Why Stanley Kubrick didn’t like using original scores for his movies: “They are not Beethoven”
Stanley Kubrick is considered one of the greatest directors and filmmakers of all time. He’s known for being the director of a plethora of iconic films, like The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and Eyes Wide Shut. All of them can be considered among the finest movies ever committed to celluloid.
Kubrick is perhaps best known for his technical prowess, possessing an incredible eye for detail and ability to bring out a great performance in an already great actor. He was the kind of director with a hand in every element of his films, but controversially he once said he prefers not to use original scores.
In an interview with Michel Ciment on his film Barry Lyndon from 1975, Kubrick agreed with Ciment’s assessment of him as a some kind of cinematic detective: “You are well-known for the thoroughness with which you accumulate information and do research when you work on a project.” Kubrick later says, “I spent a year preparing Barry Lyndon before the shooting began, and I think this time was very well spent.”
Kubrick is known as a perfectionist, and although it might at first seem like he is ousting the opportunity for full creative control with his preference for “un-original” scores, he actually sees it the other way around. Ciment mentions that Kubrick’s last three films have forgone original scores, and this is what Kubrick had to say: “However good our best film composers may be, they are not a Beethoven, a Mozart or a Brahms. Why use music which is less good when there is such a multitude of great orchestral music available from the past and from our own time?”
Kubrick goes on to describe how, when editing a film, “it’s very helpful to be able to try out different pieces of music”. He tells the story of how, for 2001: A Space Odyssey, he consulted an unnamed “distinguished film composer” for the score. After they had listened to the temporary music tracks that Kubrick had equipped his scenes, the composer then “wrote and recorded a score which could not have been more alien to the music we [had] listened to, and much more serious than that, a score which, in my opinion, was completely inadequate for the film”. The truth is, without Kubrick’s fine eye on proceedings, a lesser director might have let somebody else deliver a score they saw as fitting. Instead, he leant into his own judgement.
Kubrick ended up using the tracks he had picked for the temporary score, featuring, among others, classical composers Strauss, Ligeti and Khatchaturian, despite threats the film’s premiere would be delayed. Good thing he did as we now have the truly iconic opening scene featuring Strauss’ ‘Also sprach Zarathustra’ which was recently referenced in the opening scene of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
Let’s all thank Robert O’Brien, the head of MGM at the time of 2001: A Space Odyssey, who Kubrick says he “trusted my judgement. He is a wonderful man and one of the very few film bosses able to inspire genuine loyalty and affection from his filmmakers”.
Music was important both in Kubrick’s personal life and professional life so it’s no wonder he had strong opinions. His wife Christine once said, “He was addicted to music, he played it always, all day long. He worked with music, classical…and the pop songs and he liked jazz music”. He sure did, in fact he made sure to preface his statement on scores, to Ciment, with: “Exclude a pop music score from what I am about to say.”
