Slumdog Millionaire

I have a feeling "Slumdog Millionaire" is going to steal the show, and probably win Best Picture, Best Score, Best Song, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was a good movie, and I enjoyed the music.

Ironically, I have written about the film's composer, A.R. Rahman, for the University of Illinois Electrical & Computer Engineering Department. He is a fan of Lecturer Lippold Haken's instrument called the Continuum Fingerboard, a very cool fretless keyboard, without keys. I'm not sure if Rahman used the Continuum in "Slumdog Millionaire," but it's possible. There seems to be a lot of unique sounds in the two songs up for awards: O Saya and Jai Ho. Surprisingly, the Academy only felt the need to nominate three songs this year -- the two from Rahman and Peter Gabriel's Down to Earth from "WALL-E."

Here is Rahman's song Jai Ho, which appears near the end of the movie if I remember correctly:



Artist M.I.A. also contributes to the movie with her Paper Planes song:

Music in Movies: John Williams

I'm sorry to have missed it, but on Aug. 1 the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed the Kunzel 30th Anniversary Celebration: John Williams Tribute, at Rivinia.

Some of the featured songs were:

Olympic Fanfare Theme from Jaws

“Bicycle Chase” from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Main Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Main Themes from Jurassic Park

“Harry’s Wondrous World” from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Main Theme from Superman

Main Theme from Schindler’s List

“The Raiders March” from Raiders of the Lost Ark
“Flag Parade” from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

“Anakin’s Theme” from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
“Duel of the Fates” from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
“Across the Stars” from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
“Battle of the Heroes” from Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith

“Princess Leia’s Theme” from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

“The Imperial March” from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

“Yoda’s Theme” from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

“Parade of the Ewoks” from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Main Theme from Star Wars

John Williams has to be the most renowned film score composer of all time, as evidenced by his strong body of work indicated above. He has won five Academy Awards and four Golden Globes so far, and currently has the most Oscar nominations for any living person: 45. Most of these songs are true classics, and instantly recognizable. They bring flashbacks of the movie's specific scenes.

One of his most recent bodies of work has been for the fourth installment of Indiana Jones, where he made use of the new fretless electronic keyboard called the Continuum Fingerboard.

The instrument, designed by University of Illinois Electrical & Computer Engineering Lecturer Lippold Haken, is technically a MIDI controller where the device itself merely serves to activate the sensors located under the flat red neoprene playing surface. The Continuum responds to a player's finger placement and pressure in three dimensions.

The music examples featured in the film are played by Randy Kerber and composed by Williams. This instrument, with its wide range of pitch and tone, is certainly on the leading edge for what is yet to come with film scores.

So, do you have a favorite song written especially for a movie?