# Western Movie Soundtrack Music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 1, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400 "2012-09-01T23:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/1 "2012-09-01T23:57:00Z")
What was the first western with a soundtrack? Which was the first with an orchestral score with no vocals? I was watching “The Cowboys” this afternoon. It was released in 1972, pretty late in the history of westerns, and it had what I.think of as a stereotypical western score. Who do we have to thank for this artifact? ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/2 "2012-09-03T03:14:28Z")
I don’t know about the first, but [The Magnificent 7](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWIlGnJDRzw) was well known for it’s score back in 1960. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/3 "2012-09-03T03:22:48Z")
Another one is Jerome Moross’ score for [The Big Country](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQTH3a0mjR8). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/4 "2012-09-03T09:49:43Z")
No love for Ennio Morricone? You can’t even think “Western Soundtracks” without [this little number](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFa1-kciCb4) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/5 "2012-09-03T12:50:18Z")
I don’t know about “the first” but STAGECOACH (1939) is certainly very western-archetype music. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/6 "2012-09-03T14:38:36Z")
Aaron Copland wrote the orchestral film score for 1949’s [The Red Pony (1949 film) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Pony_(1949_film)). [The Academy Awards has been handing out film score Oscars since 1934](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Original_Score), so scores must precede that by a few years at least. [The Lost Patrol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Patrol_(1934_film)) was a nominee, so we know the early awards included non-musicals. ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/7 "2012-09-03T20:07:31Z")
I cannot answer the question specifically but I certainly feel that the theme from “How The West Was One” is one of the greatest. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/8 "2012-09-03T20:12:21Z")
You people. I’m the first one to blurt out Dmitri Tiomkin? Take 'em to Missouri, Matt. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/9 "2012-09-03T20:20:00Z")
Now that I think about it, movie scores actually preceded movie sound. A lot of silent movies were accompanied by live musicians, or they were in large movie houses in large cities. And.. [just found this story that more than 500 musical scores](http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/jul/14/musical-scores-silent-films-birmingham) (the sheet music), some to Charlie Chaplin films, were rediscovered in a Birmingham England library. From the article: > [@](#): > > The Chaplin theme – Marche Grotesque – appears to be a unique example of a score written for a particular artist. It dates from 1916 at the height of the British-born actor’s early fame as a worldwide star and was for use when his tramp character appeared on screen. It was composed by Cyril Thorne, a long-forgotten musician who wrote mood music. ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/10 "2012-09-03T20:42:49Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > I don’t know about “the first” but STAGECOACH (1939) is certainly very western-archetype music. Thank you, Haven. Do you happen to know where the library is? ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/11 "2012-09-03T21:06:18Z")
Thank you all for your responses. I will have to check out these films. I’m pretty sure Morricone’s style is not what I’m looking for. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-movie-soundtrack-music/633400/12 "2012-09-04T04:43:32Z")
While it doesn’t tell you a lot about music, this list does mention the first silent Westerns (which were presumably accompanied by sheet music or recordings) and the first Westerns with sound: [http://www.filmsite.org/westernfilms.html](http://www.filmsite.org/westernfilms.html) I would guess that John Ford had the greatest influence on the development of the modern Western’s background music. His films were filled with music, often _ad nauseam_.