# Can Anyone Think of a Hero/Military Theme That...



## robgb (Oct 13, 2020)

...doesn't feature a trumpet? It seems like such a cliche these days and I wonder if anyone has broken the mold.


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## tdolby (Oct 13, 2020)

The Great Escape/Steve McQueen? Wasn't that flute/piccolo lead?


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## robgb (Oct 13, 2020)

tdolby said:


> The Great Escape/Steve McQueen? Wasn't that flute/piccolo lead?


Yes, bassoon, oboe and flute. Good example.


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## JonS (Oct 14, 2020)

robgb said:


> ...doesn't feature a trumpet? It seems like such a cliche these days and I wonder if anyone has broken the mold.


An Officer and a Gentleman. Top Gun. Crimson Tide is mostly horns.


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## JJP (Oct 14, 2020)

A few come to mind that haven't been mentioned.

Bridge on the River Kwai
Lawrence of Arabia (too much of a stretch?)
A Bridge Too Far (trumpets come in later, though)
Glory
Dr. Strangelove (okay, now I'm just having fun)


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## marclawsonmusic (Oct 14, 2020)

JJP said:


> Glory



There was plenty of trumpet in Glory, but that choir element was definitely more prominent, wasn't it? I really love that score... and miss Horner.


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## Karl Feuerstake (Oct 15, 2020)

robgb said:


> ...doesn't feature a trumpet? It seems like such a cliche these days and I wonder if anyone has broken the mold.



I think there's less emphasis on Trumpet in the music of Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, The Pacific, The Thin Red Line, stuff like that. I cannot promise there will be 0 Trumpet.

Edit: SPR has some Trumpet at the end of the first graveyard scene, but this turns into a Horn theme as the scene transitions to Omaha beach - and I still feel much of the score lays emphasis on hymnal strings rather than brass fanfares.


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## b_elliott (Oct 15, 2020)

My suggestion may offer a reverse look at the question. How about Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat? Sure it opens with trumpet but what stuck with me after all these years are those wonderful violin lines and that soldier's plight. Perhaps look into his score to see his tricks as it certainly made an impression stylistically.


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## I like music (Oct 15, 2020)

I imagine that in many cases, there is a restatement or variation of the theme with orchestration that doesn't lead with trumpet. Does that count?

I say that yet nothing comes to mind :D


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## Karl Feuerstake (Oct 15, 2020)

I like music said:


> I imagine that in many cases, there is a restatement or variation of the theme with orchestration that doesn't lead with trumpet. Does that count?
> 
> I say that yet nothing comes to mind :D



I noticed this while listening to Jerry Goldsmith's Patton suite, you raise a good point! Trumpet is important but he gives other instruments plenty of moments.


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## Henu (Oct 15, 2020)

I came here to see if the sentence ends with "...doesn't have a trumpet". I wasn't disappointed.


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## I like music (Oct 15, 2020)

Karl Feuerstake said:


> I noticed this while listening to Jerry Goldsmith's Patton suite, you raise a good point! Trumpet is important but he gives other instruments plenty of moments.



Yes he does! Absolutely incredible from Goldsmith ...


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## Altauria (Oct 15, 2020)

The Patriot was a violin (and guitar), and I only recall trumpets being part of the orchestral texture. They're used in thematic passages, but not in the context I think you're referring to (bugle replacements/solos).


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## robgb (Oct 17, 2020)

It's nice to see there are a number of examples. The reason I asked is because I watched a couple of "heroic" type movies back to back and both featured solo trumpet. So I checked a few more soundtracks and there was that solo trumpet. You can almost hear the director saying to the composer, "This shot of the military graveyard needs something heroic. How about a solo trumpet?"


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## Tice (Oct 17, 2020)

robgb said:


> It's nice to see there are a number of examples. The reason I asked is because I watched a couple of "heroic" type movies back to back and both featured solo trumpet. So I checked a few more soundtracks and there was that solo trumpet. You can almost hear the director saying to the composer, "This shot of the military graveyard needs something heroic. How about a solo trumpet?"


And then the composer uses a bugle or cornet and never tells the director, who can't tell the difference :D


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