Westeros Blog: Fans Petition for BSG Composer

[Westeros]

An online petition has been started by fans, attempting to bring composer Bear McCreary to the attention of HBO and the Game of Thrones producers. McCreary has extensive credits, having composed the music in part or in full for such series as Eureka, Human Target, Terminator: The Sarah Connors Chronicle (starring Lena Headey, cast as Cersei Lannister), and most famously Battlestar Galactica and its spin-offs Battle Star Galactica: The Plan and the currently-airing Caprica.

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[fitheach]

It wasn't Bear McCreary who wrote the title theme for BSG though. Who was it? Some of the music in BSG was saccharin, mostly the celtic Danny Boy crap that always came up between Adama and Lee, and that was McCreary... <_<

[Brude]

Meh. I think this is kind of a silly idea. I think he's done some good work, but he's not the be-all-end-all of composers some seem to think he is. And as stated above he did not do the great title theme for BSG, which I think is what most people associate with him.

They can do better than him, IMO, and a petition is not likely to impose it's will on the creative vision of the Producers, anyway.

[Seanathin]

Give the 4th season sound track a listen and get back to me, and you will sign on.

[The Pita]

I'd prefer Daniel Licht. Dexter's soundtrack is the single best I've ever heard. I prefer his instrumental stuff to the LOTR soundtrack.

[denstorebog]

They can do better than him, IMO

I'd be interested to know how, actually. My personal opinion is that McCreary is probably the best composer for TV alive today, but that's subjective. Even so, anyone who's followed his blog can speak for his incredible, almost autistic attention to detail and dedication to whatever he's working on.

This would be ideal, in my opinion. Signed.

EDIT: The mandatory music-from-Battlestar links for the uninitiated:

[Werthead]

Meh. I think this is kind of a silly idea. I think he's done some good work, but he's not the be-all-end-all of composers some seem to think he is. And as stated above he did not do the great title theme for BSG, which I think is what most people associate with him.

They can do better than him, IMO, and a petition is not likely to impose it's will on the creative vision of the Producers, anyway.

Richard Gibbs and McCreary collaborated on the mini-series, with Gibbs coming up with the percussion beat used to underscore dramatic scenes. McCreary then took over full-time on Season 1. Note that the main title music was not used until 33, so on that basis it appears McCreary did create the main title theme. I can't find information that says Gibbs worked on that, and the CD soundtrack is credited solely to McCreary for Season 1 and to Gibbs and McCreary together for the mini-series.

Even if he didn't do the theme, that does mean that McCreary did the Adama theme, Prelude to War, the massive orchestral piece used when they found 'Earth', the crazy bagpipe piece that accompanied the Pegasus blowing up and so on, all of which is better IMO than the main title music anyway.

[Maltaran]

I'd be interested to know how, actually.

John Williams? Obviously not a realistic suggestion, but a man can dream.

[denstorebog]

John Williams? Obviously not a realistic suggestion, but a man can dream.

No. There is no way I would ever choose Williams over McCreary. Seriously, the man gets credit because of two things:

1. He has created some of the most memorable scores in film (fan credit)

2. His music is incredibly complex (composer credit)

What people seem to forget is, Williams has composed *a lot* of music, the vast majority of which is extremely stale and sounds like it was written on autopilot, complex or not. His style is very distinct and recognizable, but a lot of it is also dull as hell.

The reason why I'd prefer McCreary is that, while he doesn't have anywhere near the credits behind him that Williams has, he has shown an ability and a willingness to completely reinvent himself for each single project he has taken on. On BSG alone, he managed to cover everything from alternative orchestra to ballads to metal to Scottish folk to Bob Dylan to frakking ELEVATOR MUZAK, creatively approaching each episode with an appropriate take.

A comparison with Williams actually underscores (pun!) exactly why I'd want McCreary - it's a fresh inventiveness he brings to every 45-minute TV episode rather than the default orchestra sound that Williams applies to almost every project he does, whether it's sci-fi or World War II.

[Werthead]

A friend of mine said it was a shame they couldn't afford James Horner, to which I laughed and did not stop. Horner's done some great work but is way, way too self-derivative.

Amongst film scorers Hans Zimmer can do good work, but generally I'd prefer someone with a track record in solid TV work. McCreary would be good because he does great work, he has a very wide palatte of sounds and styles he can call upon and I really like his fan interaction on his website and blog. If McCreary gets the gig we can expect in-depth coverage of each episode's musical production methodology, including behind-the-scenes clips and even musical notation, as he did for BSG and is currently doing for Caprica.

Someone like Jeff Beale (who did Carnivale and Rome) would also be great. If it's Murray Gold (Doctor Who) I will be pretty pissed off. Gold's music for Who is so bad, bombastic and insanely loud in the mix (more the fault of the audio mixers though) that it's been the butt of jokes since the very first episode of the new series.

[red snow]

I could live with mcreary although my problem is that his music is always noticeable. It's an odd accusation but i tend to prefer scores that enhance the mood but are barely noticeable (or memorable). Jeff Beale is good with Rome and whoever worked on deadwood.

[Grendalen]

I like McCreary very much, but I don't think he's right for this project.

[Brude]

Rereading my post, I realize I came off way too negative towards McCreary. I do really like his work a lot, but I suppose I am sort of reacting to the fact that he lately seems to be the only composer that any and all sci-fi fans really like, or even seem to know.

