Powell: How to Train Your Dragon
Composer John Powell (b. 1963)
Thus far, at least, the best you can say for the 21st Century is that it’s been kind of a mixed bag. It’s brought us some great things (medical technology, decent-quality produce in supermarkets all year long, the internet) – and some terrible things (Covid, those flimsy plastic bags they give you at the supermarket, the internet). On the plus side of the ledger, though, we have to add the elimination of the unstated barrier that used to separate concert music from film music.
For many decades “serious” orchestras refused to touch film music, with the exception of summertime “pops” concerts, usually outside, often culminating in fireworks, and usually requiring the orchestra’s personnel manager to dip way down into the substitute list because most full-time orchestra members picked that week to go on vacation. But over the last two decades, music from scores by Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, and John Williams has been embraced by conductors and orchestras for its undeniable musical value.
John Powell’s score for “How to Train Your Dragon” has been among the most-programmed of the last decade, and has been arranged for almost every imaginable combination of instruments. The London-born-and-bred Powell was for some years Hans Zimmer’s assistant, and it was Zimmer who helped to set up Powell with the film’s producers. Powell’s score was nominated for an Oscar, and Grammy, and a BAFTA Award, and its tuneful and evocative music – those could only be the sounds of dragons swooping through the tufted clouds of a summer sky – has gained legions of admirers all over the world.
See a performance
Hear Suite from “How to Train Your Dragon”
Chris Vaneman is the Director of the Petrie School of Music and Associate Professor of Flute at Converse College. Chris frequently leads the Spartanburg Philharmonic pre-concert lecture series “Classical Conversations,” and occasionally performs as a substitute flutist in the orchestra.