I am a film composer who feels music expresses and supports a film's content and narrative, speaks what words cannot, and makes one viscerally feel a film. 

After spending over 20 years as a classical pianist, I earned a Master's in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music and moved into film music. As a pianist, I had a strong affinity for the 19th-century Romantic style, which fuels my work as a composer. Romantic ideology hinged on the interconnection of all the arts; it recognized images' innate stories (encompassing past, present, and future). Romantics believed in music's ability to relay narratives and depict images. They liked to imagine that narratives and their characters continued to live on past the end of a book, mirroring real life in their own fictional realm. 

Romantic artists of the 19th century believed in expressing all-encompassing ideas within small structures. Furthermore, they believed in the ability of limits to provide a means for infinite forms of artistic expression. In this way, art mirrored life; people have a finite time to live but can choose to experience that time in infinite ways. In short, art was a personal, life-altering, transcendental force that reflected the human experience.

Ironically, as a film composer, this is what I do. I use music to tell a film's story, communicate its mood and characters' thoughts and feelings, and evoke a scene. Most film cues are short, so the idea that small forms can express profound and complex ideas or emotions is close to my heart.

I write in all genres using acoustic instruments, work with electronic media, and create sound design pieces. My favorite genres are fantasy, horror/thriller, sci-fi, and drama. 

As a listener, several of my favorite film composers are Bernard Herrmann, John Williams, Howard Shore, Danny Elfman, James Newton Howard, Dario Marianelli, Alan Silvestri, Patrick Doyle, Rupert Gregson-Williams, Harry Gregson-Williams, Ennio Morricone, Alexandre Desplat, Christopher Young, Jerry Goldsmith, and Hans Zimmer. In addition, several of my favorite classical composers include Schumann, Brahms, Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Copland, Richard Strauss, Debussy, Ravel, Dvorak, and Rachmaninoff.

Having grown up in the 80s and 90s, my interests in popular music are vast. They cover many genres spanning the late 60s through today. They include classic rock, prog rock, 80s synth pop, 90s rock, 90s alternative and grunge, singer-songwriters over the last 50 or so years, contemporary alternative, and others. In some way or another, these genres end up informing my writing.

Feel free to reach out; I'd love to hear from you! sal@rainkingmusic.net

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