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Part 5Music for Theater and Film

Chapter 18: Music for Films

America’s Musical Landscape 6th edition

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 2

Functions of Music in Film Film Score – the music composed for a movie Mickey Mousing –

the practice of mimicking

musically the actions of

a character Music draws the audience

into the atmosphere of the film Music helps build a sense of continuity

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 3

Source Versus Functional Music Source/Diegetic Music – provides a thematic anchor for

images on screen

Music adds accompaniment to the action in films featuring dance Fame (1980) Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Functional/Nondiegetic Music – the music is heard by the spectators, but not by the characters in the film

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 4

History of Music in Films Silent Films – music was provided by pianists, theater organists, and other instrumentalists

Early Sound Films – The Jazz Singer

Most composers working in early Hollywood were European with the exception of several notable American composers Virgil Thompson Aaron Copland Irving Berlin

The Hollywood Sound The classical Hollywood film score

Lush orchestration, rich harmonies and sweeping melodies

Bernard Herrmann A classical composer and arranger who also worked in radio and film

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 5

Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975) A New Yorker who carried his classical music

training to radio, where he worked as a composer and arranger, and then to film

Scored Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941) Best-known for his work scoring films by Alfred

Hitchcock

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 6

Listening Example 63The Murder (from Psycho)Composed by Bernard Hermann (1911-1975)Listening Guide page 324

Timbre: Orchestra, dominated by high-pitched strings as the players glide their fingers rapidly along the strings (a technique called glissando)

Form: Programmatic (the music describes and enhances the actions on the screen)

Melody: Fragmentary phrases, repeated over and over

This disturbingly effectivemusic supports one of

the most terrifying scenesin movie history.

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 7

The Hollywood Sound Key figures in Hollywood music from the

1930s and 1940s Alfred Newnan Max Steiner Erik Korngold

John Williams – popularized the classic film score in movies such as Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 8

Listening Example 64Star Wars Main TitleComposer John Williams (b. 1932)Listening Guide page 327

Timbre: Orchestra, dominated by brass and percussion, rather than the usual strings

Texture: Predominantly homophonicForm: The music is organized according to programmatic

content

This highly emotional filmscore helped return

the lush, romantic style of the classical Hollywoodscore to popular favor.

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 9

Pop Scores 1950s – composers accompanied films with pop music

The Sting (1973) The Third Man (1949)

1960s – pop scores helped attract a younger audience Music by Burt Bacharach and Henry Mancini

1970s Randy Newnan – Toy Story 2 (1999)

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 10

Electronic Music Theremin – the earliest electronic musical

instrument Invented in 1920

1960s – introduction of analog techniques

1980s – advent of digital systems Non-acoustic score composed by Maurice Jarre for Fatal

Attraction (1987)

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 11

Movie Musicals Revived Movie musicals, popular during the 1930s and

1940s, lost favor in subsequent decades 2000-2001: renewed interest in the genre due to

films emphasizing music that were billed as musicals Dancer in the Dark – quotes The Sound of Music O Brother, Where Art Thou? – highighted Depression-era

Southern music Moulin Rouge – incorporated popular songs

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 12

Current Trends Use of all kinds of music in film including

Classical music Jazz Ethnic music Popular songs Rock New Age Opera

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 13

The Composer’s Perspective Techniques and methods considered by

composers Tonality Use of dissonance Timbre Role of various

instruments Mixing and editing

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Part 5: Music for Theater and Film Chapter 18: Music for Films 14

Film Score Performances and Recordings Suites

Significant sections from a complete film score

New music for classic films Philip Glass composed music for the class horror film

Dracula

1990s Trend toward collecting film scores Apollo 13, City of Angels