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 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 |
| 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. 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
Film Music on the Web (UK):
http://www.musicweb.uk.net/film/index.htm
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
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:
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 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. It 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:
http://www.lsoft.com/SCRIPTS/WL.EXE?SL1=FILMUS-L&H=LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU
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)
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
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 13,870
reviews are included.
http://www.filmmuziek.be/search.cgi
Cinemusic features film music and soundtrack news, reviews, features, and links:
http://www.cinemusic.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
Audio
Clips from
National Public Radio (npr.org) about Film Music
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Elfman's DVD Picks: Movies' Unforgettable Music NPR Morning Edition |
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| 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) |
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Famous Movie Western Marks 55-Year Anniversary:
High Noon NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
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| 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) |
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Oscar-Nominated Scores:
Notes On a Scandal 79th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2007: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
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| 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) |
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What's Behind Oscar-Worthy Sound Editing? (not a film music research topic) NPR Day to Day |
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| 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) | |
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How Hollywood Makes Noise (not a film music research topic) NPR Morning Edition |
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| 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) |
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Oscar-Nominated Scores:
Labyrinth and German 79th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2007: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
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| 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) |
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Oscar-Nominated Scores:
Babel and The Queen 79th Annual Academy Awards, held in 2007: Oscar-Nominated Film Scores NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
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| 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) |
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Hitchcock's Music Scores Big on SuspenseNPR Weekend Edition Saturday |
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| 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) |
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Morricone Recognized for Impact on Movie Music (also includes a sidebar: The Top 10 Scores of Ennio Morricone by ) NPR Weekend Edition Sunday |
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| 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) |
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This Time, Morricone Is an Oscar Lock
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| 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) |
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Appreciating the Music of Ennio MorriconeNPR Fresh Air |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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) |
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