The
Art of Film Music (MUS 315)
&
American
Movie Music (MUS 250)
Research
Resources
Professor Patrick Dorian, East Stroudsburg
University
of Pennsylvania Music Department
| Books on 2-Hour Reserve at
ESU's Kemp Library |
| Film Music Web Links |
| Audio Clips from National
Public Radio (npr.org) about Film Music |
Books
on 2-Hour Reserve at ESU's Kemp Library
Students must have an e-card to take any books or reserve materials
away from the main desk area. Books are scanned so the library staff
knows who has the item and the time by which it must be returned.
Note: short descriptions of most of the books
listed below and links to their inclusion at
amazon.com may be found at:
http://www.filmsound.org/filmmusic/filmmusic-books.htm
Bazelon, Irwin. Knowing
the Score: Notes on Film Music
Brown, Royal S. Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music
Burlingame, Jon. Sound and
Vision: 60 Years of Motion Picture Soundtracks
Burt, George. The Art of Film Music
Chion, Michel. Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen
Darby, William
& DuBois,
Jack. American Film Music: Major Composers, Techniques,
Trends
1915-1990
Evans, Mark. Soundtrack: The Music of the Movies
Hill, John & Gibson, Pamela (editors). The
Oxford Guide to Film Studies:
chapter 5
(pages 43-50) is entitled “Film Music.”
Karlin, Fred & Tilford, Ron. Film Music Masters: Jerry Goldsmith (Limited Collector's Edition)
A 94-page booklet that accompanied the 1995
videotape Film Music Masters: Jerry Goldsmith.
Interviews with Goldsmith, his family, and colleagues in the film music
industry.
Topics include The Early Years, Television Scores, The Family,
Composing, Directors,
Temp Tracks, Spotting, Composing, Orchestration, Electronics, Music Editing,
Recording the Score, Dubbing, Selected Goldsmith Film Scores, Records, Concerts,
Acting in Gremlins II, The Future, Filmography (Motion Pictures &
Television).
Kassabian, Anahid. Hearing
Film: Tracking Identifications in Contemporary Hollywood Film Music
https://ecommerce.tandf.co.uk/catalogue/DetailedDisplay.asp?ISBN=0415928540
&ResourceCentre=ROUTLEDGE&RedirectPage=PerformSearch%2Easp&curpage=1
Lack, Russell. Twenty
Four Frames Under: A Buried History of Film Music
History of film music with an examination of music's emotional impact
on the film audience.
Contains an interesting section on film music and
politics.
MacDonald, Laurence
E. The Invisible Art of Film Music
[may be on the reserve list as Music and
Cinema without author(s)/editor(s)]
Prendergast, Roy M. Film Music: A Neglected Art
Well written general historical survey of film music. The primary interest of the book is on dissection of individual scores at the notation level. Included in Prendergast's discussion are excerpts from Rosenman's East of Eden, Goldsmith's The Wind and the Lion, Bernstein's The Man With the Golden Arm, Herrmann's Psycho, and others. Prendergast freely uses music theory and terminology throughout, and this text is recommended mainly for musicians and music scholars.
Schelle, Michael. The Score: Interviews with Film Composers
Smith, Jeff. The Sounds of Commerce: Marketing Popular Film Music
Very readable work examining the
emergence and development of the soundtrack album within its economic,
industrial, and historical contexts.
Contains excellent chapters on the music for Goldfinger and
The
Good,
The Bad, and the Ugly.
Smith, Steven C. A
Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann
Thomas, Tony. Film Score: The View
from the Podium
[may be on the reserve list as Film Score]
Thomas, Tony. Music for the Movies (1997 edition)
Readable account that evenly
balances anecdotal and analytical material.
Statements from numerous
film composers about their work. Includes discography.
Timm, Larry M. The Soul of Cinema (2003 edition)
Reference Books and
Journals in Kemp Library
(not permitted to be on reserve or checked out):
Issues of
The Cue
Sheet
may be located directly to the right of the main entrance of Kemp
Library in the "Current Periodicals" section. They are shelved
alphabetically under "C." Here are links to the table of contents of each of
the available issues:
Issues of The Journal of Film Music may be located directly to the right of the main entrance of Kemp Library in the "Current Periodicals" section. They are shelved alphabetically under "J" and there are currently three issues filed together on a shelf. Here are links to the table of contents of each of the available issues:
Limbacher, James L.
Film Music: From Violins to Video (in
bookstacks at 782.85 L629f)
Contains short articles on film
music by musicians and others as well as an
inaccurate list of films
and
their composers. Virtually all aspects of
film scoring
are discussed, grouped into general sections concerning
aesthetics, history,
animated films, documentaries, the influence of
classical music, and so on. The
individual essays vary in quality and
approach,
with some providing mainly
historical perspective,
while others propose theories on what film music should
be; the largest
section of essays is devoted to appreciations of individual
scores,
most of which date from the 1930s through the 1950s.
Hitchcock, H. Wiley & Sadie, Stanley
(editors). The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, 1986,
(in bookstacks at
781.773 N42n v.2): extensive article in volume 2
(pages 118-125) under “Film music.”
Sadie, Stanley (editor). The New Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1980, (in bookstacks at 780.3 G919d5 v.6): extensive article in volume 6 (pages
549-556)
under “Film music.”
| John Barry: http://www.johnbarry.org.uk |
|
* Elmer
Bernstein
(1922-2004):
http://www.elmerbernstein.com
Contains many
interesting sections, including his Keynote Address from the Third
AnnualFilm and TV Music Conference delivered at the Directors Guild of America in March, 1998. Mr. Bernstein focuses on the "threats to his beloved industry," and "called on other composers to take action:" http://www.elmerbernstein.com/news/speech.html |
|
Chris Boardman:
http://www.chrisboardmanmusic.com
|
| Alf Clausen: http://www.alfclausen.com |
| Don Davis: http://dondavis.filmmusic.com/home.html |
| John Debney: http://www.johndebney.com |
| Lisa Gerrard: http://www.lisagerrard.com |
| *Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004): http://www.jerrygoldsmithonline.com/index.html |
| Dave Grusin: http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Dave%20Grusin.html |
| *Bernard Herrmann: http://www.bernardherrmann.org (also see below) |
| James Horner: http://www.james-horner.com |
| Mark Isham: http://www.isham.com |
| Laura Karpman: http://www.laurakarpman.com |
|
* Erich Wolfgang Korngold
(1897-1957):
http://www.korngold-society.org/
The official
site of the Korngold Society, the
organization dedicated
to preserving his legacy.
It includes forums, articles, recording information, and events. |
| Mark Mancina: http://www.markmancina.com/ |
| Mark McKenzie: http://www.markmckenzie.org |
| Gil Melle: http://www.gilmelle.com/ |
| Johnny Mercer: http://www.johnnymercer.com |
|
*Ennio Morricone: http://www.morricone.de
(also see below) (in German; Google will translate: "Translate this page." http://www.enniomorricone.com/ (in Italian) |
| Jerome Moross: http://www.moross.com |
| Alex North: http://www.alexnorthmusic.com |
| Basil Pouledoris: http://www.basil-poledouris.com/ |
| Jonathan Price: http://www.jonathanprice.com/ |
| Trevor Rabin: http://trevorrabin.net/ |
| Graeme Revell: http://www.graemerevell.com |
| Jeff Rona: http://www.jeffrona.com/index.php |
|
* Miklòs Ròzsa (1907-1995):
http://members.iinet.com.au/~agfam/miklos/index.html The Milklòs Ròzsa Society Website, including information about Pro Musica Sana, the journal of the Milklòs Ròzsa Society. |
| Nino Rota: http://www.ninorota.com |
| Lalo Schifrin: http://www.schifrin.com |
| Marc Shaiman: http://shaiman.filmmusic.com/ |
| Howard Shore: http://www.howardshore.com |
| Michael Whalen: http://www.michaelwhalen.com/home.html |
|
*John Williams:
http://www.johnwilliams.org Sony/BMG/Masterworks-Sponsored Site for John Williams: http://www.johnwilliamscomposer.com/ |
| Christopher Young: http://www.christopher-young.com |
| Hans Zimmer: http://www.hans-zimmer.com/ |
* The
Bernard Herrmann Society at the
University of Bergen (Norway):
http://www.bernardherrmann.org/
Occasional webcasts of the complete audio of the
3-part, 150-minute
radio
documentary
from 1988:
"Bernard
Herrmann: A Celebration of His Life and Music:"
radio documentary on Bernard Herrmann. Running two-and-a-half hours and
containing
a wealth of music and interviews, this is a hard match to
follow. The documentary was
produced for KIOS-FM by Bruce
Crawford and Bob Coate from
June 1988 through
December 1988, and has since become a milestone in the works presenting
the now
famous composer (along with Steven C. Smith’s biography and Joshua Waletzky’s film
documentary). Given the long running time, the
documentary is
able to follow
Herrmann’s complete career from CBS radio to
Taxi Driver.
This presentation contains an interview with
producer Bruce
Crawford, as well
as audio
clips of some of the interviews and other segments featured in the
radio documentary.
Radio
documentary producer Bruce
Crawford's writing about Bernard Herrmann:
http://www.thewag.net/music/herrmann.html
A
description/review of this
radio documentary:
http://lavender.fortunecity.com/judidench/584/hermann.html
* Bernard Herrmann (from Alfred
Hitchcock: Collaborators & Partners in Crime from
the
"Alfred Hitchcock - The Master of Suspense" hitchcock.tv website):
http://hitchcock.tv/people/herrmann.html
North by Northwest: A Case Study of
the Bernard Herrmann Style - David J. Bondelevitch's 3-part
essay on
one of the best film scores ever made. It examines the style
of the creator of such riveting
scores as Psycho,
Citizen Kane, Vertigo, and Taxi Driver.
http://hitchcock.tv/essays/herrmann/bhindex.html
Part 1: http://hitchcock.tv/essays/herrmann/herrcase1.html
(click on ""Next" to go to part 2)
Part 2: http://hitchcock.tv/essays/herrmann/herrcase2.html
(click on "Next" to go to part 3)
Part 3: http://hitchcock.tv/essays/herrmann/herrcase3.html
(click on "Next" to go to Bibliography and
Acknowledgements)
Bibliography and Acknowledgements:
http://hitchcock.tv/essays/herrmann/bhbiblio.html
* Writings about film
composer David Raksin (1912-2004):
By Alex Ross (the music critic of The New Yorker) (obituary):
http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/08/david_raksin.html
From The Film Music Society (obituary):
http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/news_events/features/2004/080904.html
From SoundtrackNet (obituary):
http://www.soundtrack.net/news/article/?id=532
David Raksin Remembers his
Colleagues (Steiner, Korngold, A. Newman,
Rózsa,
Waxman, Copland,
Friedhofer, Herrmann, Tiomkin):
http://americancomposers.org/raksin_intro.htm
An interview
with David Raksin at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center 30th
Anniversary Gala
from October
14, 1998. From PBS.org's Live from Lincoln Center Learning Center site:
http://www.pbs.org/lflc/backstage/oct14/raksin.htm
* Links to information about Italian film music composer Ennio
Morricone:
The Ennio Morricone Online Community:
Contains links about Ennio Morricone:
http://www.chimai.com/index.cfm?left=screen%3Dlinks
More links about Ennio Morricone:
http://pub36.bravenet.com/freelink/show.php?usernum=3017524795
The Journal of Film Music
publishes original articles and reviews that address any aspect of film
music:
http://www.ifms-jfm.org/
Film Music FAQ (good for definitions of basic terms used in film
music):
http://auricle.com/welcome-fmusfaq.html
*Film Music Media Group: includes Film Music Magazine, Film Music Network,
Film Music Institute, and
Film Music Radio -
http://filmmusicworld.com/network/index.php
Film
Music Magazine, a monthly trade
publication for professionals in the film and
television music
business, including news, feature articles, investigative
reporting,
and
an event calendar:
http://www.filmmusicmag.com/
FAQ about Film
Music from Film
Music Magazine:
http://www.filmmusicmag.com/faq/
Film Music Network
lists upcoming film music industry events:
http://filmmusicworld.com/network/index.php
Film Music
Institute offers professional education courses in Los
Angeles, New York and
other locations designed specifically for the
film and television music industry. Courses are
updated every quarter
to reflect the latest
innovations and knowledge present in the industry
about the art, craft,
technology
and business of music for film and television:
http://filmmusicworld.com/institute/index.php
Film Music
Radio - Broadcasting the Latest
News, Music, and Information about the Film
& TV
Music Industry 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are at
least 6 regularly-produced radio
programs streamed from this site:
http://filmmusicworld.com/radio/index.php
Film Comment Magazine,
published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center:
http://www.filmlinc.com/fcm/fcm.htm
Soundtrack Collector is a very extensive and complete site
devoted to movie music, with a database featuring
detailed record
information and discographies, discussion forums, articles, and news:
http://www.soundtrackcollector.com
* The Internet Movie Database (IMDb):
http://www.imdb.com/
The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb) is the web's largest movie
script resource: http://www.imsdb.com
The All Movie Guide (AMG) has similar characteristics to IMDb:
http://www.allmovie.com/
Film Music articles, resources, and links from FilmSound.org
(click on "terminology" for definitions of diegetic,
non-diegetic,
etc.):
http://www.filmsound.org/
Welcome to the world of
film music:
http://www.filmmusicworld.com/
Tracksounds! The Film Music Experience. Christopher Coleman's site
started in 1998, containing reviews, news,
interviews, forum, and links:
http://www.tracksounds.com/
Film and TV music
directory (part of The Entertainment Industry
Directory):
http://www.filmmusicdirectory.com/pages/Film___TV_Music/index.html
SoundtrackNet/ - The
Art of Film and Television
Music. The source for information on composers,
recording companies,
retailers, manufacturers, etc. Searchable database, soundtrack reviews
and even a
list of release dates:
http://www.soundtrack.net
Filmtracks Modern
Soundtrack Reviews includes reviews of modern soundtracks, tributes
to past and
present composers, auctions for rare soundtracks and
information for the serious collector:
http://www.filmtracks.com/
Scorereviews.com is a site with reviews, composer information, news,
forum, and features. This site encourages
visitors to become members:
http://www.scorereviews.com/
*
Film
Score Monthly is the daily supplement to America's leading film
music magazine, offering articles, reviews,
composer interviews, and an
online store. It is the Online Magazine of Motion Picture and
Television Music
Appreciation produced by editor/publisher
Lukas Kendall. It started as hardcopy in 1990:
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/
Contains
an excellent page of links:
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/links/
The SCORE is the
quarterly newsletter published by the Society of Composers and
Lyricists (formerly located
at filmscore.org). Visitors can browse the
covers of some of the past issues by clicking on the icons:
http://www.thescl.com/site/scl/section.php?id=4505
* The American Film Institute (AFI) is a national institute providing
leadership in screen
education and the
recognition and celebration of excellence in the
art of film, television and digital media. AFI trains the next
generation of
filmmakers at its world-renowned Conservatory,
maintains America's film heritage through the
AFI Catalog of
Feature Films and explores new digital technologies in
entertainment and education through
AFI's New Media Ventures.
http://afi.com/
* In 2005, AFI distributed a
ballot with 250 nominated movie scores to a jury of over 500 leaders
from the creative community.
