The Romantic Era Never Ended

15 soundtracks that stand the test of time

Fans of classical music often lament the modern implosion of the genre. We had the Baroque Period, usually dated from 1600-1750. We had the Classical Period, usually dated from 1750-1825. We had the Romantic Period, usually dated from 1825-1900. Ever since, we’ve been stuck in the Modern Period: 1901-present.

When the characteristically atonal music of the Modern Period first appeared, many predicted that fans would eventually come to love it, but almost no one sincerely has. The only widely beloved post-1900 composers in the classical repertoire are Late Romantics like Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich. Since their heyday, classical fans periodically curse the stars: “How come no one continues to compose in the greatest of all musical genres?”

It’s true, I’ll grant, that over the last century, little notable music has been written in the genres of 1600-1825. The Romantic Era, however, is still going strong. Great compositions in the style of Berlioz, late Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Dvorak, Grieg, Mahler, Nielsen, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rubinstein, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner continue to be created. Though they’re rarely performed live, billions of people enjoy them on screens big and small.

I’m speaking, of course, of soundtracks. And while it’s tempting to dismiss them as insufferably low-brow “background music,” I maintain that the best soundtracks of the post-war era compare favorably to notable compositions of the official Romantic Period. While I doubt that any soundtrack equals or exceeds the peaks, many are at the 80th or even the 90th percentile of quality of 19th-century compositions.

To try to convince you, I’m now going to walk you through fifteen of my favorite romantic soundtracks. If you’ve seen the movies, try to detach the music from the visuals — then judge the music by the same standards as a traditional romantic orchestral composition.

Caveat: I am a long-time fan of classical music, not a musician. Consider this the perspective of a well-informed consumer, rather than a trained producer.

Cloud Atlas (2012), composed by Johnny Klimek, Tom Tykwer and Reinhold Heil. One of the six interwoven plots in this adaptation of David Mitchell’s 2004 novel is about an aging classical composer who steals the work of his young assistant, the “Cloud Atlas Sextet.” This piece is the highlight of the soundtrack, but the whole work is reminiscent of the piano and orchestral works of Beethoven and Schubert.

The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003), composed by Howard Shore. These three soundtracks are so beloved that they actually get frequent public performances. But you can also think of them as a “Wagner opera (mostly) without words” for a Wagnerian saga with a bittersweet ending instead of a bloodbath.

127 Hours (2010), composed by A.R. Rahman. While the electric guitar rarely appears in classical orchestras, if you listen to this as pure music you’ll barely notice. I’d compare it to Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring or The Firebird. I’ve listened to this “track to inspire you to amputate your arm to save your life” at least a hundred times.

The Last of the Mohicans (1992), composed by Trevor Jones. This soundtrack is so great that it’s featured in the trailer for Legends of the Fall, even though Legends of the Fall has a great soundtrack of its own! Very Brucknerian.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962), composed by Maurice Jarre. I’m tempted to compare this to Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, except that Lawrence actually seems better. As you listen, try imagining that it’s composed by a late-19th century counterpart of Dvorak or Sibelius… but instead of trying to inspire suppressed Czech or Finnish nationalism, he’s promoting a romantic pan-Arabism.

Flukt (2012), composed by Magnus Beite. If you watch this little-known gem of a Norwegian thriller, the soundtrack leaps out. It combines a few Brucknerian segments with longer pieces and vocals that remind me of Grieg’s Peer Gynt.

The Shrine (2010), composed by Ryan Shore. As far as I know, I am the world’s biggest fan of both this obscure horror movie and its soundtrack. (I even turned the movie into a role-playing game; if you’re intrigued, I’d be happy to run it for you at the next Capla-Con). The only horror score I’m including in this list, I’d compare it to Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. P.S. Talented family warning: Don’t confuse Ryan Shore with his more-famous uncle Howard, composer of The Lord of the Rings (and much more).

Gladiator (2000), composed by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerard. Other music critics have likened this soundtrack to Wagner, which makes sense to me. With a little of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez mixed in (Maximus’ stage name in the movie is, as you may recall, “The Spaniard”).

The Red Violin (1999), composed by John Corigliano. This whole movie revolves around classical music, and even has a segment about a Paganini-esque figure named Lord Frederick Pope, and another where the titular violin narrowly escapes destruction during the Cultural Revolution’s attack on Western music. The soundtrack reminds me of not only Paganini’s violin works, but even Brahms’ compositions for the same instrument.

X2: X-Men United (2003), composed by John Ottman. While I also hold in high regard the soundtracks for the original X-Men (Michael Kamen, 1999) and X-Men: First Class (Henry Jackman, 2011), the score of the second film in the franchise is my favorite. Very Brucknerian, with some vocals that echo the choral sections of Mahler’s symphonies. There’s also a fun reinterpretation of a chorus from Mozart’s proto-romantic Requiem early on.

The Usual Suspects (1995), composed by John Ottman. Ottman is the only composer to get two entries on this list, partly because the tone of the two soundtracks varies so widely. While the influence of Bruckner is still strong, there’s some nice Rachmaninoff mixed in. Probably anyway, I’m not a mind-reader…

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), compose by Ennio Morricone. You could easily argue that this soundtrack falls outside of the classical genre, but if you’ll include Stravinsky, why not this utterly iconic work?

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), composed by James Newton Howard. This one reminds me of Schubert’s late symphonies, as well as Schubert’s Lieder like “Erlkönig.” If you like power music (I do), start with “Warriors on the Beach.”

Legends of the Fall (1995), composed by James Horner. While not quite as thrilling as The Last of the Mohicans, I still love this one. I’m not a fan of Aaron Copland, but Horner manages to fulfill Copland’s ambition of creating evocative U.S.-themed programmatic music.

Star Wars (1977), composed by John Williams. This soundtrack is so wildly famous that it’s easy to dismiss as cliched and tired. But the same goes for the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth. In both cases, the problem lies in the listener, not the composition — and the best remedy is to consciously resolve to not treat the piece as mere background music.

The more you know about the stock of humanity’s cultural pinnacles, the easier it is to lapse into severe cultural pessimism about their current flow. Where is our Wagner? The intellectually strongest remedy is to accept that all cultural genres naturally exhaust themselves, and find hope in the fact that modernity has an unprecedented propensity to invent new cultural genres. (To quote former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani, “The stone age came to an end not for a lack of stones, and the oil age will end, but not for a lack of oil.”)

A precious supplemental remedy, however, is not to give up on beloved cultural genres while they’re still going strong. While the best years of the Romantic Era are almost surely behind us, a genre many believed to have perished nearly a century ago continues to thrive. Instead of lamenting modernity’s lack of a Wagner, rejoice that Howard Shore still lives.