Michael Giacchino and his Dawn of the Planet of the Apes score

Michael Giacchino and his Dawn of the Planet of the Apes score

This will probably get taken down, but damn this is a great score. I think Giacchino is one of the best “new” composers working today. He is clearly influenced by the greats (John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith). One of the coolest things about this score is that Michael is clearly paying homage to Goldsmith's strange Planet of the Apes score from the 60s.

The heavy percussion and strange string humming are clear connections to the original score. Then, there's the slightly out of tune piano. What about those snapping sounding percussion instruments? I love it. Here's the best part; he keeps all of Goldsmith's disjointed experimental scoring, but Giacchino writes a structured score with straight themes and vocal tracks. It is blending the two methods together that makes this score stand out.

Here's the best part. You can actually hear the main theme for the original Planet of the Apes on the track “Planet of the End Credits”. I am not making this up. Jump ahead to 1:07:27, but if you really want hear it jump to 1:11:24 and listen carefully. I actually laughed when heard it. That's extremely cool.

Here's the original score for reference. Listen to the first few minutes to hear the same notes (and theme).

There is also a bit a homage to Elfman's Ape score thrown in a few places too.