The AFI revealed
the results of the voting here:
http://afi.com/tvevents/100years/scores.aspx
Here's the ballot
of the 250
nominated top scores:
http://afi.com/Docs/tvevents/pdf/scores250.pdf
On June 22, 2004, AFI revealed
the top movie songs of all
time in "AFI's 100 Years . . .100 Songs,"
a three-hour special
television
event hosted by John Travolta. In
the venerated #1 spot was
Judy
Garland's soulful and iconic rendition of "Over the Rainbow" from
the beloved family classic,
THE WIZARD OF OZ. Nabbing the
rest of the
top spots were classics of every kind-from timeless
favorites of
yesteryear to contemporary tunes - including -
"As Time Goes By"
(CASABLANCA)
"Singin' In
The Rain" (SINGIN' IN THE RAIN)
"Moon River" (BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S)
"Mrs. Robinson" (THE GRADUATE)
"White Christmas" (HOLIDAY
INN/WHITE
CHRISTMAS)
"When You Wish Upon a Star" (PINOCCHIO)
"The Way We Were" (THE WAY WE WERE)
"Stayin' Alive" (SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER)
"The Sound of Music" (THE SOUND OF MUSIC)
http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/songs.aspx
Movie Music UK - film
scores around the world - edited by Jonathan Broxton - includes
reviews, compilations,
composer biographies and interviews, awards,
publications, audio clips, and links:
http://www.moviemusicuk.us/
Daniel Chandler's The 'Grammar' of Television and Film from the
University of Wales, Aberystwyth (UK) -
Television and film use certain common conventions often referred to as
the 'grammar' of these audiovisual media.
This list includes some of
the most important conventions for conveying meaning through particular
camera and
editing techniques (as well as some of the specialised
vocabulary of film production). Very little music information
but
excellent film information about camera techniques, sound, lighting,
and other topics:
http://users.aber.ac.uk/dgc/gramtv.html
* Soundtrack Magazine - The
Longest Running Premiere Source for Film Music News, Reviews, and
Interviews
(from Belgium) (as of December 2005, site was evolving/morphing through several
stages):
http://www.soundtrackmag.com/
Music from the Movies -
The online home of this film music magazine: A very comprehensive
site with many good
resources and in-depth
composer interviews:
http://www.musicfromthemovies.com/
* Classical and Opera Music Used in Movies . . . Have
you ever wondered what that music in a movie was?
Opera
and classical music is used a lot in movies and many people want
to know about it. The detailed lists on this site
allow visitors to
access the music by 172 composers used in 1092 movie titles (there are
over 2300
total entries):
http://www.bohemianopera.com/classicmovhome.htm
* Naxos.com is a leading classical music label with an extensive
listing of "Classical Music Used in Films:"
http://www.naxos.com/musicinmovies.asp?letter=A
"Best Movies Featuring
Classical Music" (May 10, 2001) An informal, personal ranking of films
with
classical music in a supporting or leading role:
http://www.epinions.com/content_1470734468
Classics from the Silver Screen is an index of classical
and opera music used in feature films. Entries are sorted by
movie
title and composer, and the navigation index is in the left-hand
margin. Started in 1997,
Classics from the
Silver Screen currently contains over 170 composers,
930 movie titles and 1700 individual classical and opera entries:
http://pachome2.pacific.net.sg/~bchee/movies.html
Classical Music Used in Films . . . is presented by the Naxos recording
label. It lists film titles alphabetically and will
also list the Naxos
CD that contains the piece(s) used in the film:
http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/default.asp?pn=MusicMovies
* The Film Music Society is a
non-profit organization for the preservation of film and television
music. It is a unique
and comprehensive
cyber-center for film and television music, offering up-to-date news
and event information,
multiple resources for research in the history
of film and TV music, an extensive composer photo gallery, and an
excellent "resources & links" section (especially links to
composers). The society endeavors to present and promote
the film and
television music contributions of past, present and
future composers, arrangers and musicians via scholarly
articles and
reviews on their website:
http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/
The Film Music Society's "News & Events"
column and "Past Features" column
(month-by-month and 2005
archive, 2004 archive, 2003 archive) are interesting and informative:
http://filmmusicsociety.org/news_events/news_events.html
The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra Society (HSOS) is dedicated to the live concert
performance and recording of symphonic film music. Their concerts bring
historic and world premiere symphonic film works from composers of the silver
screen’s golden age to emerging talents, providing a glimpse into the history of
film music and exposure to future classics by our greatest composers. Some
concerts will be performed with film or other multimedia format and some will
feature guest artists.
http://www.hsos.org/
Film & TV Music
Resources (includes info on composers) at the University of Washington
Music Library:
http://www.lib.washington.edu/music/film.html
Film Music
Review: E-zine
with news about film scores and links to rare and unusual film music
and its uses:
http://hometown.aol.com/musbuff/page2.htm
Filmtracks:
One of the oldest and largest film music review sites, Christian Clemmensen's
site contains reviews of modern movie
soundtracks:
http://www.filmtracks.com/
mFiles Film Music: Film music
information, articles, reviews and composers (from the UK):
http://www.mfiles.co.uk/film-music.htm
Soundtrack
Express: Tom Daish's
movie soundtrack reviews, composers, and links:
http://www.soundtrack-express.com/
* Movie Music: The Definitive Performances (from Sony Music). Includes
historical timeline descriptions, short audio clips, and performer
listings from 1929-1998 from the Sony Music catalog:
http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/SoundtrackForACentury/ns4/genre/movie.html
Film Score Rundowns is Bill Wrobel's extensive cue-by-cue analysis of classic
film, television, and radio scores:
http://www.filmscorerundowns.net/
* Filmsite.org, also known as GreatestFilms.org (written by Tim Dirks):
http://filmsite.org/
or http://greatestfilms.org/
Since
mid-1996, an award-winning, unique resource
for classic film buffs and all who are interested
in films. Includes
interpretive and detailed plot synopses, review
commentary, an unparalleled wealth
of film reference material, and
historical background for hundreds of classic Hollywood/American and
other English-language films in the last century.
Includes: "101 Film Score Milestones (1933 - 2001)"
from 'Film Comment' magazine:
http://www.filmsite.org/101filmscores.html
and
"America's 100 Best Film Soundtracks as selected by 'Entertainment
Weekly' magazine:"
http://www.filmsite.org/100soundtracks.html
and much information about such
films as:
Fantasia: http://www.filmsite.org/fant.html
and
To Kill a
Mockingbird: http://www.filmsite.org/toki.html
and hundreds of others.
* The Film Music Discussion List of Indiana
University, Bloomington:
FILMUS-L (List) is
an unmoderated
mailing list devoted to discussion
of dramatic music for films and television. Among
the topics
discussed are current and past film scores, film music
composers,
technical and aesthetic aspects of film
scoring, film music
history and criticism, and recordings of film music:
https://listserv.indiana.edu/archives/filmus-l.html
It contains such interesting discussions as a
"Rip-Off List" in which participants carefully correlated
passages from
film scores to other works that they considered "alleged
sources":
https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/wa-iub.exe?A2=ind9304&L=filmus-l&F=&S=&P=437 ("the list")
https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/wa-iub.exe?A1=ind9304&L=filmus-l#29 (discussion about Horner)
https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/wa-iub.exe?A1=ind9304&L=filmus-l#47 (other points discussed)
FILMUS-L was started in 1993 by H.
Stephen Wright,
Associate Dean of Public Services at
Northern Illinois University. He
wrote a detailed chapter about FILMUS-L
entitled "Film Music on
the
Internet: The Origin
and Assessment of FILMUS-L" on pages 199-212 in
Film
Music 2: History, Theory, Practice
published in 2004 by
The Film Music Society, located in
Sherman Oaks, CA;
Google Usenet Groups: rec.music.movies is a USENET newsgroup
(completely unsupervised!!) that
includes various
links to composer
sites and discussions/questions about film music:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=rec.music.movies&ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en
H-Film, a member of H-Net
Humanities & Social Sciences
OnLine Discussion Network Email List Group. H-Film
encourages scholarly
discussion of cinema history
and uses of the media. H-Net is an international interdisciplinary
organization of
scholars and teachers dedicated to developing the enormous educational
potential of the Internet and
the World Wide Web. Their edited lists
and
web sites publish peer reviewed essays, multimedia materials, and
discussion for colleagues and the interested public. Diverse
bibliographical, research, and teaching
aids are available.
http://www.h-net.org/~film/
MUSIC-AND-MOVING-PICTURES is an
electronic forum for discussion of the aesthetics, practices &
techniques
used in making music for moving images (including film, tv, computer
graphics, virtual reality simulation, etc.).
Practitioners, film
theorists, musicians, and any other interested persons are welcome.
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/MUSIC-AND-MOVING-PICTURES.html
Philip Tagg is a scholar and professor of musicology in the Music
Department at the University of Montreal. His
course materials
contained within his Online Texts contain considerable information
about film music:
http://tagg.org/texts.html#Kursmat
Kay Dickinson's 2000 article "Pop, Speed and the 'MTV Aesthetic' in
Recent Teen Films" (aka "Pop and Speed:
Compilation
Soundtracks and the 'MTV Aesthetic' ")
included
in an on-line refereed journal of film studies "Scope"
in June 2000.
"Scope" comes from the Institute of Film
Studies, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
This
article was also published as a chapter in the book Movie Music, The Film Reader,
edited by Dickinson and
published in 2002 by Routledge Publishing. Dr.
Dickinson is a member of:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/film/journal/articles/pop-speed-and-mtv.htm
Australian Philip Brophy's
1991 article "The Animation of Sound: The Animatic
Apparatus, The Symphonic Experience &
The Cacophonic Destruction."
Includes a discussion of classical music (The Sorcerer's Apprentice and
The Rite of Spring) in Disney's
1940 animated film "Fantasia."
This article was published in the book "The Illusion of Life: Essays on
Animation," Power
Publications, Sydney,
Australia, 1991:
http://www.philipbrophy.com/projects/sncnm/AnimationSound.html
Australian Philip Brophy's
The Secret
History of Film Music, a series of 15 monthly
articles on 20th Century music and
film scores,
published in "The Wire" (issues
158-174) in London, UK in from April, 1997 through
August, 1998:
http://philipbrophy.com/projects/scrthst/index.html
George Wastor's History of Music in the Silent and Early Sound Movies:
http://web.archive.org/web/20021203084535/users.otenet.gr/~nexus7/filmmusien.htm
Film Music Site is the English version of is the English version
of Filmmuziek.be, the reference on film music news and reviews in the Dutch
region, counting 6000 vistors each day.
http://www.filmmusicsite.com/
Filmmuziek.be offers a search engine for film music reviews: "Film
Music Search is a high quality and fully
independent search engine that includes direct links to the best reviews
available on the internet."
Currently 15,252
reviews are included.
http://www.filmmuziek.be/search.cgi
Cinemusic features film music and soundtrack news, reviews, features, and links:
http://www.cinemusic.net/
Music on Film (heard any good movies lately?) describes
itself as " . . . all about the love of film scores. The site was created
in an effort to give useful reviews that really get down to the music."
It's hosted by Jonathan Shearon in Fairview, TN:
http://musiconfilm.net/
Reel Classics: The Classic Movie Site, a comprehensive
site dedicated exclusively to Classic Movies. It comprises
over 2500 pages and more than 3 gigabytes of content -
http://reelclassics.com/
Classic movie musicians:
http://reelclassics.com/Musicians/index.htm
Monstrous Movie
Music (Recordings): a CD series. The company's goal is to re-record
the scores from science-fiction, fantasy, and horror films of the past in a
manner that's as faithful as possible to the original movie studio versions:
http://mmmrecordings.com/index.html
Links to composers of monster movie music:
http://mmmrecordings.com/Composers/composers.html
Soundtrack-Express: Tom Daish's site from Guernsey, Channel Islands in the
UK. Contains reviews of soundtracks
organized by composer:
http://soundtrack-express.com/composers.htm
CYBERSPACE MUSIC
RESOURCES: An Introduction to Online Resources for Music Research:
http://thunder1.cudenver.edu/cam/cmr/
Including
information on film music resources:
http://thunder1.cudenver.edu/cam/cmr/film_music.htm
Conference: Music & The
Moving Image IV will be held May
29-31, 2009 at New York University. It was founded in 2006 and organized
each year by Ron Sadoff in NYU's Department of Music and Performing Arts
Professions in the Steinhardt School. The conference includes
presentations by scholars and practitioners who will explore the
relationship between music and the entire universe of moving images
(film, television, iPod, computer, video games, and interactive
performances) through paper presentations and plenary sessions. There
are also keynote addresses by world-renown scholars:
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/scoring/conference/
Audio
Clips from
National Public Radio (npr.org) about Film Music
| 2009: 00 programs | 2008: 10 programs | 2007: 12 programs | 2006: 15 programs | 2005: 23 programs |
| 2004: 31 programs | 2003: 17 programs | 2002: 14 programs | 2001: 11 programs | 2000: 22 programs |
| 1999: 9 programs | 1998: 8 programs | 1997: 7 programs | 1996: 4 programs |
NPR |
|
| Date: 2008 | |
|
The Fly Stirs New Buzz NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: September 5, 2008 | |
| A man who accidentally recombines his DNA with an insect
during an experiment? Exactly what you'd expect from science fiction.
