[Nicolai P. Zwar]

Not so sure I get what you mean by “film music operates under different rules”… Different rules from what, exactly? “Film music” is music written for a movie… just like opera music is music written for an opera, ballet music is music written for an ballet, and so on. And yes, all of these have their own specifics and demands on the music they require. But the rules of music per se, they are the same for all and any of these. The “rules of music” don’t become less relevant suddenly because a piece of music is composed for a movie. In short: rhythm, melody, harmony, chords, ostinato, counterpoint etc. don’t suddenly function differently because a camera is nearby. The basic grammar of musical thought applies no matter what.

While I agree with you that film music may “lean up against sound design” or can “skirt the boundaries of what is music in the first place”, why, sure, but that’s not something unique to film. Half of Xenakis is basically beautifully (hmm… or not so beautiful, as some would say) engineered industrial… er… “sounds” or “sound design”. There is an ongoing performance of a John Cage piece that lasts 639 years, and Cage opened up and explored in many ways the boundaries of music from not music. Pierre Boulez based compositions on mathematical equations. In the concert hall, you get pieces that are more texture than tune, more “sounds” than “melody”.

Film music does not so much operate under different “rules” (I use “rules” in parenthesis, as of course there are many differen types or concepts of “rules” that may or may not apply to certain compositions… film music can use any or all of them) from any other type of music… what film music does it is applies these “rules” to achieve an effect in conjunction with film. It is composed for a movie, that is the definition and main distinction from any other type of music, and it is important to note that that is not a musical distinction.

And that’s the key: the difference between film music and any other type of music is not first and foremost a musical one. There is no technique or chord or harmony that is unique to film, and vice versa, there is no technique or chord or harmony that could not be utilized in a film.

And film music can be great or not great. (Or lots of things in between of course, I just want to simplify it.)

And if film music manages to push the right (emotional) buttons on cue, yet the music itself is trite, bland, or structurally inert, then yes: I might call it serviceable craft, but not greatness. Most film music probably falls somewhere there. Though it’s hard for music to be emotionally manipulative if it doesn’t reach at least a certain quality on its own… perhaps impossible even.

But most film music is not great. And most film music won’t end up in my collection. Music can just have a purely functional role without any artistic aspiration, sure, and it may work, sure, but I wouldn’t consider such music “great”, merely sufficient. Within the movie or apart from it.

For me, without reservation, a film score cannot be great unless it stands on its own as music.