I have noticed for a long time the disappearance of that mention on my soundtrack covers. It slowly began in the 90's with Danny Elfman, Alan Menken, Hans Zimmer, Marc Shaiman, James Newton-Howard, David Arnold, Mark Mancina, Elliot Goldenthal, John Powell... And now it seems that no composer is willing or able to conduct their orchestra anymore. Even great symphonists like Michael Giacchino, John Ottman, Christoph Beck or Andrew Lockington don't conduct. Aaron Zigman rarely conduct though he's able to do it. The disappearance of that mention can also be noticed on albums where the composer actually conducts (David Newman on his terrific Tarzan, for instance).
For the last 10 years or so, we have sadly lost so many great composers from the "Composed and Conducted" era (Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, Basil Poledouris, Michael Kamen, Shirley Walker, John Barry, Maurice Jarre and now James Horner). Old timers Bruce Broughton, Lee Holdridge, Bill Conti, Don Davis, are kinda out of the game. John Williams won't conduct the majority of the next Star Wars...
Today, amongst the A-list composers still in action, I can only find Alan Silvestri, Howard Shore, Brian Tyler and John Debney that still conduct the orchestra... (Ennio Morricone, Joel McNeely and the Newmans are rarely given the chance to shine these days).
So is this the end of "Composed and Conducted by" ? and does it still mean anything ?
Last edited by Anakin McFly on Mon Aug 31, 2015 2:24 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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