It's not what you'd expect from opera. But composer Howard Shore and director David Cronenberg, who worked on the 1986 film version of The Fly, have created an opera from the amazing story. With a libretto by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang and with Placido Domingo at the podium, The Fly makes its American debut at the Los Angeles Opera on Sept. 7. (5:32) |
|
|
Inside the Art of Scoring Hollywood Films NPR News & Notes |
|
| Date: August 8, 2008 | |
| What would the movie Jaws be without that deep
bass refrain? Memorable films are often propelled by an inspired musical
score. That's, in part, why ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) runs a summer boot camp for hopeful composers.The annual film scoring workshop allows a dozen young composers — chosen from among hundreds of applicants — to make movie magic on a soundstage, while directing a live orchestra. For more, Michael Bearden shares his story with NPR's Tony Cox. Bearden is an alumnus of the ASCAP film composing workshop, who has scored major movies and served as musical director for stars like Whitney Houston and Madonna. (8:46) |
|
|
Dave Douglas Re-Imagines Silent Film, Jazz WBGO-FM (Newark, NJ) |
|
| Date: June 4, 2008 | |
| Before movies featured synchronized sound, California's
Keystone Studios made comedic film shorts. Originally, theatergoers
would watch these movies to the sound of the house Wurlitzer organ. Fast forward to now. You're watching the same silent film, but this time, the live accompaniment comes from a jazz ensemble with a turntablist. Chances are, that band is Keystone, and the leader is trumpeter and composer Dave Douglas. "When I started this band, the idea was to take these silent black-and-white films from the teens and re-imagine the score," Douglas says. "I thought that the images could be served better by something a little more 21st-century, if you will." (9:43) |
|
The Evolution of Video Game Music |
|
| Date: April 12, 2008 | |
| In May 2004, a composer named Nobuo Uematsu joined the Los
Angeles Philharmonic for a single performance of his most famous work.
The show sold out in three days. In fact, there was almost a riot at the
box office when people couldn't get tickets. What was the music? Uematsu's soundtrack for the popular video game Final Fantasy. Concert halls around the country took note, and in 2005, Video Games Live was launched. The event features some of the world's finest orchestras performing some of the world's most popular video game music. For the first time in years, professional musicians are receiving the kind of audience energy they've craved. (12:12) |
|
|
Turning Peter and the
Wolf into an Oscar Winner 80th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2008 NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: February 25, 2008 | |
| Melissa Block talks with Oscar winner Hugh Welchman. He
produced Peter and the Wolf, which won Best Animated Short.
The film retells Sergei Prokofiev's story in stop-motion animation,
with only the orchestral music for narration. It also updates the famous
story of Peter, placing him in a poor, industrial wasteland. |
|
|
Movie Music 2008: Oscar-Nominated Scores 80th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2008: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
| Date: February 24, 2008 | |
| The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will
present its Oscars for the 80th time. But in the category for Best
Original Score, there's controversy this year that has nothing to do
with the just-concluded writer's strike. Film-music specialist Andy Trudeau has been breaking down the nominations for Weekend Edition Sunday for the last 12 years. He joins Liane Hansen to talk about the newest wrinkle in the proceedings. Then, Andy analyzes excerpts from each of this year's five Oscar-nominated scores. Listeners can also download a complete musical selection from each film (13:41). |
|
|
Jonny Greenwood: Where Oscars Fear to Tread Read about, and then listen to, "Henry Plainview" by Jonny Greenwood, from the film There Will Be Blood 80th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2008 NPR Song of the Day |
|
| Date: February 22, 2008 | |
| The film There Will Be Blood tells the story of a
ruthless oil prospector named Daniel Plainview, whom director Paul
Thomas Anderson ambiguously praises and condemns throughout. Anderson's
inspired choice for his score's composer was Radiohead guitarist Jonny
Greenwood, whose previous soundtrack for Bodysong explored the
musical extremities of the human condition. Greenwood first studied
classical composition before moving into rock and then seamlessly
commingling and alternating styles. It marked a bit of a shock when the Academy disqualified Greenwood's harrowing soundtrack from Oscar consideration. According to the Academy, roughly 46 minutes of pre-existing work (including selections by Arvo Part and works in the public domain) is contained within the film, though none of it is released on the official CD soundtrack. The audio file is only the musical selection Henry Plainview. (4:14) |
|
|
Sound Man O'Connell: A Fixture in the Oscar Mix (not a film music research topic) 80th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2008 NPR Day to Day |
|
| Date: February 22, 2008 | |
| Movie sound mixer Kevin O'Connell's Academy Award nomination for his work on Transformers is his 20th Oscar nod. He has never won. O'Connell tells Alex Chadwick what's it like for a sound man to never hear his name called on Oscar night. (2:56) | |
Terence Blanchard on Scoring Spike Lee JointsNPR News & Notes |
|
| Date: February 15, 2008 | |
| Terence Blanchard, an internationally renowned jazz trumpeter, has composed music for all of director Spike Lee's films — from Malcolm X to Inside Man. He talks to Farai Chideya about the relationship between music and the movies. (8:28) | |
Watch It for the
Soundtrack: Alexander Nevsky |
|
| Date: February 10, 2008 | |
| Andrea Seabrook talks with our Cultural Concierge, Jesse Kornbluth. This week Kornbluth wants everyone to watch Sergei M. Eisenstein's 1938 Russian film Alexander Nevsky, which he says has one of the greatest soundtracks in film history by Sergei Prokofiev. (5:12) | |
NPR |
|
| Date: 2007 | |
|
Elfman's DVD Picks: Movies' Unforgettable Music NPR Morning Edition |
|
|
| Date: October 22, 2007 |
| Danny Elfman has created the music for dozens of movies
and TV shows, from Tim Burton's Batman to The Simpsons.
But when NPR asked the film composer to name his favorite movies to
watch, he couldn't quite decide. "I realized I can't make a list. It's
an impossible thing," Elfman tells Steve Inskeep. Elfman wanted to include a Stanley Kubrick film, but he couldn't choose between Dr. Strangelove, a light-hearted movie about the nuclear destruction of the world, and The Shining, the Jack Nicholson horror classic ("Heeeeeere's Johnny!"). "How could one decide? The Shining was always one of my favorites. I loved the way [Kubrick] used the music in it, although it wasn't an original score. And Dr. Strangelove is just one of the best movies ever made on every level." So it's no surprise that Elfman is drawn to movies in which music leaves a strong impression. (5:56) |
|
|
Famous Movie Western Marks 55-Year Anniversary:
High Noon NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
| Date: July 22, 2007 | |
| On July 24, 1952, the movie High Noon premiered
in New York City. On Tuesday, 55 years will have passed since the
western opened. Musically, its score and title song set the tone for
years. The song High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me) was a hit across genres. Movie music maven Andy Trudeau talks to Liane Hansen about the song and score. (12:53) |
|
|
Oscar-Nominated Scores:
Notes On a Scandal 79th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2007: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
| Date: February 25, 2007 | |
| Five composers will compete for film music's biggest
prize at Sunday night's 79th annual Academy Awards. NPR's movie-music
expert Andy Trudeau has been listening carefully to all of the nominees
for Best Original Score. He takes Liane Hansen through the last of this
year's list of five: Notes on a Scandal, with music composed by
Philip Glass. Known for his minimalist style in Oscar-nominated
soundtracks for Kundun and The Hours, Glass shifted
gears for this project, Trudeau says.
A film about an art teacher who has an affair with a student and the sinister secret that is shared between friends, Notes on a Scandal allows this score to reach moments of crescendo. Glass varies the music by contrasting fast notes played by low strings with longer notes for higher strings and then complements each with a shifting bass line. The result is a soundtrack brimming with melodic writing and a moody oboe theme. (12:37) |
|
|
What's Behind Oscar-Worthy Sound Editing? (not a film music research topic) NPR Day to Day |
|
| Date: February 21, 2007 | |
| The best sound editing award at the Oscars may not be the sexiest category, but every filmmaker would say good sound is an essential part of a movie. Sound editor Lon Bender, who nabbed an Academy Award a decade ago for Braveheart is nominated this year for his work on Blood Diamond. He talks with Alex Chadwick. (7:58) | |
|
How Hollywood Makes Noise (not a film music research topic) NPR Morning Edition |
|
| Date: February 20, 2007 | |
| Without sound, a movie is just celluloid and sprockets.
But often there are too many distracting noises to capture the perfect
effect. Sound is usually added in post-production. One of the places
where filmmakers go to add sound is Todd-AO Studios in Santa Monica,
Calif. The facility has a Foley stage, where "human effects" such as
footsteps, body punching, eggs frying and dogs running are recreated.
For snapping bones? Twist spaghetti. It makes great cartilage. Celery or bok choy are good for breaking bones. Use a wet chamois cloth to make the gushy sound for blood. Jeffrey Wilhoit and James Moriana have been working on Todd-AO's Foley stage together for 20 years. It's a crowded, dusty, workroom filled with car doors, old chains — the kind of junk you might find at a garage sale. They're following in the footsteps of movie pioneer Jack Foley, who perfected sound effects in the first talking pictures. A major part of his work was re-creating an actor's footsteps. That's still the case today. (7:18) |
|
|
Oscar-Nominated Scores:
Labyrinth and German 79th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2007: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
| Date: February 18, 2007 | |
| One of the Oscar nominees for best score comes from a
long line of well-known composers. Another is a relative newcomer to
American audiences. NPR's movie-film expert Andy Trudeau takes Liane
Hansen through two of this year's five nominees for Best Score: Thomas
Newman for The Good German and Javier Navarette for Pan's
Labyrinth. Newman is no stranger to the Oscar lineup. The son of Alfred Newman, one of Hollywood's most celebrated film composers, his previous works include American Beauty and Road to Perdition. Both soundtracks were recognized for their popular currents and quirky orchestrations. But Steven Soderbergh's The Good German is a period film and Newman has created a 1940s soundtrack — filled with grand gestures of golden age — to go along with it. It's a darkly-colored score featuring a sweet, solo violin rising over the orchestra and distinctively plotted marches. Pan's Labyrinth is a dark fantasy with music by Javier Navarette. This story of innocence and evil, set in 1930s Spain at the end of that nation's civil war, comes through in a moody, textured soundtrack. Navarette responded to the innocence and drama of the story, centered on a little girl's fantastic daydreams, by making a lullaby at the heart of the score. The theme emerges throughout the film and gets richer and more impassioned in expression as the story progresses. Navarette has been composing in Spain for 20 years, and until now, most of his work has been for release in Europe. Pan's Labyrinth is steeped in Spanish culture, yet the musical references are very subtle. (14:23) |
|
|
Oscar-Nominated Scores:
Babel and The Queen 79th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2007: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
| Date: February 11, 2007 | |
| This year's crop of Oscar-nominated musical scores offers
a glimpse into a diverse array of styles and genres. NPR's movie-film
expert Andy Trudeau takes Liane Hansen through two of the nominees:
Gustavo Santaolalla for Babel and Alexandre Desplat for The
Queen. Santaolalla won best score last year for his work on Brokeback Mountain. But the music in Babel, which draws from a variety of cultures, has a much different feel. Babel is a soundtrack that redefines what is meant by the genre, says Trudeau. With no theme or any of the other benchmarks that are used to judge a score, it often feels more like an improvisation. The result is a "personal soundtrack" that arose from an intense collaboration between Santaolalla and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. French composer Alexandre Desplat's lean, orchestral music for The Queen conveys the somber, resolute Elizabeth II and the British royal family's response to the death of Princess Diana. Restraint becomes a major emotional element of the music. Yet as Trudeau points out, there's more to the soundtrack than mere pomp and circumstance. (13:59) |
|
Hitchcock's Music Scores Big on SuspenseNPR Weekend Edition Saturday |
|
| Date: February 10, 2007 | |
| Hailed as the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock knew
that music can convey emotion in ways images cannot. The soundtracks to
many of his films take on a role of their own, becoming deeply
compelling characters. American Studies professor Jack Sullivan examines
the celebrated director's relationship to sound in his new book,
Hitchcock's Music. Hitchcock's fruitful and sometimes volatile collaboration with such composers as Bernard Herrmann (Psycho, Vertigo, North by Northwest) and Miklos Rozsa (Spellbound) created some of the most gripping scores of all time. Sullivan tells Scott Simon about some favorite musical moments, notes Hitchcock's fondness for waltzes and discourses on how his use of music has influenced generations of filmmakers. (11:37) |
|
|
Morricone Recognized for Impact on Movie Music (also includes a sidebar: The Top 10 Scores of Ennio Morricone by ) NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
| Date: February 4, 2007 | |
| Forty years ago, an Italian composer rode into America
with the soundtrack for a western titled A Fistful of Dollars.
