With this association, Hurwitz has grounded the “La La Land” soundtrack in the past. Look at one of the most popular love songs ever: Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Love in this instance is a longing, an ache, rather than a spritely dance. That slower, sadder representation of love hints at something that earlier love songs have long done, associating love with pain, sadness and loss.
This theme, and the inspiration it draws from, is far from that - its F-Sharp minor key isn’t necessarily a happy one. It’s an exuberant hook, or a sweet croon. Particularly in the 21 st century, love songs have become synonymous with upbeat, joyful expressions. It’s an interesting choice for Hurwitz to use this theme to signal romance. There’s an astounding memory in melody, one that grips the mind in inexplicable ways. In twenty, whether we’re living in a barren post-apocalyptic wasteland or within uncanny white picket fences, I’ll hear those chords and be drawn right back to the theatre I first heard them in. Think of the way “As Time Goes By” drives “Casablanca,” or how Chopin’s “Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor” dominates “The Pianist.” Five years past, the opening chords of “Theme” pull Mia right back to a past life, clear as a dream. 2” both feel at the front of mind, and we can thank those traditions for inspiring the centerpiece of this soundtrack, “Mia and Sebastian’s Theme.” It drives both the film and the score, and it transcends the typical film-soundtrack relationship. The nearly formless ache of his “Nocturne Op. 2 in C Minor,” and even more directly the titan of the nocturne, Frédéric Chopin. The soundtrack recalls iconic pieces in the form, like John Field’s “Nocturne No. Like the narrative of the film, he weaves in music from some earlier traditions, most notably the solo piano nocturne. Anyone who’s heard the piercing violins of “Pyscho,” the atmospheric, trumpeting gloom of “Chinatown” or the joyful tune of “Singin’ in the Rain” will immediately recognize the score, even if some finer plot details get lost along the way.īut Hurwitz also traces his development to classical compositions of the 19 th and 20 th centuries, something that sets the “La La Land” soundtrack apart.
These are artists who know that a scene might blow by, but a score, and a good one at that, will stick with you forever. He praised John Williams (“Star Wars,” “Jaws”), Michel Legrand (“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”) and Nino Rota (“The Godfather”), some of the most legendary names in film score composition. In a recent reddit Q&A, Hurwitz answered questions about the genealogy of his work - the inspirations he holds closest. He has produced one of the most inventive, yet nostalgic soundtracks of the last decade. While Chazelle has garnered the majority of the limelight, Justin Hurwitz, who composed the music for Chazelle’s two previous projects, deserves similar recognition here. The same should be said of the soundtrack and the score. It’s tone is starry-eyed and stunned, even at its most devastating. A friend of mine aptly described “La La Land” as a film by someone who purely, absolutely loves film.