Patrick Suiter - Thoughts on "stealing" film music

Hello! Hope you guys are having a great week.

Today, we'll be talking about something a bit different than normal, I'm going to be sharing some of my thoughts on film composers who 'steal' music when they compose a soundtrack for a film, a topic that’s been bugging me for a while.

The main person who is accused of doing this is my main man John Williams. Today we're going to be defending his honour and explaining why 'stealing' film music, if we're calling it that, is alright.

Honestly, I'm sick of misinformed, poorly researched (if at all) videos and articles circulating around the internet such as that of TwoSetViolin which has racked up a million views and this article here called Is John Williams a Thief? Prepare to Have Your Mind Blown. Well, prepare to have your mind blown as we prove them wrong.

These videos annoy me.. They are not well researched at all. Entertaining, but annoying. I do love Brett and Eddy’s channel in general though.

Anyway, it is fun to poke out similarities in the music, which do exist. I'm not denying that John Williams could have possibly been inspired by other composers in his work, but he takes those ideas and takes them so much further and makes them his own. I do the same thing when I compose.. it can often be hard to resist.

I also apologise, as this post is a bit more reliant on the music terminology than normal, I hope that it's not too confusing!

I'll first be going through 4 accusations of stealing themes and examining (debunking) them:

1. Jaws (Main Theme) and Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 4th movement

2. The Imperial March and Chopin's Funeral March

3. Han and Leia Love Theme and Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto

4. Star Wars (Main Theme) and Erich Korngold's Main Theme for King's Row

First of all, the iconic Jaws theme is based off a two-note motif that happens to be the same two notes that serve as an introduction to the 4th movement of Dvorak's 9th Symphony. Yet, in my opinion, they only sound similar on the surface. The use of the two note motif in the Dvorak is a lot more obvious, and it doesn't just stay on the same two notes, it is used as an ascending passage and has a lot of added harmony and orchestration. It is also not the main theme, rather an introductory passage or build up, and it is fairly clear when the main theme enters in the horn. Admittedly, it does use the same diminution technique that Williams uses, yet it is expanded so differently, with different intervals. Not only that but the melody is developed in the upper register, whereas in Jaws it's essentially always in the sinister low register. On the other hand, in Jaws, it isn't a stormy build up, the theme, which is actually the alternating motif, is introduced a lot more subtly. The accents are different, added countermelodies etc. So yes, at face value, it looks like stealing, but what the composers do with that motif is entirely different. Plus, it's just alternating semitones.. It wouldn't be that hard to come up with something like that yourself. I suppose alternating intervals are copyrighted now.

If this thing wasn't made out of plastic I'd be scared out of my life.

Next, The Imperial March and Chopin. The similarities in this one I think are even less obvious. Someone would probably say that the Funeral March sounds like a moody Darth Vader, but in reality they are miles different. The only similarities I can really think of is that the first notes (which are the same repeated note I will remind you) are the same, they are both a march and in a minor key. The melodies don't even barely resemble each other.

It do be like that sometimes..

And now the Han and Leia love theme and Tchaikovsky. This one is quite interesting. Yes, these themes both share a similar contour (which is the direction of the melody for those who don't know), yet once again what these composers do with these melodies is so different. The character of the melodies themselves varies, Tchaikovsky's is a simple, folk-like, gentle theme, whereas Williams' is more luscious, romantic, and takes a whole different direction. They differ most of all in their use of harmony. In my opinion, Williams' theme is more creative and complex in its harmony, moving through tons of unrelated keys, using tons of inversions, 7ths and augmented chords and such. I'm not dissing Tchaikovsky at all here, in fact I think that violin concerto is a great piece, but I think that Williams is innocent.

Finally, probably the most controversial, is the Star Wars main theme and Korngold's main theme for Kings Row. Now, I probably wouldn't be surprised if John Williams was inspired by Korngold here, I mean, who would blame him, Korngold was one of, if not the best film composer of the early 20th century. There is a lot that seems similar at face value, but the phrase structure, the way the melodies are crafted, the direction the melody goes in and Yes, the first five notes of both melodies are the same. Yet, some of these 5 notes serve different purposes in the melody itself. While in Korngold the five notes are part of the cadential pattern, in Williams the notes are used in a triplet figure which almost act as decorative passing notes (therefore do not carry the same significance). Also, Korngold's phrase is much shorter and built on this cadence pattern, while Williams' is not. And the first two notes are a tonic and dominant.. I've seen that used in hundreds of pieces. At face value they are similar, but the content of the music is different.

My two favourite film composers.

If you're familiar with this topic, you're probably thinking that I've forgotten many moments that John Williams is accused of stealing, and no I haven't forgotten. But these are different, and this is to do with the compositional process.