His name was Ennio Morricone. His music had a way of sticking in the
ear. It was a bit classical, a bit pop and a lot of it was just plain
unusual. Today, some 400 film scores later, Morricone remains a busy man. He's earned five Oscar nominations over his long career, without a single victory. But he's guaranteed one this year. For only the second time in its history, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is giving a lifetime achievement Oscar to a film music composer. Film-music buff Andy Trudeau speaks with Rebecca Roberts about Morricone's work. (8:38) |
|
This Time, Morricone Is an Oscar Lock
|
|
| Date: February 3, 2007 | |
| Forty years ago, an Italian composer named Ennio Morricone
rode into America with the soundtrack for a Western titled A Fistful
of Dollars. Since then, Morricone has composed the music for
hundreds of films. Morricone's music has staying power, and the composer
remains busy. He's earned five Oscar nominations over his long career —
but never a victory. This year, Morricone is guaranteed an Oscar: For only the second time in its history, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is giving a lifetime-achievement Oscar to a film-music composer. (7:39) |
|
Appreciating the Music of Ennio MorriconeNPR Fresh Air |
|
| Date: February 2, 2007 | |
| A Fistful of Music, a box-set of composer Ennio Morricone's music, was recently released by Rhino records. This interview originally aired on Sep. 28, 1995. (6:04) | |
History of Westerns with Christopher Frayling: Leone & MorriconeNPR Fresh Air |
|
| Date: February 2, 2007 | |
| Ennio Morricone, who composed music for the Sergio Leone films, will be awarded an honorary Oscar at this year's Academy Awards. Cultural historian Christopher Frayling is the author of Once Upon A Time in Italy: The Westerns of Sergio Leone. The book chronicles the history of the spaghetti western. This interview originally aired on Aug. 1, 2005. (13:24) | |
The James Bond Title Songs Never Say DieNPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
| Date: November 12, 2006 | |
| Theaters around the country await the latest addition to
the James Bond collection: a new version of Casino Royale. It's being promoted as all new -- a new Bond (Daniel Craig), a new angle, new stunts, new "Bond girls." Yet in one way this new James Bond film will also prepetuate a much older Hollywood tradition: The theme song. (10:02) |
|
|
Love, Lust, and Drinking Stir Carmina (Click
on "Hear Alsop discuss Orff on Weekend Edition Saturday") |
|
| Date: November 11, 2006 | |
| Conductor Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore
Symphony: "If I could only take one piece of music on a long trip, I
might pick Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Its 25 tracks offer
something for everyone — and a piece of music for every mood imaginable. Carmina Burana has enjoyed popularity and longevity, in large part due to its remarkable crossover ability: Excerpts have been widely used in movie trailers and television commercials throughout the world. Portions of the work are heard in films ranging from Excalibur to Natural Born Killers to Jackass. (11:06) |
|
| The
Impact of Barber's Adagio for Strings NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: November 4, 2006 | |
| In November 1938, conductor Arturo
Toscanini led the NBC Symphony Orchestra in the premiere performance of
Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings.
The concert was broadcast from New York to a radio audience of millions
across America. Celebrated for its fragile simplicity and emotion, the Adagio might have seemed an odd match for Toscanini, known for his power and drama as a conductor. But according to Mortimer Frank, author of Arturo Toscanini: The NBC Years, despite the director's force and intensity, he was capable of "wonderful delicacy and tenderness and gentleness." The year 1938 was a time of tumult. America was still recovering from the Depression and Hitler's Germany was pushing the world towards war. Toscanini himself had only recently settled in America after fleeing fascist Italy. The "Adagio for Strings" was written by American composer Samuel Barber when he was in his 20s. With a tense melodic line and taut harmonies, the composition is considered by many to be the most popular of all 20th-century orchestral works. "You never are in any doubt about what this piece is about, says music historian Barbara Heyman. "There's a kind of sadness and poetry about it. It has a melodic gesture that reaches an arch, like a big sigh... and then exhales and fades off into nothingness." (8:59) |
|
|
British Composer Malcolm Arnold Dies at 84 NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: September 24, 2006 | |
| British composer Sir Malcolm Arnold, died Saturday after a short illness. He was 84. His interpretation of Kenneth Alford's "Colonel Bogey" from the movie Bridge on the River Kwai, won Arnold the 1958 Oscar for film score. He was known for integrating a film's action into his compositions. (2:19) | |
|
NPR Day to Day |
|
| Date: August 22, 2006 | |
| August 22, 2006 · Ann Mason Stockton, a harp player who spent seven decades creating background music for some of Hollywood's biggest productions, died recently of heart failure in her Los Angeles-area home. The musician played on soundtracks for more than 800 films. (1:37) | |
| Making
the Music for Silent Movies NPR Weekend Edition Saturday |
|
| Date: July 15, 2006 | |
| Rosa Rio played live organ for silent films, then for NBC Radio, and then for TV soap operas. She still plays live organ when the Tampa Theatre in Florida holds a silent movie night. Rio tells Scott Simon about the high notes of a long career. (12:07) | |
| Tan
Dun's Cultural Evolution NPR Morning Edition |
|
| Date: June 15, 2006 | |
| Composer Tan Dun grew up in Mao's China. As a
boy, he saw his parents sent away for so-called "re-education." He
remembers being a wild child, living alone, running up mountains
barefoot -- and being "intoxicated only by music." He was 20 when he
first heard Bach, whose music Tan Dun says was a "spiritual medicine"
on the heels of the Cultural Revolution. "You are standing on the ruins. Everything's been destroyed. Family's been destroyed, culture [has] been destroyed. And nobody [was] allowed to touch anything Western or ancient. And suddenly you heard Bach. It's like a medicine curing everything you were suffering." Tan Dun says his own Water Passion is an answer to Bach's St. Matthew Passion -- "the water representing the tears, the resurrection, the circling, incarnation." Drawing from China's shamans, Tan Dun often turns to what he calls organic instruments: a pair of stones, bamboo, a leaf. Or in the case of Water Passion, cups of water dipped into a basin. Organic sounds also turn up in his film score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and a concerto he wrote for Yo-Yo Ma. (5:57) |
|
| Composer
Gyorgy Ligeti, a Kubrick Favorite, Has Died NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: June 12, 2006 | |
| The composer, Gyorgy Ligeti, has died in Vienna
after a long, undisclosed illness. He was 83. Ligeti reached a wider
audience than most contemporary composers, largely due to filmmaker
Stanley Kubrick, who used several Ligeti works in 2001: A Space Odyssey (Ligeti's
1966 "Lux Aeterna") and Eyes Wide
Shut ("Musica Ricercata II"). Ligeti, a Jew, was arrested by the Nazis and sentenced to forced labor. His father and brother died in concentration camps. He left Hungary after the 1956 revolution and settled in Vienna. In his long career, Ligeti composed opera, orchestral and electronic works. 3:44) |
|
| A
Heavenly Voice Keeps The Da Vinci
Code Humming NPR Morning Edition |
|
| Date: May 22, 2006 | |
| The soundtrack to the film The Da Vinci Code is filled with celestial voices, high and eerie wails that appear on many film tracks. So what do celestial voices sound like when they talk? Renee Montagne finds out in an interview with Hila Plitmann, the classically trained performer who sings the celestial solos in The Da Vinci Code. (7:19) | |
| Hans
Zimmer, Scoring Big with The Da
Vinci Code NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
| Date: May 14, 2006 | |
| Hans Zimmer's score for The Da Vinci Code sets a tone that
is both suspenseful and brimming with emotion. Zimmer is a cinema
powerhouse. His past work includes Gladiator,
The Thin Red Line, Batman Begins and The Lion King. The latter won him
an Academy Award. He last collaborated with Da Vinci Code director Ron
Howard on the movie Backdraft. Writing the score for what might be the most-awaited film of the year required a delicate balance. The result is reflective, but rises to the occasion for action-packed sequences. Zimmer talks with Liane Hansen about the composition process, writing electronic versus orchestral scores and the future of film music. (11:09) |
|
| Oscar-Nominated
Scores: Pride and Prejudice
(Part 3 of 3) 78th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2006: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition Sunday (with Andy Trudeau) |
|
| Date: March 5, 2006 | |
| Anyone who listens to a lot of film music knows there are many sub-genres . . . types of scores with their own character and rules. Because filmmakers so often turn to Jane Austen for subject matter, there's even a sort of Jane Austen category of score, featuring scores of classical elegance, dark undercurrents and rustic backgrounds. Dario Marianelli's score for Pride and Prejudice is solidly in that tradition. (12:44) | |
| Oscar
Song Category Sparse This Year 78th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2006: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition Saturday |
|
| Date: March 4, 2006 | |
| This year marks only the second time in Oscar history that just three songs were nominated. Murray Horwitz, director of the American Film Institute's Silver Theater, talks about this year's best song nominees. (10:40) | |
| We'll Always Have Paris: The Music
of Casablanca NPR Performance Today |
|
| Date: March 3, 2006 | |
| Often, the music in the movies just smolders in
the background, moving the action along, expressing emotions and
supporting the visuals. It carries you into another world. When we pull
the music out of the movie Casablanca,
you might not even recognize it, but maybe it will evoke a picture in
your mind's eye. Composers John Williams and Howard Shore speak about
music's role in film. (7:27) Also includes- Some movie music is so memorable you can recognize it just from a few notes. In about 30 seconds, here is music from ten different movies. See how many you can get. (Also available by clicking on the "Test Your Movie Music Knowledge" blue icon.) |
|
| Oscar-Nominated
Scores: Munich, Brokeback (Part 2 of 3) 78th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2006: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition Sunday (with Andy Trudeau) |
|
| Date: February 26, 2006 | |
| This year's Oscar nominees for best musical score bypassed the action blockbusters, and there's nary a comedy in sight. The emphasis seems to be on the somber, the intense and the restrained. (15:13) | |
| Oscar-Nominated
Scores: Geisha, Gardener (Part 1 of 3) 78th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2006: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition Sunday (with Andy Trudeau) |
|
| Date: February 19, 2006 | |
| On March 5, the National Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences will hand out Oscars in a wide variety of
categories, including Best Original Score. The music of the movies is one of Andy Trudeau's specialties, and for a decade he's offered his preview of the nominees. This year, as he tells Liane Hansen, "independent is in, small is in . . . and blockbusters need not apply." Just four composers are in the running: John Williams (for Munich and for Memoirs of a Geisha); Alberto Iglesias (The Constant Gardener); Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain); and Dario Marianelli (Pride and Prejudice). Last year's winner, if you've forgotten, was Jan A.P. Kaczmarek for Finding Neverland. (14:06) |
|
Making
a Classic: King Kong |
|
| Date: December 9, 2005 | |
| The 1933 classic King Kong was directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, two documentarians who had also worked together on the groundbreaking films Grass and Chang. The score for King Kong was written by Max Steiner. Behlmer wrote the liner notes for the CD. The new film version of King Kong by director Peter Jackson opens in theaters December 14. (REBROADCAST from 12/13/99) (14:00) | |
| The
Sound of Brokeback Mountain NPR Day to Day |
|
| Date: December 8, 2005 | |
| Producer Derek Rath speaks with composer Gustavo
Santoalalla, the man behind the music for the upcoming film Brokeback Mountain. The film follows the lives of two cowboys who share a physical and emotional relationship that haunts their lives. In an unusual reversal of how a film is commonly scored, Santoalalla says the music was created first and used as an inspiration for the film's shooting and for the actors. (5:17) |
|
| A
Director's Musical Ear: Cameron Crowe "World Cafe" from WXPN | |
| Date: November 11, 2005 | |
| Filmmaker Cameron Crowe discusses the deep
musical connection in
his movies. Evidence of the care that goes into the director's
soundtracks can be seen in Elizabethtown, Crowe's latest
release. Since his first full feature, 1989's Say Anything, Crowe's movies have been marked by the close attention to choosing their soundtracks. (20:55) |
|
| Quincy
Jones on Scoring Get Rich News & Notes with Ed Gordon | |
| Date: November 9, 2005 | |
| Ed Gordon talks with Quincy Jones, who scored the music for new film Get Rich or Die Tryin, starring rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson. (13:11) | |
| Behind
the Scenes with Film Editor Walter Murch NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: November 8, 2005 | |
| In the world of filmmaking, actors and directors
dominate the spotlight. The people who actually assemble the film frame
by frame and beat by beat toil in relative obscurity. Walter Murch is
one film editor whose profile is much higher than most. Murch has won
three Oscars. He has been nominated in sound and or editing categories
eight times. His films include Apocalypse
Now, all three Godfather
films, The English Patient, The
Unbearable Lightness of Being, Ghost and The Talented Mr. Ripley. His latest film, Jarhead, is based on former Marine Anthony Swofford's best-selling book about the Persian Gulf War. Murch discussed that film, and his job as editor, in a New York postproduction facility where he had finished up work on Jarhead. (8:15) |
