[Nicolai P. Zwar]

How does it help that these are concert pieces composed for their own sake? What does that have to do with the music as such?

Because it’s composed without the constraints of film. I believe many film composers who do concert works speak about this liberty it gives them. Means the music is allowed to be structured differently or developed differently.

But that’s only relevant for the creative process. For the receptive process, as audience, it’s irrelevant. A piece of music is not going to become better because the composer had all the freedom he wanted while composing, and it’s not going to be worse because it’s composed with the constraints of the film.

But I personally have trouble imagining that I watch a movie where I find the music stimulating, original and engaging, but then not interesting as music by itself.

For me, it’s fairly easy, because I consider it stimulating, original and engaging IN RELATION TO SPECIFIC IMAGES. It is only in that symbiosis it works. It sometimes doesn’t without it.

Then it’s serviceable only. Not great. Not even good.