Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Film Scores Out of the Box

Nothing like waking up in the morning and finding that you're even more irrelevant than you were yesterday. Well, not me; I've been there for awhile, but those of you who aspire to compose music for money have a new competitor. Sony has just announced the release of its new Cinescore automated soundtrack creation software, which it describes as "a breakthrough in professional soundtrack creation, automatically generating fully composed, multigenre, production music perfect for movies, slideshows, commercials, and radio productions." And, get this, the software retails for $249.00, with an academic version available for $145.00.

Obviously what we need is a volunteer "John Henry" to take on this "score-drivin' machine" and smash it to a bloody pulp. Maybe our friend and pen pal Daniel Roumain--who kindly passed along the tip--is the man for the job. Blogger Mark Northam has a report on what Cinescore means to film composers.

Now Playing:

The Adventures of Hippocrates
Chick Corea, John Harbison, Marc Neikrug
Orion String Quartet
Koch International

As Edward Ellington so famously remarked: it doesn't mean anything unless it has that certain syncopation. That is a lesson seldom forgotten by jazz musicians when they decide to write "serious" music and Chick Corea proves true to form in the title piece of this CD comprised of works commissioned for the Orion Quartet by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, where the group is in residence. Corea's five-part work isn't really a string quartet but it is delightfully whimsical; sounding, in places, like some of Beth Anderson's hipper "Swales." And, man, does it swing. Harbison's four-movement Quartet No. 4 is the most conventional piece on the recording, relentlessly post-tonal and "modern," yet oddly user-friendly. Harbison has a talent for writing difficult music that is also highly listenable. Marc Neikrug's piano quintet, with the composer himself at the keyboard, is the most concentrated, intense and ultimately powerful of the three pieces on the disk although it could be a bit shorter. The Orion Quartet plays with amazing clarity and resonance. These guys are fabulous players who perform new music with great skill and empathy.

UPDATE: Drew McManus at Adaptistraton links today to the ongoing discussion about composers and orchestras in the Composers Forum. Check it out.

posted by Jerry Bowles 6/09/2006