|
|
Creating a Soundtrack to Evil NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: October 31, 2005 | |
| How do we know when we hear evil in music? Is it the crashing dissonance, the screeching soprano? Commentator Claire Blaustein studies the musical elements in several scores that have long inspired a sense of horror. (5:23) | |
| Kronos
Quartet Plays Bollywood NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
| Date: October 30, 2005 | |
| Indian singer Asha Bhosle and David Harrington
talk about a collaboration between Bhosle and the Kronos Quartet. The Indian film soundtrack superstar and Harrington's adventurous string ensemble work together on the new recording You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood. (10:58) |
|
| The
Evolution of Movie Soundtracks NPR Morning Edition |
|
| Date: October 27, 2005 | |
| Music journalist Ashley Kahn talks to filmmaker Cameron Crowe and others about the changing nature of movie soundtracks. Original music is out, while compilations of popular hits are in. (7:18) | |
| Howard
Shore Scores A History of Violence NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
| Date: October 9, 2005 | |
| Composer Howard Shore follows up his Oscar-winning soundtrack to Lord of the Rings with the score to another good-versus-evil battle in the newly released film A History of Violence. (11:15) | |
| Kronos
Quartet's Stolen Heart with
Asha Bhosle "World Cafe" from WXPN |
|
| Date: October 5, 2005 | |
| The Kronos Quartet has just completed an album of
Bollywood film music, You've Stolen
My Heart, featuring the vocals of Asha Bhosle. A superstar of
Indian film, Bhosle is among the biggest-selling recording artists of
all time. The release channels the music of R.D. Burman, the late composer who was also Bhosle's husband. Burman, a prolific and popular figure in India and around the world, created music for some 300 films. While You've Stolen My Heart features a range of Burman's writing -- including the unique Dum Maro Dum (Take Another Toke) " -- it revolves around romantic love songs, such as "Mehbooba Mehbooba (Beloved, O Beloved)" and the title song, "Chura Liya Hai Tum Ne (You've Stolen My Heart)." (25:23) |
|
| Unfaithfully Yours NPR Fresh Air |
|
| Date: August 2, 2005 | |
| Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz tells why he likes the soundtrack for the 1948 Preston Sturges film Unfaithfully Yours, now out on DVD. (6:09) | |
| Star Wars Comes Full Circle: John
Williams and the Music of Star Wars NPR Weekend Edition - Sunday |
|
| Date: May 22, 2005 | |
| John Williams was already a well-established
composer when he wrote the score for the first Star Wars film. Stephen
Spielberg, who had just worked with him on Jaws, recommended Williams
to George Lucas. What emerged was a lush, timeless sound that defied
the baser inclinations of the disco era (although a disco version of
the theme did become a Billboard No. 1 hit in 1977) and recalled
earlier cinema. Through six films, Williams "has remained remarkably consistent," film music scholar Royal Brown says, while conceding: "By the time we get to 'Revenge of the Sith' it's not as fresh as it was. Not because Williams is doing anything wrong, but because he's pretty much locked into a particular requirement for this particular kind of movie." (8:53) |
|
| Analysis:
Listeners' Comments, including letters about the Middle East
Debate and movie music NPR Weekend Edition - Sunday |
|
| Date: March 13, 2005 | |
| Sheilah Kast responds to Weekend Edition Sunday
listener mail. Among the topics: a heated debate over discussing the
Middle East at Columbia University, and film soundtracks as "music." A number of NPR listeners wrote in to disagree with the letter from the member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra who felt that film music was not really music because it is in service to the film and not intended to stand alone. "Agrrrh," write Jane and John Oakleaf(ph), `is the theme from "Star Wars" any less of an American classic than Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man"? We take great enjoyment in listening to the soundtracks from "The Mission" or "Amistad" simply as good music. And had we never seen the film, the soundtrack from "Schindler's List" stands by itself. We could go on, but the fact remains to us great music is great music regardless of the label attached to it.' (2:56) |
|
| Letters:
including Music from the Movies NPR Weekend Edition - Sunday |
|
| Date: March 6, 2005 | |
| Guest host Sheilah Kast reads some Weekend Edition Sunday listener mail. A member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra writes that he feels that film music is not really music. (2:56) Scroll up to March 13, 2005 to look into listener's responses to his letter. | |
| Listening
to the Movies, Part 3 of 3: The
Passion
of the Christ 77th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2005: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition - Sunday |
|
| Date: February 27, 2005 | |
| Composer John Debney built a reputation writing the scores for light films, comedies and the occasional action flick. But shortly after finishing the music for Bruce Almighty and Elf, Debney took a complete departure from comedy to write the score for one of the year's most controversial dramas: The Passion of the Christ. The music earned him his first Oscar nomination. (12:39) | |
| Movie
Songs for Oscar Night 77th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2005: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition - Saturday |
|
| Date: February 26, 2005 | |
| Last year, Annie Lennox walked away with an Academy Award for the best song written for a movie -- in this case, "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. But only the more rabid of Oscar fans (and Rings devotees) are likely to remember that win . . . proof that some winning movie songs are more memorable than others. (9:24) | |
| Lata
Mangeshkar, Queen of Bollywood Music NPR's Day to Day program |
|
| Date: February 20, 2005 | |
| NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with music critic and historian Ken Hunt about Indian film singer Lata Mangeshkar. Known as the "Queen of Bollywood Music," Mangeshkar is an international pop icon, and some of her most famous songs are featured on a new CD. (6:05) | |
| Bollywood
Dance Follows Movies, Music to U.S. NPR Morning Edition |
|
| Date: February 25, 2005 | |
|
Americans
are encountering Bollywood style on fashion runways and in
music videos, and a new Hollywood movie is trying to introduce
Bollywood to Western audiences. |
|
| Andy
Trudeau's Top Ten Film Scores of All-Time NPR.org |
|
| Date: February 20, 2005 | |
| NPR's resident film music buff Andy Trudeau picks his top ten movie scores of all-time, including audio clips of all 10 scores. | |
| Listening
to the Movies, Part 2 of 3: Fantasy and Fright 77th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2005: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition - Sunday |
|
| Date: February 20, 2005 | |
| Among the films nominated for best original score this year are two movies of fantasy and fright: The Village, with music composed by James Newton Howard and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with a score from John Williams. In part two of Weekend Edition Sunday's annual Oscar music series, NPR's movie music buff Andy Trudeau listens to the film scores of these veteran composers. (15:03) | |
| Listening
to the Movies, Part 1 of 3: Oscar-Nominated Music Neverland and Snicket 77th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2005: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition - Sunday |
|
| Date: February 13, 2005 | |
|
From
the sweeping scores of Elmer Bernstein to the chilling strings of
Bernard Herrmann, the music of the movies has long transported
audiences to other worlds. With the Academy Awards only weeks away,
NPR's resident film music buff Andy Trudeau joins Weekend Edition
Sunday
for his 10th year as a guide to the film score Oscar nominees. |
|
| The Barrons:
Forgotten Pioneers of Electronic Music NPR Morning Edition |
|
| Date: February 7, 2005 | |
| The 1956 sci-fi thriller Forbidden Planet was the first major motion picture to feature an all-electronic film score -- a soundtrack that predated synthesizers and samplers. It was like nothing the audience had seen -- or heard. The composers were two little-known and little-appreciated pioneers in the field of electronic music, Louis and Bebe Barron. (8:55) | |
| Les Choristes (The Chorus), a Musical Film Treat
From France NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: January 14, 2005 | |
| The French film Les Choristes, or The Chorus is that country's Oscar entry for Best Foreign Film. NPR's Bob Mondello says it's a conventionally good movie, but the music is the best part. (3:42) | |
| New
DVDs Capture Classic Movie Themes NPR Fresh Air |
|
| Date: November 25, 2004 | |
| Some of classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz's favorite movie themes just happen to belong to films just released on DVD. He reviews four of them: Gone with the Wind, Freaks, I Vitelloni, and The Golden Coach. (7:54) | |
| 'The
Film Crew': A Soundtrack for Life NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: November 21, 2004 | |
| The Film Crew members Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy and Michael J. Nelson prove that daily life could be just like the movies -- if you had your own personal soundtrack. Their group includes former members of the TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000. (3:36) | |
| |
Dimitri Tiomkin finds a home in Hollywood (and
London) . . . (click on above link, then scroll down to "Thursday, November 11" and click on "PLAY TODAY'S PROGRAM) Minnesota Public Radio's Composer's Datebook |
|
|
Date: November 11, 2004 |
|
Film music composer Dmitri Tiomkin (1894-1979) died on this day in 1979. This radio program explains how he found a home in Hollywood (and London) . . . (2:09) |
|
| Bollywood
for Beginners: The Indian film industry, centered in Bombay, rivals the American film industry. It's often referred to as "Bollywood" and soundtracks from Indian film contain interesting musical styles and sounds. NPR Fresh Air |
|
| Date: November 9, 2004 | |
|
Music critic Milo Miles reviews new collections of Bollywood film music: Bollywood for Beginners, The Best of Bollywood, 15 Classic Hits from the Indian Cinema, and The Very Best of Bollywood Songs II. (6:01) |
|
| The
Dean of Scary Music: Charlie
Clouser's Scary Soundtrack for Saw (also includes: From the Saw Soundtrack - 3 full-length cuts from this horror film) NPR Day to Day |
|
| Date: October 29, 2004 | |
|
Day to Day producer Rob Sachs profiles musician Charlie Clouser, who scored the soundtrack for the horror film Saw. Clouser has a history of writing provocative music as a former member of the band Nine Inch Nails. (5:48) |
|
| The Battle of Algiers, with a
Score by Ennio Morricone, Released on DVD NPR Fresh Air |
|
| Date: October 29, 2004 | |
|
Critic at large John Powers reviews The Battle of Algiers about the Algerian struggle for independence from the French in the '50s and '60s. The film was made nearly 40 years ago, and has a score by Ennio Morricone. It's just come out on DVD. (4:47) |
|
| Huckabees Composer Juggles
Songwriting and Performance NPR Morning Edition |
|
| Date: October 13, 2004 | |
|
Jon Brion helps shape the careers of music industry pioneers. He composes music for some of Hollywood's most creative directors, and performs in a Los Angeles club every Friday night in front a sellout crowd. Hear NPR's Elizabeth Blair. (6:51) |
|
| Moving
Background Music to the Forefront? NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: October 9, 2004 | |
|
We
hear it playing while a cop chases a hood on a vintage TV show. Or as
mood music for a commercial. It has supplied the soundtrack for many a
B-movie. In the future we'll hear even more of it on video games, or
cell-phone ring tones, or musical dolls. |
|
| James Bond Theme Composer John Barry NPR Fresh Air |
|
| Date: August 25, 2004 | |
|
He's best known for his 11 James Bond scores, including Goldfinger, and Thunderball. Barry has won five Oscars, for the song and score of Born Free, and for scores for Lion in Winter, Out of Africa, and Dances with Wolves. (Rebroadcast from March 23, 1999.) (21:19) |
|
| Original
King Kong Score Released
on CD NPR Fresh Air |
|
| Date: August 23, 2004 | |
|
The original movie soundtrack for the 1933 classic film, scored by Max Steiner, has been reissued on CD. Film Historian Rudy Behlmer, who wrote the liner notes for the new CD, talks about the making of King Kong. (Rebroadcast From Dec. 13, 1999.) (19:39) |
|
| |
Remembrances: Elmer Bernstein: Man with a
Golden Ear - Film Composer's Versatility on Display in 200 Movie Scores (also contains 3 Related NPR Stories and 4 sound clips from Bernstein scores) NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
|
Date: August 22, 2004 |
|
Last week Elmer Bernstein, who had composed music for a wide array of movies and television programs in a career that lasted over six decades, died at the age of 82. His movie themes are instantly recognizable: The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Man With The Golden Arm. Weekend Edition's film music commentator Andy Trudeau offers a remembrance and tells NPR's Liane Hansen that Bernstein was one of several composers who gave jazz a prominent role in film music. (10:38) |
|
| |
Remembrances: A Look Back at Composer Elmer
Bernstein NPR Fresh Air |
|
|
Date: August 20, 2004 |
|
Elmer Bernstein died Wednesday at the age of 82. He was nominated for 14 Academy Awards, but won only one -- for his music for the film Thoroughly Modern Millie. His best known film score was for The Magnificent Seven (which was later used for a Marlboro cigarette commercial). His other film scores include The Man With the Golden Arm, To Kill a Mockingbird, Great Escape, Sweet Smell of Success, and The Ten Commandments. (Originally broadcast on Jan. 10, 1991.) (18:50) |
|
| |
Remembrances: Oscar-Winning Composer Elmer
Bernstein, 82, Dies NPR Morning Edition |
|
|
Date: August 19, 2004 |
|
Prolific Hollywood composer Elmer Bernstein, who
wrote the scores for such films as The Ten Commandments, The
Magnificent Seven and To Kill a Mockingbird, died Wednesday
at age 82. Nominated for an Oscar 14 times, Bernstein won once for
Thoroughly Modern Millie. Pat Dowell has an appreciation.
