No…well it depends on who you ask. Historically it most certainly is not. But here’s the problem: orchestras cost a lot of money. Movies have large budgets. Since music is one of the cheapest parts of a movie, you may as well go big. There aren’t too many things bigger than an orchestra. Now, not many companies can afford to hire an orchestra. There are big cities and there are movies. Movies are popular and symphonic concerts are not. Therefore people associate orchestra music with movies.
This used to bother me. Then I realized that it’s really not that important. If people aren’t interested in a certain art form, then we musicians should do something else. Yeah, orchestras are beautiful but so is a lot of other music. We may as well focus on stuff people will like. We’re entertainers, not priests. As artists, we need to swallow our hubris and focus on entertaining. Teaching people about beauty can come after you have an audience to teach.
So, is orchestra music generally movie music? Uhh…sure. Why not? I’m just here to make cool stuff you love. If you love epic movie soundtracks then you like something admirable. If someone says that The Dark Process sounds like movie music, I’ll take it as a compliment. 😀