Horner 100th variations on Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 1 works (barely) because it's understated, and captures some of the hidden nuances of the film. Yared only sees the surface.

There is nothing understated about Horner's tedious, overbearing score.

Arkadin wrote:

Sharky wrote:

James Horner 100th variations on Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 1 works (barely) because it's understated, and captures some of the hidden nuances of the film. Yared only sees the surface.

There is nothing understated about Horner's tedious, overbearing score.

Relatively speaking, compared to Yared's. Not in the wider picture of film scores.

I don't see that. I think between the two, Yared's score would be the one earning the title "understated." But neither really merit that description. And I fail to see what nuances are celebrated in Horner's score that are somehow absent in Yared's.

Never try to placate Harms, Sharkus. Attack is the only way forward.

Arkadin wrote:

I don't see that. I think between the two, Yared's score would be the one earning the title "understated." But neither really merit that description. And I fail to see what nuances are celebrated in Horner's score that are somehow absent in Yared's.

I'm not 'celebrating' anything here, I dislike them both. I just consider Horner's effort the lesser evil.

As for subtetly, I think The Temple of Poseidon (sans the end) and Briseis & Achilles count, for starters.

ambler wrote:

Never try to placate Harms, Sharkus. Attack is the only way forward.

I fight to the death.

Seriously, though, I only prod Sharky on points like this in the hope of learning something. He's pretty knowledgeable when it comes to music.

Haven't heard it, but apparently The Seven-Ups had a rejected score by Johnny Mandel.

See http://rejectedfilmscores.150m.com/list.html

Arkadin wrote:

ambler wrote:

Never try to placate Harms, Sharkus. Attack is the only way forward.

I fight to the death.

Seriously, though, I only prod Sharky on points like this in the hope of learning something. He's pretty knowledgeable when it comes to music.

I'm deeply flattered, but there's a limit to how far one can intellectualise taste. Sometimes even I don't know why I like a certain work.

More often than not, I prefer to let the music speak for itself. Words are never enough.

Here's another shipment from Sharkus Ltd:

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PRINCE OF TIDES - John Barry

We all know the story. PRINCE OF TIDES, Barbara Striesland etc...I think this demonstrates one of the pros of rejected film scores - you can recycle them for concert works, and no one will bat an eye.

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THE SCARLET LETTER - Elmer Bernstein.

And now the inverse - a film eventually scored by John Barry, with a rejected score from Elmer Bernstein. Nothing really special here, though the uploader did have the temerity to call Barry's effort "generic, boring and underwhelming."

May the Ghost of the Prendergast lay vengeance upon him.

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http://earbuds.popdose.com/jeffyjohnson/FrenzyRejectedMainTitle.mp3

FRENZY - Henry Mancini

Hitchcock - “If I had wanted Bernard Herrmann, I would have hired him.”

Whatever Hitch. It sure beats Ron Goodwin's forgettable pomp-and-circumstance rubbish.

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THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN - SIR WILLIAM WALTON

I've actually got the rejected Walton score, though isn't on Youtube. This is the closest I could find, featuring a short but elegant cue called 'Scrambe!' - the first half centering around arpeggiated figures outlining a Gm13th chord. After this follows Battle in the Air, used in its entirety for the final dogfight.

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http://earbuds.popdose.com/jeffyjohnson/Meltdown.mp3

THE CHINA SYNDROME - MICHAEL SMALL

A case of over-scoring, or simply scoring a film that didn't need any music to enhance drama. Drama turned into melodrama.

“When we laid the music in, it didn’t work.” - Michael Douglas

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LEGEND - Jerry Goldsmith

I'm sorry Tangerine Dream, but none of you or your ponsy Synclaviers can stand up to the power of Jerry.

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http://earbuds.popdose.com/jeffyjohnson/Battle.mp3

GANGS OF NEW YORK - Elmer Bernstein

Elmer Bernstein > Howard Shore.

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More will come, in time.

Thanks for Mancini's FRENZY. I had never heard all of it. I wish we'd get a score release.

Bernstein did a score for GANGS OF NEW YORK!? I like that track.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Bernstein did a score for GANGS OF NEW YORK!? I like that track.

I never knew Bernstein did something for GANGS OF NEW YORK, either. Beats the pants off of the end result. Can't believe Scorsese didn't use it.

Arkadin wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Bernstein did a score for GANGS OF NEW YORK!? I like that track.

I never knew Bernstein did something for GANGS OF NEW YORK, either. Beats the pants off of the end result. Can't believe Scorsese didn't use it.

Yep, lots of nice influences from Adams, Andriessen, Antheil, Varése, and even the other Bernstein.

Scorcese's always had a funny relationship with film scores. A bit of a control freak, with a few exceptions.

Is the whole score available, or just that track?