I loved Lord of the Rings' music - it's incredible. It's beautiful. It's thematically rich. It's harmonically extraordinary.
But one thing I still don't entirely understand is what makes music intelligent. Everyone says that it's "smart." It's "intelligent."
People also say Golden Compass had an "intelligent" score. However, people say things like X-Men First Class had a "brainless" score.
I've been listening to a bunch of music recently, and I've been trying to figure out what makes music intelligent by listening to LotR and Cutthroat Island and then listening to First Class and Transformers to see what's missing. All I can say is that LotR and Cutthroat Island are orchestral and more complex.
What am I missing? Could someone please explain?