(3:57) |
|
| Tom
Dowd: Fluent in The Language of
Music- Documentary Honors a Behind-the-Scenes Recording Industry Star NPR Weekend Edition |
|
| Date: August 15, 2004 | |
|
Tom Dowd had the mind of a rocket scientist, but the ears of a musician. When he died in 2002 at age 77, he left a legacy of recordings that trace the recent history of American popular music and the evolution of modern technology. If you listen to the discography of the Atlantic Records label -- from John Coltrane through Eric Clapton -- you are hearing Dowd at work, too. Now, a documentary film -- Tom Dowd & The Language of Music -- has opened in select theaters around the country, giving even casual music lovers a chance to appreciate the work of an anonymous master. Later this month, a DVD with bonus features will be released. The film's director and producer, Mark Moorman, spoke recently with NPR's Liane Hansen. (11:30) Related NPR Story - Reviews: Documentary Explores Life of Musician Tom Dowd Morning Edition, August 13, 2004 · Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews Tom Dowd & the Language of Music, a new documentary about a musician that he says did not receive recognition during his lifetime. (3:45) |
|
| Film
Composer Jerry Goldsmith: An Appreciation Weekend Edition Sunday |
|
| Date: July 25, 2004 | |
|
Weekend Edition film music commentator Andy Trudeau speaks with host Liane Hansen about the life's work of enigmatic composer Jerry Goldsmith, who died this past Wednesday at the age of 75. Creator of hundreds of film scores and winner of an Academy Award, Goldsmith never achieved the fame of some of his peers. Andy plays excerpts from a number of his films, including Planet of the Apes, A Patch of Blue, Hoosiers, Chinatown, Stagecoach, Patton, and "Under Fire. (14:13) |
|
|
|
Remembering
Movie Composer Jerry Goldsmith NPR Fresh Air |
|
|
Date: July 22, 2004 |
|
He died July 21 at the age of 75. Since the 1950s he had composed scores for film and TV. He won an Academy Award in 1976 for his music for The Omen. His film scores include: Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Sand Pebbles, Chinatown, and A Patch of Blue. His TV credits include The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Dr. Kildare, The Waltons, and Barnaby Jones. The CD collection of his music is The Film Music of Jerry Goldsmith (Rebroadcast from Jan. 7, 2002.) (8:21) |
|
| Film
Composer Goldsmith Dies at 75 NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: July 22, 2004 | |
|
Film composer Jerry Goldsmith died Wednesday night at his Beverly Hills home. He was 75. Among his many compositions, Goldsmith wrote memorable scores for Patton, Chinatown, The Omen, and L.A. Confidential. NPR's Jeffrey Freymann-Weyr has a remembrance. (3:52) |
|
| Benny
Golson Gets a Bump from The Terminal: At 75, Saxophonist Has a New CD -- and a Movie Role NPR: The Tavis Smiley Show |
|
| Date: July 7, 2004 | |
|
In the 1950s, Benny Golson emerged as one of the
best around on the tenor saxophone. His powerful approach helped define
hard-bop jazz when he played with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. |
|
| |
The Music of Around the World in 80 DaysNPR Fresh Air |
|
|
Date: June 8, 2004 |
|
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews Victor Young's music composed for the 1956 film Around the World in 80 Days which is now on DVD (Warner). (7:02) |
|
Film Music Review: The Triplets of BellevilleNPR Fresh Air |
|
|
|
Date: June 1, 2004 |
|
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews music from the film The Triplets of Belleville, now on DVD. (4:48) |
|
| |
Monica Mancini on Henry ManciniNPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: April 17, 2004 |
|
Host Scott Simon talks with Monica Mancini, the daughter of film score composer Henry Mancini and singer in her own right, about her father's music, his legacy . . . and his new US postage stamp. (8:15) |
|
| |
Composer Henry ManciniNPR Fresh Air |
|
|
Date: April 2, 2004 |
|
TV and movie score composer Mancini created the title theme to the The Pink Panther movies. A new special DVD 40th anniversary collection of Pink Panther films is available April 6. There's also a tribute CD, "Pink Panther's Penthouse Party." His other film scores included Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Glenn Miller Story, and The Days of Wine and Roses. He also wrote the theme for the TV show Peter Gunn. (from 1987) (14:22) |
|
| |
The Alloy Orchestra: Silent Movie ScoresNPR Fresh Air |
|
|
Date: March 16, 2004 |
|
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews some silent musical scores by the Alloy Orchestra. They write and perform new music for silent films. Schwartz looks at their scores for the Buster Keaton films, The General and Steamboat Bill, Jr. (on DVD, Image Entertainment). (5:36) |
|
| |
Listening to the Academy Awards - Part Two: Andy Trudeau Reviews the Oscar-Nominated Film Scores 76th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2004: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores (Also listen to samples from two three soundtracks and related NPR stories.) NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: February 29, 2004 |
|
Music is often a critical, final factor in making a film a success. For nearly a decade, Weekend Edition Sunday listeners have turned an ear to the subtleties of Oscar-nominated movie scores with the help of Andy Trudeau, NPR's resident film music buff. In part two of this series, Trudeau dissects the film scores of Finding Nemo and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. (17:45) |
|
| |
76th Annual Academy Awards - Music Nominees: Listen to NPR Coverage (choose from 16 broadcasted NPR related programs) 76th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2004: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores Various NPR programs |
|
|
Date: February 29, 2004 |
|
Listen to NPR coverage of the songs and film scores nominated for an Oscar at the 76th Annual Academy Awards ceremony. (16 broadcasts: various timings) |
|
| |
Film Composer Howard Shore: Soundtrack Maven Up for Another Oscar for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King NPR.org (scroll down to related story on March 18, 2002) |
|
|
Date: February 27, 2004 |
|
The much anticipated Academy Award ceremony is on Sunday. One movie in particular is expected to have a field day -- Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It's up for Best Picture and Best Director, along with nine other nominations, including Best Original Score. NPR's Fred Child spoke with composer Howard Shore about the music he wrote for the film. When Shore talks about it the setting of this movie, it almost seems as if he's talking about a real culture, a real place, that just happened to exist a long time ago. (14:45) |
|
| |
Listening to the 76th Annual Academy Awards - Part
One: Andy Trudeau Reviews the Oscar-Nominated Film Scores 76th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2004: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores (Also listen to samples from these three soundtracks and related NPR stories.) NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: February 22, 2004 |
|
Music is often a critical, final factor in making a film a success. For nearly a decade, Weekend Edition Sunday listeners have turned an ear to the subtleties of Oscar-nominated movie scores with the help of Weekend Edition film music expert Andy Trudeau, NPR's resident film music buff. In the first part of our annual conversation on Oscar-nominated original scores, NPR's Liane Hansen talks with Andy about three of the nominees. They are Gabriel Yared's Cold Mountain, Danny Elfman's Big Fish, and James Horner's House of Sand and Fog. (17:45) |
|
| |
The Oscar-Nominated Music of The
Triplets of Belleville: Benoit Charest's Soundtrack Gives Life to Quirky Animated Film (Also listen to four songs from the soundtrack and view video clips and the trailer) NPR All Things Considered |
|
|
Date: February 21, 2004 |
|
With all the attention heaped on the animated blockbuster Finding Nemo, you may have missed The Triplets of Belleville. The quirky Franco-Canadian-Belgian feature is drawing raves from critics and is up for two Oscars, one for best animation and one for best original song. (7:39) |
|
| |
Lata Mangeshkar, Queen of Bollywood Music NPR Day to Day |
|
|
Date: February 20, 2004 |
|
NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with music critic and historian Ken Hunt about Indian film singer Lata Mangeshkar. Known as the "Queen of Bollywood Music," Mangeshkar is an international pop icon, and some of her most famous songs are featured on a new CD. (6:05) |
|
| Cold Mountain
Director Anthony Minghella: Buzz Surrounds Filmmaker's Latest During Awards Season NPR Day to Day |
|
|
|
Date: January 13, 2004 |
|
Anthony Minghella is the Academy Award-winning
director and screenwriter for several films, including The English
Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley. His most recent film, Cold
Mountain, has been nominated for eight Golden Globe awards and
there's considerable Oscar buzz as the Academy Awards ceremony nears. |
|
|
Intersections: Inspiration and Creativity
- A Look at Famous Artists and Their Debts to Their Colleagues NPR Morning Edition |
|
| Date: January 5, 2004 | |
| As NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports in the first story in
the series, many famous artists admit to drawing creative inspiration
from the work of others. Take, for example, Stephen Sondheim, the
prolific Broadway composer and lyricist. A few years ago, he told
Library of Congress music specialist Mark Horowitz one such inspiring
moment came while watching the 1945 movie Hangover Square at
age 15. He saw the movie twice to memorize the score, composed by the
legendary Bernard Herrmann. "When Sondheim wrote Sweeney Todd,
he -- at least to some degree -- was trying to imagine, 'What would
Bernard Herrmann do?'" Horowitz says. "And he talks about how there are
certain Bernard Herrmann chords that he uses that are inspired aspects
of the score." Edie Pistolesi, an art professor at California State University, notes that some of the best painters -- including Vincent Van Gogh -- literally copied the art that inspired them in order to learn technique. And the copying isn't limited to the visual arts. The Beatles learned to play rock 'n' roll by listening to American records. In fact, the opening guitar riff off a somewhat obscure 1961 R&B song called "Watch Your Step," by Bobby Parker, is echoed in the Beatles' song "I Feel Fine." Sometimes, this type of borrowing results in legal action. But for the most part, it reflects the recognition among artists of the need for a common language of expression. (6:32) |
|
| |
African-American Film ComposersNPR The Tavis Smiley Show |
|
|
Date: November 28, 2003 |
|
A small number of African American composers have showcased their musical talent in film and television scores -- producer Roy Hurst takes a look at three composers: Quincy Jones, Terrence Blanchard, and hip-hop artist RZA (AKA Robert Diggs). (12:37) |
|
| |
The Harder They
Come: Jimmy Cliff Film and Soundtrack Sparked the '70s Reggae Explosion (Also listen to four songs from the soundtrack and view video clips) NPR Morning Edition |
|
|
Date: October 22, 2003 |
|
The Harder They Come, the 1973 Jamaican movie starring Jimmy Cliff, was a cult hit when it was released 30 years ago. But along with Bob Marley, the film and its soundtrack helped introduce reggae music to America and the rest of the world. Ashley Kahn reports on the film's continuing influence. (7:20) |
|
| |
Singer
Elliott Smith Dead in Apparent Suicide: |
|
|
Date: October 22, 2003 |
|
His song "Miss Misery," used in the soundtrack to
the film Good Will Hunting, was nominated for an Oscar. NPR's
Neda Ulaby reports on the musician's life, his large cult following and
his untimely death. (4:10) |
|
| |
Barbra
Streisand on Singing, Music and the Movies: Her 60th Album is a Collection of Songs from the Big Screen NPR Morning Edition |
|
|
Date: October 13, 2003 |
|
Barbra Streisand dropped singing lessons at an early age and never learned to read music. But that didn't stop her from being one of the best-selling female singers in history. In an interview with NPR's Susan Stamberg, the Oscar-Tony-Emmy-Grammy award-winning singer and actress discusses her love of music and the release of her 60th album, The Movie Album, a collection of songs from the big screen. (Two audio segments - 8:57 and Web Extra - 11:44) |
|
| |
The RZA, Soundtrack WizardNPR All Things Considered |
|
|
Date: October 6, 2003 |
|
Hip-hop producer the RZA continues his soundtrack work with Quentin Tarentino's martial-arts homage Kill Bill: Volume One. The Wu-Tang Clan, the RZA's rap group, drew inspiration from the kung-fu movies of the 1970s. Filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, who has also used the RZA, calls his music "dreamlike." NPR's Neda Ulaby reports. (8:16) |
|
| |
Red Violin to Debut in BaltimoreNPR Morning Edition |
|
|
Date: September 18, 2003 |
|
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra plans to perform American composer John Corigliano's The Red Violin -- a concerto for violin and orchestra -- Thursday. The debut will feature one of the leading violinists in classical music, Joshua Bell. The concerto uses themes from Corigliano's Academy Award-winning score for the film of the same name. NPR's Lisa Simeone has a profile. (7:18) |
|
| |
From My Bloody Valentine to Lost in Translation:Guitarist Kevin Shields Resurfaces with Songs for Coppola FilmNPR Day to Day |
|
|
Date: September 15, 2003 |
|
Irish guitarist and songwriter Kevin Shields and his group My
Bloody Valentine made an indelible mark on alternative rock music in
the early 1990s. The band inspired countless other rock bands with a
dense, ethereal post-punk sound. |
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Music
Review: The Best of Bollywood
from Various
Artists NPR All Things Considered |
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Date: June 25, 2003 |
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Seventy-two years ago, the very first Indian "talkie" premiered, featuring seven songs. Ever since, music and movies have been woven tightly together in Bollywood, India's prolific film industry. The CD The Best of Bollywood collects some of the biggest film-soundtrack hits from the past 30 years. Chris Nickson has a review. (4:21) |
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The
Man Behind the Music of the Movies NPR All Things Considered |
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Date: May 27, 2003 |
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NPR's Michele Norris profiles Hollywood music supervisor Chris Douridas. Douridas has picked music for American Beauty, Shrek, Sex and the City, and Down with Love, and is responsible for the "shagadelic" sound of the first Austin Powers movie. (8:16) |
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Critic
Milo Miles reviews the documentary and
soundtrack Amandla! NPR Fresh Air (scroll down to related story on February 20, 2003) |
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Date: April 28, 2003 |
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Critic Milo Miles reviews the new documentary and soundtrack Amandla! about protest music in black communities of South Africa during the Apartheid years. (5:57) |
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A Mighty Wind Spoofs Early-'60s Folk SingersNPR All Things Considered |
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Date: April 11, 2003 |
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The new film A Mighty Wind -- from the comic talent behind Spinal Tap -- spoofs the folk music era of the early 1960s. The original songs were filmed as live performances. Eugene Levy, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest are among the stars. They talk with NPR's Melissa Block. Related NPR story: Harry Shearer Interviewed on NPR Fresh Air April 22, 2003 (25:34) |
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NPR :
75th Annual Academy Awards, Oscar-Nominated
Film Scores, A Special Report 75th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2003 Listening to the Academy Awards: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores - NPR Academy Special Report: Three Parts- Part 1: March 9, 2003 -- The Hours and Road to Perdition (13:06) Part 2: March 16, 2003 -- Catch Me If You Can and Far From Heaven (13:25) Part 3: March 23, 2003 -- Frida and Andy Trudeau's Oscar pick (14:24) Plus- Listen to cuts from the nominated soundtracks |
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Date: March 23, 2003 |
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NPR's coverage of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 2002 Oscar awards -- film music critic Andy Trudeau talks with the composers of Oscar-nominated film scores, and dissects how music can make a good film great. |
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NPR:
Performance Today -- FEATURE 75th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2003: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Performance Today |
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Date: March 20, 2003 |
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2002 Academy Awards -- Oscar-nominated film scores: Film critic Royal Brown rounds up the five nominees for Best Original Film Score: Royal's
Oscar Round-Up -- Part 1 -- Frida, Road To Perdition,
and Catch Me If You Can
(7:41) |
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Music
Critic Lloyd Schwartz NPR Fresh Air |
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Date: March 19, 2003 |
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Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz considers the original Hollywood movie score from the Silent era to the present, including the music of German composer Richard Wagner, Austrian composer Johann Strauss, Aaron Copland, and Elmer Bernstein, among others. (6:11) |
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Masakela on AmandlaNPR All Things Considered (scroll up to related story on April 28, 2003) |
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Date: February 20, 2003 |
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The film Amandla, which opened in New York this week, traces the battle against white rule in South Africa in a unique way; song by song. NPR's Michele Norris talks with South African jazz musician Hugh Masakela, who was exhiled from his homeland during apartheid, and about the role music played in his nation's struggle. (8:20) |
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Soundtracks:
Music and Film: Slatkin, Williams Highlight a National Symphony Festival/Series NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: January 26, 2003 |
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This past week, composer John Williams joined National Symphony Orchestra conductor Leonard Slatkin at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to open a multi-concert festival/series "Soundtracks: Music and Film." NPR's Liane Hansen visited with the two musicians. Involves brief mentions of Star Wars, Schindler’s List, Close Encounters, and Jaws, and includes film music functions and history. Also includes Williams and Spielberg's partnership. (17:45) |
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Movie
Musicals
Enjoy a Revival NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: January 4, 2003 |
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The popularity of Chicago could herald the return of the movie musical. The once-popular form never entirely disappeared, but fell victim to a more cynical period in film. Moulin Rouge helped the musical re-emerge. Hear from NPR's Scott Simon and critic Elvis Mitchell. (8:37) |
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The Graduate NPR Morning Edition |
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Date: December 9, 2002 |
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NPR's Don Lee looks behind the scenes of the 1967 film The Graduate, which contains one of the first compilation musical soundtracks. As part of NPR's "Present at the Creation" series on the origins of cultural icons, he tells the story of how some unlikely ingredients were mixed together to make a movie that changed American cinema. Listen to Don Lee's report, watch video clips
from The Graduate, and hear four Simon & Garfunkel song clips from The Graduate Original Soundtrack
(Columbia). Includes extensive reading material about the
film. (8:51) |
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Book:
Movies That Changed Us New Book Lists 20 Films That Influenced Our Lives (the list can be read by clicking on the above link) NPR Morning Edition |
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Date: December 4, 2002 |
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From Stagecoach to The Graduate,
movies have helped
to shape our world. Nick Clooney, former host of cable's American Movie
Classics, joins NPR's Bob Edwards to talk about his new book, The
Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen. |
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Naqoyqatsi NPR Weekend Edition - Sunday |
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Date: October 13, 2002 |
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Naqoyqatsi, which opens this week, is the long-awaited final film in a trilogy that began in 1983. Director Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass talk to reporter Pat Dowell about putting together images and music that comment on human fate in a world of technology. (8:14) |
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Ennio
Morricone's soundtrack to Cinema Paradiso (a 3 minute-33 second slide show of photos of the composer, stills from some films, and his quotations about composing, while the main theme from Cinema Paradiso is heard) NPR: All Songs Considered: Episode 25 |
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Date: September 4, 2002 |
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Ennio Morricone was first recognized nearly 40 years ago for the Spaghetti Western soundtracks he wrote for Sergio Leone. Today he's considered one of the most important and prolific composers of the 20th century. His soundtrack for the film, Cinema Paradiso is one of his most popular. (3:33) |
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Ridin'
with Junior McGee NPR All Things Considered |
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Date: September 2, 2002 |
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Today Charlie Barnett is a composer who scores films for a living. But back in the summer of '74, he was just one of a legion of hippie hitchhikers making his way across country. In this end-of-summer tale, Barnett tells us -- in words and original music -- about a memorable character he met on that trip, and how meeting him changed the way Barnett looks at life. (22:18) |
|
| The Importance of Movie
Trailers: Making and Judging Movie Previews WHYY Philadelphia: Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane |
|
Date: August 16, 2002 (52:00) |
| The
Theremin NPR All Things Considered |
|
| Date: July 25, 2002 | |
| Invented in 1919 by a Russian physicist, the theremin looks like no other musical instrument. It's played without being touched. And its haunting sound has been heard in science fiction movies and rock bands. Pamelia Kurstin, a renowed theremin player, is giving a "graphics performance" where the sound will be turned into interpretive images. NPR's Nancy Solomon reports. (4:30) | |
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Herbie
Hancock NPR's Jazz Profiles |
||
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Date: June 12, 2002 |
||
As Hancock discovered new directions in electric
fusion with his own ensembles like Mwandishi and Headhunters, he also
began
writing scores for films and television like Bill Cosby's animated
television
special, Fat Albert and movies like Blow Up and Death
Wish.
