"There's always a question of duration, there's a question of who the orchestra is. No one is free to write what you want - you collaborate on a film score, and one of the good things is that someone else's work is motivating you"
About this Quote
The bluntest admission lands like a corrective: “No one is free to write what you want.” It’s not self-pity. It’s a statement about authorship in cinema, where composers are often treated as late-stage problem-solvers, hired to supply emotion on command, and judged by how invisibly they serve the cut. Nyman’s phrasing implies a hierarchy without naming it: the image leads, the music follows, and the composer’s autonomy is always conditional.
Then he pivots, and the subtext turns unexpectedly generous. Collaboration isn’t framed as compromise but as propulsion: “someone else’s work is motivating you.” That’s Nyman the minimalist and pragmatist, describing limitation as an engine. The director’s rhythm, the editor’s pacing, the actors’ silences - these aren’t obstacles to musical expression; they’re prompts that force specificity. The intent is almost ethical: stop pretending film scoring is pure self-expression and start valuing it as a responsive craft, where meaning is co-authored and the best ideas arrive because you can’t do whatever you want.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Nyman, Michael. (2026, January 15). There's always a question of duration, there's a question of who the orchestra is. No one is free to write what you want - you collaborate on a film score, and one of the good things is that someone else's work is motivating you. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-always-a-question-of-duration-theres-a-160982/
Chicago Style
Nyman, Michael. "There's always a question of duration, there's a question of who the orchestra is. No one is free to write what you want - you collaborate on a film score, and one of the good things is that someone else's work is motivating you." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-always-a-question-of-duration-theres-a-160982/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"There's always a question of duration, there's a question of who the orchestra is. No one is free to write what you want - you collaborate on a film score, and one of the good things is that someone else's work is motivating you." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-always-a-question-of-duration-theres-a-160982/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