My sense is, however, that sometimes his scores are too present in the scene. A lot of times a really great score isn't so much as heard as it is felt by the viewer, it's more a part of the scene the same as sound effects, special effects, etc. But a lot of times McCreary's music takes over a scene, even when it really shouldn't. True, there are times the situation calls for the volume to rise and the music to take center stage, but it seems to me I am aware of his music too much of the time. Just my take on it.

[Lady Blackfish]

Big no to Williams and Horner. ASOIAF is too deconstructive and I associate those two with too much overt heroism, Williams especially.

I do like McCreary, though I'm not an aficionado and couldn't say anything more than that. I just hope that whoever they pick, it isn't predictable bland epic hero music.

[Seanathin]

I think some of the resin that people think McCreary's music is very omnipresent, is because of how the show runners of BSG and Caprica use it. Having whole sequences that are silent except for the music, (the Hub) or the music is part of the episode (all the watchtower stuff). I think he is perfect because he isn't afraid to use any and every instrument, also he has already created entire tracks that are used by actors in the show, thus a plus because we need to hear the Rains of Castemear.

[Ran]

I recall McReary being asked about GoT on Twitter, and saying he'd of course be very interested (what composer turns down any opportunity for paying work?) Then he added that medieval music wasn't very interesting to him personally, so he wouldn't necessarily be a big fan of putting together arrangements in that style, but he did like Arabic and eastern music quite a bit and had some experience composing pieces with that flavor.

I don't really know of any TV composers, so I can't really say who'd be good or not, but McReary's versatility does strike me as a plus.

[fitheach]

Richard Gibbs and McCreary collaborated on the mini-series, with Gibbs coming up with the percussion beat used to underscore dramatic scenes. McCreary then took over full-time on Season 1. Note that the main title music was not used until 33, so on that basis it appears McCreary did create the main title theme. I can't find information that says Gibbs worked on that, and the CD soundtrack is credited solely to McCreary for Season 1 and to Gibbs and McCreary together for the mini-series.

Even if he didn't do the theme, that does mean that McCreary did the Adama theme, Prelude to War, the massive orchestral piece used when they found 'Earth', the crazy bagpipe piece that accompanied the Pegasus blowing up and so on, all of which is better IMO than the main title music anyway.

http://richardgibbsmusic.com/music.htm

I don't hate McCreary, it just seems that the BSG fans want every actor, composer, director, etc. from BSG to hop on over to GoT. It got ridiculous in the casting threads "Helfer as Cersei", "Bamber as Jamie", "Bamber as Derric", "Sackoff as Brienne!!!"... The only actor I though may be appropriate for GoT was Callis and that was purely because he's a good actor.

I loved BSG, I just don't want GoT by way of BSG.

Edit: spell check ;-)

[Werthead]

http://richardgibbsmusic.com/music.htm

I don't hate McCreary, it just seems that the BSG fans want every actor, composer, director, etc. from BSG to hop on over to GoT. It got rediculous in the casting threads "Helfer as Cersei", "Bamber as Jamie", "Bamber as Derric", "Sackoff as Brienne!!!"... The only actor I though may be appropriate for GoT was Callis and that was purely because he's a good actor.

I loved BSG, I just don't want GoT by way of BSG.

In fairness this has happened with The Wire, Rome and Deadwood as well. We could have cast the entire series out of suggestions from those three series (plus Lost - Michael Emerson as Roose Bolton anyone? - and BSG as well).

[red snow]

In fairness this has happened with The Wire, Rome and Deadwood as well. We could have cast the entire series out of suggestions from those three series (plus Lost - Michael Emerson as Roose Bolton anyone? - and BSG as well).

That's also true but I think BSG is the most prevalent. Or that could just be due to the fact I tend to disagree with what sometimes seems like "BSG:Westeros" in terms of suggestions. I guess what made a lot of the above mentioned shows a success was the fact that they did things their own way, maybe we should give AGOT a similar chance to do the same.

[Werthead]

That's also true but I think BSG is the most prevalent. Or that could just be due to the fact I tend to disagree with what sometimes seems like "BSG:Westeros" in terms of suggestions. I guess what made a lot of the above mentioned shows a success was the fact that they did things their own way, maybe we should give AGOT a similar chance to do the same.

Really? We've had Callis suggested for Littlefinger a lot (now out of the question due to his casting as a regular in Eureka) and there was some relatively brief discussion of Helfer for Cersei (pretty much thrown out because she was cast in other projects), but beyond that I don't recall much other BSG casting debate, despite my pushing of Michael Hogan for Randyll Tarly. Ironically, the only BSG castmember we know who auditioned - Jamie Bamber for Jaime - was never on anyone's radar. I don't recall Olmos or McDonnell being put forward for any roles, and the suggestions of Sackhoff for Brienne were somewhat half-hearted due to her lack of height.

Compare that to Rome where we've had Ciaran Hinds/Caesar for Tywin, James Purefoy/Antony for Ned and Oberyn Martell, Polly Walker/Atia for Cersei, Ray Stevenson/Pullo for the Hound, Kevin McKidd/Vorenus and Tobias Menzies/Brutus for Littlefinger, and so on.