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NPR : 74th
Annual Academy Awards, Oscar-Nominated
Film Scores, A Special Report 74th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2002: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Special Report: Three Parts- Part 1: March 10, 2002 -- A Beautiful Mind and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. (17:05) Part 2: March 17, 2002 -- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. (17:11) Part 3: March 24, 2002 -- Monsters, Inc. (9:35) Plus- Listen to cuts from the nominated soundtracks and Performance Today Expanded Coverage |
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Date: March 24, 2002 |
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NPR's coverage of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 2001 Oscar awards -- film music critic Andy Trudeau talks with the composers of Oscar-nominated film scores, and dissects how music can make a good film great. Bottom of page includes Performance Today Expanded Coverage: James Horner, A
Beautiful Mind: Howard Shore, The
Lord of the Rings: |
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Film
composer Howard Shore NPR Fresh Air (scroll up to related story on February 27, 2004) |
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Date: March 18, 2002 |
| Shore has over sixty film scores to his credit including the recent The Lord of the Rings. Other scores include The Fly, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, The Silence of the Lambs, Ed Wood, Seven, Scanners, and Philadelphia. Shore was also one of the original creators of Saturday Night Live, was its first music director from 1975-1980, and composed its original theme. (30:46) | |
| |
Oscar
Scores 74th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2002: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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|
Date: March 10, 2002 |
|
Guest host Lynn Neary speaks with our movie-music guide Andy Trudeau about this year's Oscar-nominated scores. This edition: James Horner's A Beautiful Mind (Decca Records 440 016 191-2) and John Williams A.I. Artificial Intelligence. (17:05) |
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John Williams NPR Morning Edition |
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|
Date: March 1, 2002 |
| Host Bob Edwards talks with one of Hollywood's most prolific stars: John Williams. The film composer has written the themes for close to 80 movies; has won five Oscars and is being considered for two Oscars this year. He is also the composer and conductor of concert works. He talks with Edwards about his film career and his latest CD (released mid-February), Yo Yo Ma Plays the Music of John Williams. (7:19) | |
| Music
Critic Lloyd Schwartz Discusses the Gosford
Park Soundtrack NPR Fresh Air |
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|
Date: February 28, 2002 |
|
Music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the CD of the soundtrack from the film Gosford Park, directed by Robert Altman. The film features original music and songs from the 1920s and 1930s. (8:02) |
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| Film
Composer Jerry Goldsmith NPR Fresh Air |
|
| Date: January 7, 2002 | |
| Composer Jerry Goldsmith has been writing film and TV music since the 1950s. He won an Academy Award in 1976 for his music for The Omen. His film scores include: Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Sand Pebbles, Chinatown, and A Patch of Blue. His TV credits include: The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Dr. Kildare, The Waltons, and Barnaby Jones. There is a new CD collection of his music, The Film Music of Jerry Goldsmith (Telarc). (8:21) | |
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Musician,
Producer, Arranger, Composer Quincy Jones NPR Fresh Air |
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|
Date: November 5, 2001 |
|
He celebrated his 70th birthday on March 14, 2003. He wrote the theme songs for the TV shows Sanford & Son and Ironside, and music for the films In Cold Blood, For the Love of Ivy, and The Pawnbroker. (38:19) |
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| The
1954 classic film On the Waterfront NPR Fresh Air |
|
| Date: November 2, 2001 | |
| The 1954 classic film On the Waterfront starring Marlon Brando with a score by Leonard Bernstein is now out on DVD. It won eight Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Story & Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction-Set Decoration, and Editing. We hear from Elia Kazan who directed the film and collaborated on the screenplay. Kazan was a member of the Group Theater and co-founded the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg. (Rebroadcast from May 5, 1988). (6:00) | |
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Thomas
Newman NPR All Things Considered |
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|
Date: August 12, 2001 |
|
Before composer Thomas Newman wrote the spooky music for HBO's Six Feet Under, he provided the music for dozens of films, including The Shawshank Redemption, The Horse Whisperer, and Erin Brockovich. Host Lisa Simeone talks with the composer about what comes first when writing for film and where he goes for inspiration. (12:32) |
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Practice,
Practice, Practice (but Watch Out for the Exploding Drummer): An interview with the members of the band Spinal Tap. NPR Weekend Edition (scroll down to related story on September 15, 2000) |
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|
Date: June 2, 2001 |
|
Scott talks with the members of the band Spinal Tap about their early work in the 1960s, their trouble retaining a drummer, and their current Back from the Dead tour. The boys from Squatney play Carnegie Hall Monday night. (10:26) |
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Music in Film: Two A Knight's Tale and Moulin Rouge NPR All Things Considered |
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|
Date: May 20, 2001 |
|
Two new films set in the distant past use modern music to tell their stories. NPR's film critic, Bob Mondello, reflects on A Knights Tale and Moulin Rouge and their strange music choices. (4:00) |
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Oscar
Music Wrap 73rd Annual Academy Awards, held in 2001: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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|
Date: April 1, 2001 |
|
Breaking his long-running streak, Weekend Edition Sunday's movie music maven Andy Trudeau finally picked the winning score from the crop of Academy Award nominees: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He and Liane Hansen deconstruct the decision and look ahead to soundtrack prospects for the coming year. (2:57) |
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Oscar
Best Score: Part 3 73rd Annual Academy Awards, held in 2001: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: March 25, 2001 |
|
OSCAR BEST SCORE - Liane speaks with NPR's Andy Trudeau for his annual review of the musical nominees for Best Score. In the third and final part of the series, Andy and Liane discuss the most nominated living Oscar contender John Williams. The creator of scores for Jaws and Star Wars is nominated this year for The Patriot. Also, Andy selects his choice for who should win Best Score. (12:38) |
|
| Composer
Elmer Bernstein NPR Morning Edition |
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|
Date: March 23, 2001 |
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|
Pat Dowell reports on Elmer Bernstein who, after composing scores for more than 200 movies, is moving to writing concert music. Bernstein regrets the state of film music today -- which he says lacks emotion, and is included primarily to create an atmosphere, rather than impart a grand musical theme. (8:57) |
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Oscar
Best Score: Part 2 73rd Annual Academy Awards, held in 2001: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: March 18, 2001 |
|
NPR's Andy Trudeau and his annual review of the musical nominees for Best Score. In the second of three parts, he and Liane listen to Rachel Portman's music for Chocolat and Ennio Morricone's score for Malena. (12:41) |
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Seattle Movie Scores NPR All Things Considered |
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|
Date: March 13, 2001 |
|
Seattle has become one of the busiest places outside of Los Angeles for recording film scores. Session recordings made by some of the musicians from the Seattle Symphony Orchestra are cutting into a business once dominated by L.A. session musicians. The main reason is money -- film producers want to save money, and groups like the Seattle musicians help cut costs. Marcie Sillman of member station KUOW reports that musicians, some of whom are members of the Seattle Symphony recorded 100 soundtracks last year. In February 2001, they played 26 soundtrack jobs. (7:30) |
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Oscar
Best
Score: Part 1 73rd Annual Academy Awards, held in 2001: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: March 11, 2001 |
|
It's Oscar time and NPR's Andy Trudeau has his annual sounding of the musical nominees for Best Score. In the first of three parts, he tells Liane about Tan Dun's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Gladiator with music by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard. (12:04) |
|
| O
Brother, Where Art Thou NPR All Things Considered |
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|
Date: December 29, 2000 |
|
James Sullivan reviews the soundtrack to the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou, a film from Joel and Ethan Coen. Sullivan says even if you don't see the movie - check out the soundtrack. It is full of wonderful examples of old time music. (Mercury records). (4:16) |
|
| Terence Blanchard NPR All Things Considered |
|
|
|
Date: December 10, 2000 |
|
At 38 years old, trumpeter Terence Blanchard is following in the footsteps of jazz masters Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones and Miles Davis. He composes music for film. Blanchard talks to host Lisa Simeone about the art of scoring music for some of today's most popular films. (14:30) |
|
| Film
Editor and Sound Designer Walter Murch NPR Fresh Air |
|
| Date: November 3, 2000 | |
| He has re-edited Orson Well's 1958 film Touch of Evil. At the time of the film's initial release the studio remixed the film to Well's displeasure. He fired off a letter with suggested changes. With those notes as their guide, Murch and re-edit producer Rick Schmidlin have reconstructed the film to Well's intentions. Some of the other films he's edited and/or mixed are The Conversation, American Graffiti, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather (II, and III) and The English Patient. He's also written a book about his work, "In the Blink of An Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing." (Original Broadcast of this segment: 1996) (21:12) | |
|
|
Robert
Moog NPR Fresh Air |
|
|
Date: November 3, 2000 |
|
Robert Moog is the inventor of the Moog synthesizer, an electronic keyboard which makes unworldly sounding electronic music. He invented it in 1965. Moog didn't invent, but he does manufacture, the Theremin, the first electronic instrument. It was invented 70 years ago by a Russian, It has been used on many science-fiction films because of it's eerie, wavering tones. Moog wrote the forward for the new book Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage (Universitiy of Illinois Press) by Albert Glinsky. (13:33) |
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|
Cinema Organist NPR All Things Considered |
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|
Date: September 26, 2000 |
|
A note on the life of Lee Erwin, a silent film organist who composed music for Charlie Chaplin, and classic films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Erwin died last week at the age of 92. (4:14) |
|
| Woman on Top Soundtrack Contains
Bossa Nova Songs NPR Weekend Edition |
|
| Date: September 23, 2000 | |
| Melinda talks to Fina Torres, director of the new film, Woman on Top, about the movie's soundtrack, which she also produced. It features several classic Bossa Nova songs from the l950's, and 60's, as well as more recent compositions. (9:26) | |
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|
This
is Spïnal Tap NPR Fresh Air (scroll up to related story on June 2, 2001) |
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|
Date: September 15, 2000 |
|
The mock rock documentary This Is Spïnal Tap is being re-released in theatres and new special editions are being released on DVD and VHS. We feature interviews with co-writer and co-star Christopher Guest. (interviews are rebroadcast) (8:29) |
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Letters
(concerning radio segments about Oscar-nominated film scores) 72nd Annual Academy Awards, held in 2000: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: April 16, 2000 |
|
Liane reads letters from listeners. Today's mailbag is stuffed with comments about Andy Trudeau's three-part series (March 12, 19, and 26) on the music of the Oscars. (3:28) |
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Oscar
Music Part III: Wrap Up 72nd Annual Academy Awards, held in 2000: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: March 26, 2000 |
|
In the final installment of our series on Oscar-nominated music scores, Liane Hansen speaks with NPR's Andy Trudeau about composer John Corigliano's music from The Red Violin (Sony Classical SK 63010) and Andy presents his pick for 1999's Best Original Score. (16:54) |
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Oscar
Music Part II 72nd Annual Academy Awards, held in 2000: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: March 19, 2000 |
|
Our annual series on this year's Academy Award nominees for best original film score continues as NPR's Andy Trudeau joins Liane to listen to excerpts from John Williams' score to Angela's Ashes (Sony Classical SK 890009) and Thomas Newman's music for American Beauty (Dreamworks 0044-50233-2). (17:30) |
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Oscar
Music Part I 72nd Annual Academy Awards, held in 2000: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: March 12, 2000 |
|
We begin our annual series on this year's Academy Award nominees for best original film score. NPR's Andy Trudeau once again joins Liane to discuss this year's field. Today, they listen to excerpts from Gabriel Yared's score to The Talented Mr. Ripley (Sony Classical SK 51337) and Rachel Portman's score to The Cider House Rules (Sony Classical SK 89031). (17:33) |
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|
Michael
Kamen When Kamen died on November 18, 2003, after suffering from multiple sclerosis for several years, he had written music for over seventy-five theatrical features, the most well-known including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, X-Men, 101 Dalmatians, Brazil, Highlander, and License to Kill. NPR Morning Edition |
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|
Date: January 13, 2000 |
|
NPR's Neal Carruth profiles composer Michael Kamen. Kamen, known for his film scores including Die Hard and Mr. Holland's Opus, has also worked with rockers David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Metallica. Kamen's first symphony will be premiered tonight at the Kennedy Center, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra. (6:10) |
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|
The Life and
Films of Alfred Hitchcock,
Including the Film Music of Bernard Herrmann (audio about this topic is located in the second hour of the program, starting at 01:04:25) WHYY Philadelphia: Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane |
|
|
Date: December 23, 1999 |
|
Dan Aulier talks about Hitchcock's Notebooks. Josh Waletzky talks about Bernard Herrmann, the man behind the Hitchcock movie music. And Camille Paglia discusses the classic The Birds. (approximately 52 minutes - second half of program) |
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NPR All Things Considered |
|
|
Date: October 29, 1999 |
|
After 68 years, the movie Dracula at last has a musical score. When the now classic horror film, Dracula terrified audiences in 1931, it did so without a musical soundtrack. Universal Pictures has now released the film on home video with a score written by composer Phillip Glass and performed by the Kronos Quartet. Glass and the Quartet are performing the new Dracula soundtrack in a limited tour. Noah Adams spoke to Glass before earlier this week before a performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. (8:00) Music heard before, during and after this piece was from the soundtrack Dracula by Phillip Glass and the Kronos Quartet, on the Nonesuch label. (7:58) |
|
| Film
Composer Jerry
Goldsmith NPR Morning Edition |
|
| Date: August 6, 1999 | |
