Download Modern Voices in Film

Modern Voices in Film
1936-1944
Concert Composer vs. Film Composer
• Concert Composers wrote music for music’s
sake: symphonies, operas, chamber music,
etc.
• Film composers had to work quickly and
efficiently and still used the post-romantic
style
• Some elements of the concert composers’
music started to bleed over into film music
International Influences
• In Europe, many leading concert composers
also wrote film music
– Modern compositional techniques are first seen in
film scores from Europe
France
• The following traits in French works were seen
European film music into the 1970s:
– Music is used sparingly
– Source music plays a dominant role
– Music tends to sustain a single mood
– Leitmotifs are used less frequently than in
American films
• Le Grande illusion (1937)
England
• Film industry had close ties to America
• Alfred Hitchock-created horror/suspense films
– Moved his studio to Hollywood in 1939
• Things to Come (1936): best English score of
1930s
– Music for opening montage juxtaposes Christmas and the
coming war
Soviet Union &
Totalitarian Governments
• Films in totalitarian governments (Germany,
Italy, USSR) were seen as propaganda tools
• Leni Riefenstahl: produced documentary films
in Germany
– new and unusual camera angles
– Slow motion play back
Soviet Union &
Totalitarian Governments
• Only the Soviet Union’s films had a high level of
artistic quality while sending a propaganda message
• Dmitri Shostakovich: concert composer who scored
15 films in the 1930s
• The Great Citizen (1938):
largely created by Stalin
Soviet Union &
Totalitarian Governments
• Sergei Prokofiev: left USSR and became wellknown as a concert composer, then upon
returning to the Soviet Union he began
composing for films as well.
• Alexander Nevsky(1938): historical drama
– Music used to set general moods, not match the
action
– Strong choruses to represent the people
Modern Music in Hollywood
• Expressionism: continuous dissonant
harmony and disjunct melodies
– Arnold Schoenberg influenced Hollywood, never
wrote a score big on expressionism
– Hanns Eisler: student of Schoenberg, brought
expressionism to Hollywood
• Hangmen Also Die (1943): first score using serialism
(type of expressionism)
Modern Music in Hollywood
• American Nationalism: a distinct American
music style was developed by Aaron Copland
– American Style Sound:
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Broad melodies featuring strong intervals
Syncopated rhythms
Colorful orchestration
Modern but conservative harmony system
– Copland wrote 4 film scores
• Of Mice and Men (1939): little underscoring
except for the ending where it builds and you
know what’s going to happen
– Received nominations for best picture and best
original score
• Our Town (1940): slow, firm music matches
the story
– last 20 minutes has nearly continuous music
Modern Music in Hollywood: Film Noir
• Beginnings of Film Noir
– Early 1940s: a darker mood was detected in
Hollywood films
– Music: angular melodies, dark instrumental colors,
& dissonance
• Bernard Herrmann: first major film composer
to consistently use modern concert music
sounds in film scores
– The Devil and Daniel Webster : used telegraph
wires and layered tracks to create eerie effects
Citizen Kane (1941)
• America’s Greatest Film, even
though it runs against many of the
trends at the time
• Orson Welles: starred in it,
produced it, and helped write the
script
• Plot: the rise and fall of Kane, told
from 6 people’s perspectives. An
anonymous reporter, Thompson,
links these all together as he
searches for the meaning of Kane’s
last word: “Rosebud”
• Cinematographic effect
Stark contrast between bright light and darkness
• Camera angles used to create unique shots
• Deep Focus
• Reflected Images
• Montage: shows the demise of Charles Kane’s
marriage
Citizen Kane: The Music
• Composer by Bernard Herrmann
• Like classic Golden Age film scores: supports
drama, captures moods, creates unity
• Different in its orchestration (dark),
harmony(dissonant) & melody(cold sounding)
Citizen Kane Motives
• Power
• Rosebud
Hollywood & WWII
• European film production stopped or was used
for the war effort
• FDR let the film industry remain independent
• Hollywood responded well
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Films used to boost morale
Documentaries kept people informed
Training films for armed forces
Stars entertained troops, supported relief efforts, and
enlisted
– Theaters sold war bonds
• Movie plots were reworked to support the war
• Released in 1942
• Plot: happens in 48
hours in Dec. 1941
pre-Pearl Harbor
• Rick only cares
about himself, then
encounters his
former lover, Ilsa,
and her husband,
Laszlo. Rick ends up
sacrificing his desire
for Ilsa for the
greater needs of the
world around him.
Casablanca: The Music
• Score by Max Steiner
• Uses several French & German national
melodies in the underscoring
• Lots of American source music
• As Time Goes By: main popular tune. Written
for a revue, made famous by Steiner