Film Music History
The history of music as an
accompaniment to visual entertainment is surely a long one. Without going back
to antiquity, there is all manner of theatre (musical or non-musical), variety
shows and various forms of opera. In all of these forms of theatre, music can
adopt a range of roles: sometimes it is an basic part of the entertainment (a
collection of songs or a musical), and sometimes it is providing an
accompaniment to other visual or verbal forms of entertainment. As an
accompaniment music can simply be there (in the background), but often the
music is chosen with a particular purpose of enhancing the spectacle in some
way (creating atmosphere) or in a more sophisticated way to create or enhance
an emotional reaction among members of the audience. This spectrum of musical
involvement in the entertainment also applies to film.
When it comes to film as a
projection through celluloid, the earliest examples consisted of moving
pictures only and no sound. But a silent movie without a musical accompaniment
seems totally empty, so music was typically provided in the theatre by a
musician on piano or organ (or a group of musicians) to give emphasis to the
story. At first it was up to these theatre musicians to choose or improvise the
music, but there were music publishers who specialized in producing music
suitable for film that these musicians could refer to. It wasn't long before filmmakers
exerted greater control over the musical accompaniment, by specifying the music
to be played, and even in some cases having it specially written for the
occasion. It is interesting to note at this point that one of the great
entertainers of the silent era, Charlie Chaplin, also composed the music
for some of his own films such as City Lights.
Growth of a new industry- the early
years of film music
The
first talking movie was the original Jazz Singer starring Al
Jolson that created a stir on its release in 1927 with its soundtrack
consisting of songs and some fragments of speech. This heralded a change in the
position of musical accompaniment for film and by the early 1930s, as the
talkie industry matured, the role of film composer started to emerge in
earnest. A pattern quickly emerged or the "opening titles" making the
equivalent of a musical overture introducing the film and its main themes, and
the "closing titles" which would reinforce the mood of the film's
conclusion and remind us of the main themes. Within the film, there would be
opportunities to provide appropriate music between the periods of dialogue. The
importance of the music to the finished product was also quickly recognized,
and awards were given for this contribution including the Academy Award for
Best Score.
Some
early examples of film music though seem to throw themes together from many
sources, including numerous borrowings from classical works by the likes of
Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky or Rimski-Korsakov. An example of the more effective
use of borrowed material is Max Steiner’s score for Casablanca from
1942 that uses the French and German national anthems mixed with the theme song
that Sam is asked to "play again". Dramatic, lush and romantic sounds
were definitely "de rigour". To modern ears there is sometimes a
tendency for the music to follow the action too closely like a cartoon, a
phenomenon called "Mickey Mousing" for obvious reasons. It is no
surprise that some early film composers had the reputation for being hacks, and
was looked down upon by serious composers. However, there were many successes
to attract trained musicians, such as the theme to Gone with the Wind,
again from Max Steiner, easily recognized by millions of people today.
Film music today- popular culture, electronic and
minimalistic music
In several ways, film music
has long been simpler than concert music - it needs to work faster over a
shorter time period, it might be competing with other sounds and dialogue, and
it is not there to serve an intellectual purpose but generally an immediate
emotional purpose. However with the invention of Minimalist Concert Music by a
variety of experimental composers (e.g. Steve Reich, John Adams, Terry Riley,
La Monte Young, etc.) other composers were quick to pick up on the cinematic
possibilities. Some minimalist concert composers have enjoyed success composing
film soundtracks many new and existing composers adapted their styles towards a
minimalist approach. These minimalist techniques include long sustained chords
or drones, repeating patterns of notes, beats, chords or arpeggios, and
combinations of these things. Some minimalist techniques have been largely
avoided by media composers, such as those that use slow evolving changes since
they are less suited to the immediacy of those media. It is now very common to
find these elements appearing throughout media music - whether for film or
television, for video games or supporting adverts.
Electronic instruments and
computers are playing an increasing role in film music. There are many early
examples such as The Day the
Earth Stood Still by Bernard
Herrmann in the early 1950s. Brad Fiedel created
a suitably metallic accompaniment for the android character in the Terminator
films, and less obviously James Horner's
music for Titanic blended
synthetic instruments with real ones. Many soundtracks can be created more
cheaply using electronic instruments rather than acoustic ones, as with Mark Isham's
highly effective score for Crash.
In many ways the trend towards electronics and software parallels the use of
computers to add visual effects to the movie, but in no way replaces the
increasing demand for skilled composers and musicians in the film industry.
A concise outline Jenny. A few more dates to outline when the progressions took place & when the films were released would extend your work further. Well done.
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