As I mentioned before, I consider Danny Elfman´s Edward Scissorhands (especially The Grand Finale) one of the greatest choral works in filmmusic historie. In general, Danny Elfman is unsurpassed when it comes to using choir in scores.
Also, The Omen is good...I do not own the score yet, but it works EXTREMELY well within the movie.
Duel of the Fates is a very nice piece of music, but I must admit not one of my favorites.
Some of my other favorite choral works are Nightbreed, Impire of the Sun, First Knight and ofcourse the cue "Descent into Mystery" from the Batman score; when you hear it, it is obvious that a genious wrote it. As is the case with every other Elfman score

SFT

There's also the famous bit from "The Matrix" movie trailer everybody was talking about a month ago, which we found out came from Enigma in a song called "The Eyes of The Truth". Even though most of the song was new-age-ish (and it wasn't half-bad ), the choral part of the song is what really stood out.

While I am on the choral stuff, I've been meaning to ask if anyone's noticed how Williams' "Duel of the Fates" sounds a lot like the choral material Basil Poledouris writes? I am not talking lyrics, I am talking musical structure and sonance. Which Poledouris piece does "Duel of the Fates" sound most like?

John Williams does great stuff with chorus in his scores. I think DUEL OF THE FATES proves that. I also love Exsultate Justi from EMPIRE OF THE SUN.

David Arnold's STARGATE has some great choral work in it as well.

Alan Silvestri's YOUNG GUNS 2, comes to mind as having some good choral in it.

And I think Hans Zimmer adds a lot to his scores when he throws in a little choral even if it might be synthisized it still sounds great.

Hush (Chris Young)
The Hunt for Red October (Basil Poledouris)
QB VII (Jerry Goldsmith)

QB VII has some great choral work on it. Just listen to that last track...

One other thing, I think people are badly influenced by Danny Elfman or Horner, to mention a few names, that keep saying that Williams' has been influenced by them or others. I love Danny Elfman and Horner, but for cryin' out loud, I think John Williams didn't even remembered them when he was writing The Duel of the Fates, or the wordless chorus, when some people say composers have been using a choir more often since Elfman's Scissorhands or Horner's APOLLO 13. I do think that Williams has been influenced or borrowed from Prokofiev or Starvinsky, and even Miklos Rosza from BEN HUR(I thought that was great) . Danny Elfman has also written music that borrows from these composers. Didn't Jerry Goldsmith said that if you're going to borrow, borrow from the best?

NP. Basic Instinct(Jerry Goldsmith)***

Read the FAQ. It explains everything about smileys. Sorry for digressing, everyone.

I still stand by my answers, although throw Conan up there!

Thanks,
Aaron

-Hunchback of Notre Dame(this is an awesome cd, listen to track 11 for an example of great writing)

-Cutthroat Island- It was already mentioned, but this score is a score that I listen to every other day! This has some amazing parts and is one of the best scores of the 90's.

-End of Days- not one of the best choral cd's, but what a great opening track.

-Interview with the Vampire/Titus- Great choral stuff. Some of my favorites in these two scores!

-Airplane- Great score! I love the choir in it and it is just a plain fun score!

THESE ARE MY OPINIONS!

Thanks,
Aaron

In Airplane, there was a HILARIOUS female choir. The finale piece includes a loud choir which builds and builds and builds until it gets so high that their voices crack, and they hit a really bad note.

Non Nobis Domine is an excellent, excellent choral work that made the aftermath scene from Henry V one of the best film/music marriages out there.

The Mission is nice, but it is more hypnotic than anything else.

And has everyone forgotten Mssrs. Alfred Newman and Miklos Rozsa? The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ben-Hur, a THOUSAND others ... going back even further, Prokofiev wrote some great choral film scores.

Oh ... and please give credit where credit is due. Horner didn't write most of "Glory." He just did a clever job of twisting around (dilluting, if you ask me) previously existing works by Prokofiev and Orff. Yes, it worked tremendously well for the film, and I see why so many people love it. But the fact is, Horner is about 5% responsible for that music, so please. Not to keep thrashing a dead horse, but give Horner credit for something he deserves ... he knows what a picture needs and he gives it to them. Out of 30+ Horner CDs (including "Glory") I have heard Horner do many things ... but I have yet to hear him WRITE great choral music. At this point, I don't expect I ever will.

I just cannot believe that no one has mentioned Morricone's THE MISSION or some of the work on MISSION TO MARS!

No mention of The Lion In Winter?,One of the best film scores of all time?!!

The Last Valley?....This 'un-sung' score is excellent!

Good choral pieces also in The Specialist,Walkabout,Moonraker and Ruby Cairo (another good un-sung Barry score....woefull film though!!).

Obsession
Close Encounters
Raintree County
Invaders From Mars (1953)
Hymn for the Fallen
Superman: The Movie
Brigadoon (Mr. Lundy's tale)
Brainstorm
Grand Canyon
Raiders of the Lost Ark

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (Richard Band)
- "Main Titles"
- "Onslaught"
- "The Night Auto Da Fe"

TROLL (Richard Band)
- "Cantos Profane"