December 28, 1895 was a red-letter day in the realm of human artistic endeavor. On that date, a captivated audience watched images projected on a screen by the Lumière brothers from a cinematograph. This initial film experience did not take place in total silence. A pianist improvised to the images flickering on the screen, partly to mask the intrusive noise from the projector, which had no soundproofing, and partly to provide the observers with a means to transcend their daily lives and enter another world.
With the advent of the “talkies,” piano improvisers were no longer needed, as sound was now recorded directly on tape, which became an essential and integral part of the process. Now it became vital for a composer to establish a close working relationship with the director before even thinking about what kind of music he was going to write. Above all, he had to understand the role music would play in a particular scene or episode. Music could by turns underscore the storyline, suggest movement, anticipate an upcoming event, depict a scene (introducing the listener to a particular cultural, social or historical milieu), provide a counterpoint to the storyline (either as a musical synopsis of or as a blatant contradiction to what’s on the screen), express the actors’ emotions, or serve as an emotional or symbolic guideline, much in the manner of Wagner’s leitmotifs.
The world of film music is constantly evolving. Thirty or forty years ago, when “serious” classical musicians talked about film scores, they made no effort to hide their disdain, calling it third-class music. Today, its quality is no longer in question, and one can speak of it as an art form in its own right. Hence, it is hardly surprising that a number of famous composers have considered it a worthy challenge.
As music speaks above all to the unconscious, the best film scores are often those that do not call undue attention to themselves, contributing an additional layer of meaning to the film without overpowering it. Nevertheless, there still remain those major scores that stay in our minds, sometimes for years after details of the film have faded from memory. Is this not how we remember the music of John Williams, winner of five Oscars and composer of scores to E.T., Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jaws and others?
In the next post, classical music that was “borrowed” to become an intrinsic part of a movie.
