Episode 34: Studio Fanfares Part 1

Art of the Score

Nicholas Buc

Education, Tv & Film, Music

5 • 624 Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2021

⏱️ 100 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You’re sitting in a darkened movie theatre, and the latest, highly anticipated blockbuster is about to play. The ads are over, the trailers are all done, and the lights dim. What’s this? Why, it’s Art of the Score Episode 34, as we investigate a fascinating and often-overlooked area of film music history – studio fanfares. From 20th Century Fox to MGM’s Leo the Lion roar and many more, over the next two episodes we’ll be revealing the secrets behind the musical moments that open the movies and set the musical agenda, and telling the stories behind the studios and the composers who made them. Show notes: 6:02 – The origins of the fanfare 8:51 – The studio system and the sound of the Big Five 12:15 – MGM: Lions, Stars, and Celebrities, oh my! 15:31 – RKO: Morse code, crime, and Howard Hughes 20:20 – Paramount Pictures on Parade (allegedly) 21:28 – 20th Century Fox – Alfred Newman (1933) 27:22 – Warner Brothers – Max Steiner (1937) 33:05 – The Little Three (that’s Andrew, Nick, and Dan) 33:33 – Universal Studios, Tchaikovsky, and Superman – Jimmy McHugh (1936) 40:30 – United Artists (so united they didn’t have a fanfare) 41:40 – Columbia – Mischa Bakaleinikoff (1934) 43:21 – Beyond the Big Five and the Little Three 44:33 – Selznick International – Alfred Newman (1936) 47:30 – The Art of the Score fanfare – Thaddeus Buc (1935) 49:54 – Into the 1950s: lawsuits, widescreens, and the birth of television 52:07 – VistaVision – Nathan van Cleeve (1952) 56:11 – CinemaScope – 20th Century Fox – Alfred Newman expands his fanfare (1954) 1:01:39 – MGM – Leo the Lion (1957) 1:02:34 – The Art of the Score fanfare – Jerry Buc (1960) 1:04:38 – The emergence of television and the NBC chime 1:07:44 – Desilu – Wilber Hatch (1966) 1:10:52 – The Art of the Score fanfare – Teddy Buc (1970) 1:15:48 – Paramount’s Parade – Lalo Schifrin (1970), Jerry Goldsmith (1976 and 1977) 1:22:24 – Columbia – Suzanne Ciani (1976) 1:24:48 – Walt Disney Productions - When You Wish Upon a Star (1972) 1:32:04 – PBS – Paul Alan Levi (1971) 1:33:18 – Associated Film Distribution (1978) Links mentioned: Yorgason and Lyon’s journal article on Max Steiner’s Warner Bros. fanfare - https://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.20.26.2/mto.20.26.2.yorgason_lyon.html Kirk Hamilton’s Strong Song’s episode on David Bowie – https://strongsongspodcast.com/episode/space-oddity-and-starman-by-david-bowie We love to hear from our listeners – get in touch via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and if you like The Art of the Score, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and comment.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Art of the Score, the podcast that explores, demystifies and celebrates some of the greatest
0:18.8	soundtracks of all time from the world of film,
0:21.3	TV and video games.
0:23.0	I'm Andrew Poxson.
0:24.2	And in each episode, we'll be joined by Daniel Golding and Nicholas Buck,
0:27.6	as we check out a soundtrack we love, break down its main themes,
0:31.3	explore what makes the score tick,
0:33.3	and hopefully impart our love of the world of soundtrans.
0:41.5	Thank you. and hopefully impart our love of the world of sound trends. In episode 34, we take a somewhat unexpected right-hand turn in the film score genre
0:48.1	with a look at the history of movie studio themes. Yes, that's right, the music that plays
0:53.9	before our favourite movie begins.
0:56.0	And would you believe this is part one of two? Leave it to out of the score to turn an episode
1:02.0	about music that lasts 10 seconds and turn it into a two-parter. And what viewing of Star Wars would be complete without the Fox fanfare?
1:10.0	Or how could we watch Beauty and the Beast for the hundredth time without first seeing that
1:15.2	magical castle and the classic When You Wish Upon a Star to accompany it?
1:19.7	It turns out that the studio themes are as baked into our psyche as the film and score themselves
1:24.9	and with composers like Alfred Newman, Max Steiner, through to
1:28.0	Jerry Goldsmith, Lalo Schifrin, James Horner, and of course Johnny Williams, we've got
1:32.7	to shoehorn him in there somehow. It's no wonder these iconic and snappy themes are so dear to
1:38.2	our hearts. And joining me on this triumphant fanfare of an episode is composer, a ranger
1:43.7	orchestrator, conductor
1:44.6	and also the resident composer of the historic Art of the Score fanfare. It's Nicholas Buck. How
	...

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