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The award for the most effective piece of classical music in a film goes to......

103 replies

chomalungma · 22/09/2019 19:51

Well - lots of candidates.

But I think that Variations on a theme by Thomas Tallis ...by Vaughan Wiliams which is used at the end of Master and Commander just after the battle when they are reflecting on their losses has to be a contender.

Plus the use of the Enigma variations in Dunkirk when the little ships arrive.

A perfect use of classical music to fit a scene in a film.

So what's yours?

OP posts:
Mother87 · 23/09/2019 22:02

Pierre... god yes... the hymn... that scene...

Mother87 · 23/09/2019 22:03

Yes Perking - beat me to it! Brief Encounter😢😢

Trenchcoated · 23/09/2019 22:21

Jupiter Symphony in Annie Hall.

SinkGirl · 23/09/2019 22:25

Agree with Shine.

And Somewhere in Time is indeed Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini (think it’s 18?), but the score also includes a theme based on this by John Barry which is beautiful

I can’t even listen to it. That film rips my heart out of my backside.

Also agree with Lux Aeterna from Requiem For A Dream - yikes. Shame it’s been over used by every bloody reality show and advert.

midsomermurderess · 23/09/2019 22:27

Mean Streets.

Sgtmajormummy · 23/09/2019 22:28

One of my favourite films: The Legend of 1900. It’s the tale of a mythical pianist who never set foot on dry land and spent his life on board an ocean liner.
So many great piano pieces; The Duel with Jellyroll Morton, Dancing with the Ocean and Love Theme.

PurpleSproutingSomething · 23/09/2019 22:33

Duettino Sull'aria Le nozze di Figaro from Shawshank. It's like the whole film summed up for me. Beautiful.

Bloodybridget · 23/09/2019 22:37

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g I was reading through the thread to see if someone would mention Soave sia il vento in Sunday, bloody Sunday! I saw it in the cinema in the 70s too and was knocked out by the music, and like you didn't know what it was for many years - and it's on my funeral playlist too!

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 23/09/2019 22:40

Hi five to Bloodybridget! Here's hoping it's a long way off for both of us.

BikeRunSki · 23/09/2019 23:02

Yep, Brassed Off.

Particularity poignant now that I live and work in that part of the world, and work with the ex-mine surveyor that Tara Fitzgerald’s character is based on (she plays the cornet because he does).

MissFitton · 23/09/2019 23:14

The Bach used at the end of Truly Madly Deeply when she leaves to go on her date and the ghosts come out of the shadows to watch her leave.

I can barely get through that film without sobbing at the best of times but having not watched it since Alan Rickman died I really don't think I can bring myself to watch it again.

doadeer · 23/09/2019 23:18

Por Una Cabeza for the tango scene in scent of a woman is great

KellyMarieTunstall2 · 23/09/2019 23:26

Rachmaninov's piano concerto in Brief Encounter.

juicyjuicymangoes · 23/09/2019 23:30

Spiegel im spiegel in About Time. The father son relationship is beautiful and it's a perfect piece for a very emotional film.

It's a piece of music I've known for years and I love how it slotted into these scenes in the movie.

NightLion · 23/09/2019 23:33

Pan flute in "Picnic at Hanging Rock"
Michael Nyman soundtrack "The Piano"

Grammar · 24/09/2019 00:02

Juicyjuicymangoes, Spiegel im Speigel is one of my favourites too. Have you seen "Wit" with Emma Thompson? This was used to the most heatbreakingly perfection I have ever encountered.

Grammar · 24/09/2019 00:09

About Time was on last night. I watched it. It also has Ben Folds, "I'm the Luckiest".
Not classical but a haunting song.

BeyondAvoidant · 24/09/2019 00:10

1812 overture at the end of v for vendetta

juicyjuicymangoes · 24/09/2019 00:12

@Grammar I haven't actually but I'll add it to my list, thank you Smile quite bizarre you mention the luckiest- I'm recording a piano version to play at my wedding next year (I can't sing!)

Grammar · 24/09/2019 00:32

Aah, that lovely juicy. It will be wonderful.

Bloodybridget · 24/09/2019 02:06

Gasp0de hear hear!

redchocolatebutton · 24/09/2019 08:15

finlandia - die hard 2

PerkingFaintly · 30/09/2019 00:41

Oh good lord, I'd never realised. The tears are real.

According to the comments under that clip from "Casablanca", which was of course made in the US in 1942, many of the extras were French refugees who'd fled from Nazi occupation.

The actress Madeleine Lebeau, who shouts "Vive la France!" had escaped with her husband who was Jewish French.

Just had to come back and share. I'd no idea about all this.

BalloonSlayer · 30/09/2019 07:18

DD has bought me a copy of Somewhere in Time as I was saying how much I loved it and remembered it, but I haven't watched it yet.

Pleased to know so many like it.

My nomination is Nessun Dorma from The Killing Fields. This was long before Euro 90 or whenever it got super famous. I had never heard such a beautiful piece of music, and, set against the most horrendous footage the emotional punch was incredible.

WildRosie · 30/09/2019 08:24

Obviously it was composed for the film but Yoda's Theme from The Empire Strikes Back takes some beating.