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I put together this list last year for one of my classes in which\u00a0students created their own Word Press blog and wrote about two of their passions. The idea being to encourage students to write by asking them to write about the things that interest them the most. I wrote this as a guide to give students an idea of what I expected from one task, which was to create one top 10 list related to one of their passions or two top 5 lists related to both passions. While thinking about new content to add here, I remembered I have quite a few posts on that class blog that I could happily place here with a few changes, tweaks, and updates. For this post, I made a few edits, I added a lot of addition links (I like links), I included a reference to a Hitler-praising cult leader, and I fine-tuned how the videos appear \u00a0as I prefer smaller sized videos that take up less real estate. I also corrected one typo which thankfully none of my students noticed. There are probably more, but that’s life.<\/p>\n
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Love, betrayal, revenge, elation, regret, shame, and anger are amongst the emotions composers may be called upon to describe musically when composing for a film set amidst a war. The whole gauntlet of human emotions and experiences are heightened by conflicts both large and small\u00a0that result from wars: the deepest despair stemming from the loss of friends, family, loved ones, towns, and entire cities to acts of courage on and off the battlefield.\u00a0That’s not to say other films do not – all stories involve some kind of conflict – but the stakes and consequences during war can loom much larger.<\/span>\u00a0And I had to narrow my list somehow. The following pieces of\u00a0music are inspired by those\u00a0diverse emotions and high stakes.\u00a0In no particular order, here is a collection of my favourite pieces inspired by cinematic depictions of wars starting with music by John Williams.<\/span><\/p>\n Born in 1932, famed composer\u00a0John Williams<\/a><\/strong> has memories of watching film reels announcing the latest developments in World War 2. He later served a stint in the Air Force which was where he first became known as a musician of note with a future. It\u2019s fitting then that Williams would on numerous occasions be called upon to write music for films set during World War 2. His World War 2 films include None But The Brave<\/strong><\/a> (1965)<\/em>, Midway<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>(1976), 1941<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (1979), Monsignor<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(1982)\u00a0Empire of the Sun<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (1987), Schindler\u2019s List<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (1993), Saving Private Ryan<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (1998),\u00a0 and most recently The Book Thief<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (2013).\u00a0Other films scored by Williams set against the backdrop of wars (both\u00a0real and imagined)\u00a0include\u00a0War Horse<\/a><\/strong> (2011)<\/em>, Born on the Fourth of July<\/strong><\/a> (1989)<\/em>, The Patriot<\/strong><\/a> (2000)<\/em>, Lincoln<\/strong><\/a> (2013)<\/em>, War of the Worlds<\/strong><\/a> (2005)<\/em>, and of course all seven\u00a0Star Wars<\/em> movies made to date.<\/p>\n Number 1:<\/strong> 1941<\/em> March (1979) by John Williams:<\/strong> Steven Spielberg loved this deliberate over-the-top march so much, he dusted off his clarinet and joined in the recording session. Perhaps I’m taking a liberty by including a comedy set in the US in World War 2, but the march itself wouldn’t be too out of place in a more serious war film.<\/p>\n