20 Things You Somehow Missed In Apocalypse Now
13. Francis Ford Coppola And His Father Carmine Wrote The Music
As Captain Willard boards a Navy patrol boat for his journey up the Nùng RIver, the audience begins to hear the film's score: an haunting, synthesized sound, intended to emphasize the eerie nature of Willard's mission. This music was composed by director Francis Ford Coppola's father Carmine, who had previously composed music for the first two Godfather films.
Ford originally wanted the film to be scored by Japanese composer Isao Tomita. Tomita had pioneered electronic synthesizer music, making science-fiction infused space music. He'd gained international recognition for his 1974 album based on the music of classical composer Claude Debussy, and Ford thought his music would be perfect for the film. Contracts got in the way and prevented the collaboration, so Ford asked his father to help him.
Ford had his father compose a standard orchestral score, and then performed the rigorous task of putting the score through synthesizers. Carmine, who had played flute in the NBC Symphony Orchestra before committing himself full-time to composing, performed the flute solos that accompany the scenes of Willard studying the dossier on Kurtz. The score was nominated for several awards, including a British Academy Film Award, Golden Globe, and Grammy.