| Pat Dowell profiles composer Jerry Goldsmith, who has written music for more than 200 movies and television programs during a career that has spanned five decades. Goldsmith, who turned 70 this year, wrote the scores for two current movies, The Mummy, and The Haunting. Other credits are too numerous to mention, but they include Basic Instinct, Patton, Gremlins, Seven Days in May, and Star Trek: the Next Generation. Tonight in the Hollywood Bowl, he conducts a concert of his own music. (6:32) | |
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|
Danny
Elfman NPR Talk of the Nation |
|
|
Date: April 6, 1999 |
|
In the 1980's Danny Elfman was most recognized as the frontman for the eccentric music group Oingo Boingo, but today he's widely known as one of Hollywood's top film composers. Elfman changes style to fit his subject, and his versatility is reflected in his scores, ranging from The Simpsons to Batman to Good Will Hunting. He has twice been nominated for an Academy Award. Join Ray Suarez for a conversation with composer-songwriter Danny Elfman about his craft for composing movie scores. (first 6 minutes is news, then the remaining 40 minutes is the interview with Elfman) |
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Lalo
Schifrin NPR Weekend Edition |
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|
Date: March 27, 1999 |
|
Scott Simon interviews Argentinian composer Lalo Schifrin. He's composed the soundtrack for movies such as Cool Hand Luke, Dirty Harry, and The Cincinnati Kid, and of course, his famous tune, the theme song from the TV show Mission Impossible. His most recent work is the score for the movie Tango. (11:27) |
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Oscar
Music Part III 71st Annual Academy Awards, held in 1999: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: March 21, 1999 |
|
Liane concludes her conversations with NPR's Andy Trudeau about this year's Academy Award nominees for best dramatic film score. Today, they talk about David Hirschfelder's score to Elizabeth (London 289 460 796-2). In comparing this score to other costume drama scores, Andy plays excerpts from George Delerue's Anne of the Thousand Days (Decca DL 79174), Erich Korngold's Elizabeth and Essex (RCA 0185-2-RG) and John Barry's Mary, Queen of Scots (Decaa DL 79186). The other nominees are recapped: Nicola Piovani's Life is Beautiful (Virgin 7243 8 46428 2 2), Randy Newman's Pleasantville (Varese Sarabande VSD-5988), Hans Zimmer's Thin Red Line (RCA 09026-63382-2), and John Williams' Saving Private Ryan (Dreamworks DRMD-50046). (16:54) |
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Oscar
Music Part II 71st Annual Academy Awards, held in 1999: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: March 14, 1999 |
|
Liane and NPR's Andy Trudeau continue their discussion of this year's Oscar-nominated dramatic film scores. Today they cover two war film scores, Hans Zimmer's Thin Red Line (RCA 09026-63382-2) and John Williams' Saving Private Ryan (DREAMWORKS DRMD-50046). We also hear a little taste of Franz Waxman's score to Objective Burma (RCA RCD1-7017). (16:46) |
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Oscar
Music Part I (audio no longer
available, but an inexpensive
written transcript is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) 71st Annual Academy Awards, held in 1999: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: March 7, 1999 |
|
The first installment of our annual look at the Oscar-nominated film scores. This morning, Liane and NPR's Andy Trudeau discuss Nicola Piovanni's score for Life is Beautiful, and Randy's Newman's score for Pleasantville. The Oscars will be presented on . . . |
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Bernard
Herrmann NPR All Things Considered |
|
|
Date: December 3, 1998 |
|
Commentator John McDonough recalls an interview he had with the late film composer Bernard Herrmann some years ago. He's prompted to this remembrance on the eve of the opening of a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The new movie follows the first very closely, including the use of Herrmann's score. At the time of the original Psycho, critics were not impressed by the music -- no soundtrack album was released. Today, though, Herrmann's work stands out. (4:36) |
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|
|
Letters,
Titanic,
& James
Horner
(concerning a radio segment about
the Oscar-nominated film score to Titanic) NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: March 29, 1998 |
|
Listeners respond/react to last week's film score discussion with NPR's Andy Trudeau, who panned the Titanic soundtrack. We also hear a short interview with James Horner, where he discusses the Oscar Awards. Horner won the Oscar for best dramatic film score for Titanic. (5:01) |
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|
Oscar-Nominated
Music IV 70th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1998: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: March 22, 1998 |
|
The last in our series examining Oscar-nominated dramatic film scores. Today, Liane and NPR's Andy Trudeau listen to cuts from James Horner's score to Titanic (Sony Classical SK 63213). The soundtrack has been selling phenomenally, reaching number one on the Billboard charts two months ago. They also recap the other nominated scores: John Williams' Amistad (DreamWorks DRMD-50035), Danny Elfman's Good Will Hunting (Capitol CDP 7243 8 23338 2 1), Philip Glass' Kundun (Nonesuch 79460-2), and Jerry Goldsmith's L.A. Confidential (Varese Sarabande VSD-5885 and Restless 01877-72946-2). (17:47) |
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|
Oscar-Nominated
Music III (audio no
longer available, but an inexpensive written transcript is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) 70th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1998: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
|
|
Date: March 15, 1998 |
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Continuing our series on this year''s Oscar-nominated dramatic film scores, Liane speaks with NPR's Andy Trudeau about composer Jerry Goldsmith. One of film music's most repsected veterans, Goldsmith has been nominated 16 times, including this year's nomination for his score to L.A. Confidential (Varese Sarabande VSD-5885, and Restless 01877-72946-2). We also hear excerpts from some of his earlier scores, including Planet of the Apes, Patton, and Star Trek. |
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Silent
Movies (audio no longer
available, but an inexpensive written transcript is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) NPR All Things Considered |
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Date: March 8, 1998 |
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Silent movies were never really silent. Jacki talks with composer and conductor Gillian Anderson who is researching and rewriting old film scores. She claims that to see a silent film without its music is to only see half the film. |
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Oscar-Nominated
Music II (audio no
longer available, but an inexpensive written transcript
is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page page after clicking on this link) 70th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1998: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: March 8, 1998 |
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Liane speaks with NPR's Andy Trudeau about two composers nominated for best dramatic film score this year. Philip Glass, the master of minimalism, was nominated for his score to Kundun (Nonesuch 79460-2). Danny Elfman, known primarily for his television work, was nominated for his score to Good Will Hunting (Capitol CDP 7243 8 23338 2 1). |
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Oscar
Nominated-Music I (audio no
longer available, but an inexpensive written transcript
is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) 70th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1998: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: March 1, 1998 |
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Liane is joined by Andy Trudeau for Weekend Edition's annual discussion of the film scores nominated for the Academy Awards. This week they discuss John Williams' score for the movie Amistad. The l998 Academy Awards will be given out later this month. |
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Iconic Film Music Composer Jerry Goldsmith on the radio program
Morning Becomes Eclectic Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW-FM (KCRW-FM, a community service of Santa Monica College, is Southern California's leading National Public Radio affiliate, featuring an eclectic mix of music, news, information and cultural programming. The station boasts one of the nation's largest arrays of locally- produced, nationally-distributed talk program content.) |
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Date: February 17, 1998 |
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Host Chris Douridas interviews Academy Award-winning composer Jerry Goldsmith about his prolific music career and his 1998 Academy Award-nominated film score for L.A. Confidential. (52:00). |
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James
Horner and Titanic (audio
no longer available, but an inexpensive written transcript is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: December 28, 1997 |
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Liane speaks with prolific film composer James Horner about his score for the blockbuster movie Titanic. Working closely with director James Cameron, Horner wanted to create something that would evoke 1912 without sounding too dated, so incorporated synthesizers and a wordless choir into the orchestral music. Horner has composed over 80 scores for films, including Braveheart, Apollo 13, Glory, and Aliens. The score for Titanic was released on CD a full month before the film premiered (Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax SK 63213). |
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Pat
Dowell Pays Tribute to Elmer Bernstein NPR Morning Edition |
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Date: April 4, 1997 |
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Today is Elmer Bernstein's 75th birthday. The composer of some of the world's best-known film music, including, The Magnificent Seven and The Ten Commandments, has two more movies due in theaters this summer. (6:36) |
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Oscar
Music V (audio no longer
available, but an inexpensive
written transcript is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) 69th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1997: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: March 30, 1997 |
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Liane speaks for a final time to NPR's Andy Trudeau about this year's Academy Award-nominated dramatic film scores. At the Oscars last Monday, Gabriel Yared's score to The English Patient (FANTASY FCD-16001-2) won the award. In this installment, Andy presents some 1996 film music he thinks was overlooked by the Oscars, including Randy Edelman's score to Diabolique (edel 0022552MCM), George Fenton's score to Mary Reilly (Sony Classical SK 62259), and two different scores to the film Last Man Standing. The score that wound up in that film was composed by Ry Cooder (Verve 314 533 415-2), but an earlier score that was rejected was composed by one of the legends of contemporary film music, Elmer Bernstein (Varese Sarabande VSD-5755). Finally, we end with music composed by David Arnold for what turned out to be the biggest grossing film of 1996, Independence Day (BMG 09026-68564-2). |
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Oscar
Music: Part IV (audio no longer
available, but an inexpensive
written transcript is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) 69th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1997: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: March 23, 1997 |
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Liane speaks once again with NPR's Andy Trudeau about this year's nominees for best dramatic film score. Today's focus is on John Williams, perhaps best known for his music to Star Wars (Fox 07822-11012-2). This year he is nominated for his score to Sleepers (Philips 454-88-2). Andy finds part of the score evocative of Aaron Copland's Quiet City (DG 419-170-2). They also recap the previously-discussed nominees, including Patrick Doyle's music for Hamlet (Sony SK 62857), Elliot Goldenthal's score for Michael Collins (Atlantic Classics 82960-2), David Hirschfelder's score to Shine (Philips 454-710-2), and Gabriel Yared's score to The English Patient (Fantasy FCD-16001-2). Finally, Andy gives his pick for the best score. |
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Oscar
Music: Part III (audio no longer
available, but an inexpensive written transcript is available for
purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) 69th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1997: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: March 16, 1997 |
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Liane speaks with NPR's Andy Trudeau about 2 different Oscar-nominated film scores: Gabriel Yared's music to The English Patient (Fantasy FCD 16001 2) and David Hirschfelder's score to Shine (Phillips 452-710-2). Also heard is a snippet from . . . |
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Oscar
Music: Part II (audio no longer
available, but an inexpensive
written transcript is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) 69th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1997: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: March 9, 1997 |
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ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL: In the second of our series about Oscar-nominated film scores, Liane speaks with NPR's Andy Trudeau about Elliot Goldenthal, composer of the score for the film Michael Collins. A classically-trained composer, Goldenthal's film . . . |
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Oscar
Music: Part I (audio no longer
available, but an inexpensive
written transcript is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) 69th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1997: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: March 2, 1997 |
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PATRICK DOYLE: We begin a new series looking at and listening to the five Oscar nominees for best dramatic film score. Today, NPR's Andy Trudeau speaks with Liane about Patrick Doyle, nominated this year for his score to Kenneth Brannagh's Hamlet . . . |
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Oscar
Film
Music: Part IV (audio no longer available, but an
inexpensive
written transcript is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) 68th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1996: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: March 24, 1996 |
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Liane Hansen and NPR's Andy Trudeau conclude their series of discussions on Oscar-nominated dramatic film scores. Today, Andy presents a number of 1995's overlooked scores - those that didn't get an Oscar nomination. Excerpts are presented from First Knight (Epic EK 67270), The Scarlet Letter (Epic EK 67431), Goldeneye (Virgin 7243 8 41048 25), How to Make an American Quilt (MCA MCAD-11373), Waterworld (MCA MCAD-11282) and Alexander Nevsky (BMG 09026-61926-2). They also re-cap the five nominees: John Williams for Nixon (Illusion/Hollywood HI-62043-2), Patrick Doyle for Sense and Sensibility (Sony SK-62258), Luis Bacalov for Il Postino (Miramix/Hollywood H-62029-2), and James Horner for both Apollo 13 (MCA MCAD3P-3432) and Braveheart (London 448-295-2). |
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Oscar
Film
Music: Part III (audio no longer available, but an
inexpensive
written transcript is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) 68th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1996: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: March 17, 1996 |
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Liane Hansen speaks with NPR's Andy Trudeau in
the third installment of our Oscar-nominated film music series. James
Horner has two nominations - for Apollo
13 (MCA Records-MCA3P-3432) and Braveheart (London
Records - 448 295-2). |
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Oscar
Film
Music: Part II (audio no longer available, but an
inexpensive
written transcript is available for purchase from NPR by scrolling down the page after clicking on this link) 68th Annual Academy Awards, held in 1996: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition |
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Date: March 10, 1996 |
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Liane Hansen continues her conversation with NPR's Andy Trudeau about this year's Oscar nominees for best dramatic score. Patrick Doyle, Scotsman, was nominated for "Sense and Sensibility" (SONY SK 62258), and Luis Bacalov (BAH-cuh-luv), an Argentinian, was nominated for his score to Il Postino (EEL-pohs-TEE-noh) (Miramax/Hollywood Records MH-62029-2). |
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Last updated 03/01/09 | NPR programs last updated 11/15/07