Film composer gives $2m to orchestra to fund works by … film composers
OrchestrasVariety reports a gift of $2 million to the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra by House of Cards composer Jeff Beal (pictured) and his soprano wife Joan. The money is designated for new concert works by film, TV and games composers.
Beal said: ‘There is an awkward, odd disconnect between the concert stage and the composers of Hollywood, and the music they create. This is an effort to give back, to support a wonderful orchestra of folks who’ve played on our scores for years, and try and influence the conversation around the concert stage and the deep pool of brilliant composers in Los Angeles and beyond.’
LACO musicians earn most of their living in the film studios.
The first LACO commissions will go to Michael Abels (‘Get Out’), Eímear Noone (‘World of Warcraft’) and Austin Wintory (‘Journey’).
There is, of course a fundamental difference between film music which is purely supportive and commercial, and concert music which is a serious art form (although one would not easily get at that conclusion with lots of contemporary stuff). That does not mean that there aren’t very good film music composers, but the perceptive framework of film music (and game music) is very different. Film music composers who also write concert music, like John Williams, if they are intelligent enough, make a difference between the two genres (Williams’ concert music sounds like early 20C Viennese music and is very different from his unbearably vulgar film music). And where film music composers write very good film music – with a touch of concert music – it is still listened to as entirely supportive and not as an independent art form.
If it is “very good film music,” why can it not also stand “independent” of the film by being heard in concert?