I've been noticing quite a lot lately, as I further expand my horizons in the Classical music field (Classical, in this case, encompassing Baroque, True Classical, Romantic, etc.), an astounding number of references by modern film composers to Classical music. Now I, personally, find little to no problem with this (so I'm not trying to start a flame war!), but rather would like to learn more about it... 'cause I find it fascinating!

I'll list (in no particular order) all the occurrences that come to mind that I've found in my film score listening lately, and hopefully we can have some interesting exchanges if some of you would like to contribute some of your juicy finds.

Oh... one small thing: I'm speaking of 'direct' references involving actual themes borrowed from the Classical genre, not just 'stylistic' similarities. However, if you think that a less obvious similarity is simply too uncanny to not be intentional, by all means go ahead and post it!

OK... here goes:

Willow (Horner) - Willow the Sorcerer
References Mozart's Requiem: "Confutatis" in opening several bars.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Doyle) - Underwater Secrets
References Bizet's "Carmen Fantasy": II. Moderato starting about 0:49.

LotR: The Return of the King (Shore) - Into the West
References Wagner's "Das Rheingold" in the ending of the piece (this is even more apparent on the DVD version).

Oodles of Horner scores
The four note "evil" motif... from Rachmaninoff's 1st Symphony (I must confess, I didn't figure this one out myself though... thanks FSM podcast!)

Gladiator (Zimmer)
"The Battle" references Mars from Holst's "The Planets" (who doesn't know of this one though?)
"Barbarian Horde" references Wagner's "Siegfried's Funeral March" from Gotterdammerung pretty extensively.

The Passion of the Christ (Debney) - Crucifixion
References "Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis" by Vaughn-Williams quite extensively (and obviously). This is definitely intentional, since the original text by Tallis is very closely connected to the passion of Christ.

Rudy (Goldsmith) - Main Title, etc.
Sounds extremely similar to "'Tis the Last Rose of Summer" by Thomas Moore.

I know I've heard more, but it's late and they're escaping my mind at the moment. So... anyone else?

P.S. This is a little off topic, but does anyone besides me notice extensive homages to Herrmann's "Vertigo" in Marianelli's "The Brothers Grimm?" I know I did.

[Message edited by NeoVoyager on 02-10-2007]

Other Thomas Tallis appearances include the love theme from James Horner's TROY and Richard Hartley's LION IN WINTER.

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Originally posted by NeoVoyager:
Willow (Horner) - Willow the Sorcerer
References Mozart's Requiem: "Confutatis" in opening several bars.

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If you're including Horner, you'll have to create a separate thread for him... Anyway, there's his worst moment in Willow, a mutilated lift from Schumann's 3rd symphony.

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LotR: The Return of the King (Shore) - Into the West
References Wagner's "Das Rheingold" in the ending of the piece (this is even more apparent on the DVD version).

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As has been said before, this is reminiscent to the magic fire music first heard in Die Walküre, which does not appear in Das Rheingold.

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Oodles of Horner scores
The four note "evil" motif... from Rachmaninoff's 1st Symphony (I must confess, I didn't figure this one out myself though... thanks FSM podcast!)

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I still say there's nearly the exact same thing in Der Ring des Nibelungen - and with nearly exact the same meaning Horner attributes to it, too.

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P.S. This is a little off topic, but does anyone besides me notice extensive homages to Herrmann's "Vertigo" in Marianelli's "The Brothers Grimm?" I know I did.

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Marianelli uses Brahms' lullaby as a major theme in the score.

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Originally posted by NeoVoyager:
Willow (Horner) - Willow the Sorcerer
References Mozart's Requiem: "Confutatis" in opening several bars.

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Oh, and the harmonic progression in that theme is picked up from Schumann's third symphony!

Other obvious ones:

Aliens (Horner) The theme is very close to Chatjaturjan's Gayne Ballet, which was used in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Star Wars (Williams) Holst's "The Planets" and its "Mars" movement is very blatantly quoted in the score.

The Right Stuff (Conti) Holst's "The Planets", this time the "Jupiter" movement, is very closely referenced in Conti's music.

mikael

LOL.

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LotR: The Return of the King (Shore) - Into the West
References Wagner's "Das Rheingold" in the ending of the piece (this is even more apparent on the DVD version).

As has been said before, this is reminiscent to the magic fire music first heard in Die Walküre, which does not appear in Das Rheingold.

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Yes, I actually started that conversation over in the LotR Package Update thread about this topic, so I definitely heard all the differing opinions about which part of 'Der Ring' it was from. You're right... It's definitely mostly referencing the "Magic Fire Music" (I forgot to write that down), but I insist that (on the DVD version) it also homages the ending of the Vorspiel in "Das Rheingold." To each his own.

<<<I still say there's nearly the exact same thing [the four note evil motif] in Der Ring des Nibelungen - and with nearly exact the same meaning Horner attributes to it, too.>>>

Where do you hear this in "Der Ring?" I'm interested to know...... I don't have the full 14-odd disc set of the Ring yet... but every day, I have more and more reasons to make the (expensive!) purchase.

<<<Marianelli uses Brahms' lullaby as a major theme in the score. [The Brothers Grimm]>>>

Yes, I certainly noticed that one. Slipped my mind while starting this thread.

Positive. Just listen from about 3:30 on in "Crucifixion" and then to the Vaughn-Williams "Tallis Fantasia."

I haven't heard Troy (I luckily decided to skip that one), but I have also heard here and elsewhere that his love theme there does a bit of borrowing too.

Edit: OR listen to the Fantasia first, and then Crucifixion. The Fantasia is so long, it might be easier to spot that way.

Sounds more Korngold than anything else to me.

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Originally posted by NeoVoyager:
Where do you hear this in "Der Ring?" I'm interested to know...... I don't have the full 14-odd disc set of the Ring yet... but every day, I have more and more reasons to make the (expensive!) purchase.

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I recommend the Karajan set. Most here prefer the Solti, but what I've heard of it sounded too much based on effects and too little on cohesion.

Anyway, the motif I'm referring to is the "Unmuth-Motiv" ("resentment motif", more or less). The first four notes are nearly the same as the Horner motif, only the third note is a semitone off. But since the intent of the motifs is quite similar as well... (and Horner has quoted the Ring at times as well, e.g. in Krull as far as I remember).