For example, many have criticised the 'OMG WE SLEPT IN' music from Home Alone because it sounds very similar to the rhythms and orchestration and almost melody to the Trepak from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. This, however, is the use of a technique called pastiche (a work that imitates another). The tribute to Tchaikovsky is 100% deliberate, and we're expected to understand this. Since this music has been used in basically every Christmas movie and as a viewer of the movie we associate this sound with Christmas, John Williams can evoke the feelings associated with it. The main theme of the picture is 'Somewhere in my memory', so even as an adult looking back, you can think with nostalgia about what it was like to have a Christmas as a child. That's what I think of it anyway.

Has anyone watched the sequels to these movies? They don't look very good.

The use of pastiche has existed in classical music for centuries. For example, Robert Schumann, in his work Carnaval (which depicts members at a party) uses the style of Chopin not only as a tribute, but also to perhaps suggest that Chopin was at the party. Also, musical quotation has been used for a very long time. For example, the Dies Irae, or Day of Wrath was a gregorian chant from medieval times, and has been quoted in hundreds of classical works to represent death. Berlioz used it to convey his (very weird) story in Symphonie Fantastique, as did Rachmaninoff in many of his works. Funnily enough, so has John Williams in, what do you know, Star Wars (when Luke discovers the burning homestead). Tons of movies even use the Mission Impossible theme whenever a character is doing something badass, even Paddington. But since we know this theme, it helps to convey how we are meant to feel (one of the primary goals of a composer!).

Therefore this 'stealing' is acceptable as it is very intentional, and effective as a compositional device.

Many have criticised Williams' work for Star Wars because the desert scenes all have music that sounds strikingly similar to the start of the second part of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. That's because it is meant to.

The #1 priority of a film composer is not to be original, but to serve the director's vision for a film. Williams was recommended to George Lucas by Steven Spielberg, and I've heard that Lucas wanted the film's soundtrack to be a rescoring of Wagner, I don't know if that's true or not. Anyhow, Lucas had already temped the movie with existing classical music to guide the editing, with Dvorak, Rozsa, Bruckner and you guessed it, The Rite of Spring for the desert scenes. It's not rare that a director falls in love with a temp track (temporary soundtrack for editing) so much that they don't want to change it when the real score is composed. I believe that Lucas thought the Rite of Spring was so perfect for the mood he wanted to convey in the desert scenes that he asked Williams to include a very similar version in his score. It's said that on set, George Lucas would even play the Rite of Spring to set the tone for his world. The same goes for the repeated chords at the beginning of the movie when the Star Destroyer enters, which are very similar to Holst.

It's not uncommon that directors fall in love with their temp tracks, just look at 2001: A Space Odyssey, whose score by Alex North was abandoned by director Stanley Kubrick in favour of pre-existing classical music that is associated with this film now. Poor North however didn't learn of this change until the film's premiere.

I've never actually seen 2001: A Space Odyssey.. Should I?

Yes, I understand if it is against your moral code that Williams essentially stole Stravinsky and Holst and put it into his film score, but as a film composer, sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice originality in your composition in order to convey the desired effect that the director wants.

I saw someone who made a good point about authenticity in regards to film scores. Many classical musicians, sometimes myself included, look at the top pop charts with disgrace at music that is churned out to make money. We like musicians that are original and authentic, whatever that may look like, people who write solely for themselves, not for money or for others, like Beethoven, who went deaf (not on purpose) and isolated himself from society only to compose his most revolutionary and expressive masterpieces for the sake of his art. These ideals do not necessarily apply to film composers, who exist to help serve the director's intent in their films. You may think he's stealing, but in reality, Williams may just be doing his job and what is asked of him.

Furthermore, it is interesting to discuss whether film music should be held to the same standards as classical music. I know if I wrote a symphony and included the Rite of Spring in it, people wouldn't be very happy with me, and then I think it would be justified. Therefore I would ask is film music classical music? I think I might say no. Not because of any distinct difference, but film music is yet to be properly adopted or integrated into the classical scene, yet if any composer is close to that, it's John Williams. Perhaps that is why the public views his 'stealing' with such scrutiny.

Ultimately, film music is different to classical music, because at its core, its purpose is different. Though John Williams' music may eventually stand alone and be performed as concert music, for example he conducted a concert with the Vienna Philharmonic earlier this year, that doesn't change what it was originally created to be. And that, is to help serve the director's vision of the film, which, whether you think he 'stole' or not, he does perfectly.

What do you think about John Williams' 'stealing' of themes? Let me know down in the comments. Hope you guys have a great week, I'll see you next time.

I highly recommend you check out this album. Not all of it is perfect but there's some really good tracks!