The Music of Film Composers

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Joshua Weilerstein

Clarinet, Timpani, Performing, Trombone, Cello, Trumpet, Bassoon, Classicalmusic, Performing Arts, Arts, Violin, Flute, Piano, Conductor, Music, Weilerstein

4.9 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 December 2022

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Film music began as a solution to a problem. Early film projectors were really loud, therefore something was needed to cover up all the noise. In addition, silent movies apparently seemed a bit awkward without any musical accompaniment. Enter, usually, a pianist, who would improvise musical accompaniments to the events on the screen. None other than Dmitri Shostakovich got his first job as a cinema pianist, honing his improvisatory skills, and sometimes receiving cat calls and boos for his fantasy filled musings that tended to stray away from the action on the screen. Music in the silent film era had to help the audience in pointing out important moments to the audience, enhancing the emotional effects of the story, and most importantly, it had to give a certain musical line to every character, giving to them the emotional depth that the audience couldn't get since they weren’t going to hear their voice. To do this, early film composers turned to the idea of the Leitmotif, an idea developed by the opera composer Richard Wagner. This idea would take hold even once "talkies" took over the screen, with composers such as Max Steiner, Charlie Chaplin, and others setting the stage for a century of brilliant music, by composers like Bernard Herrmann, John Williams, Dmitri Shostakovich, Rachel Portman, Hans Zimmer, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Christopher Willis, and dozens and dozens more. Today on the show we'll talk about this development of film music, and also hear some of the greatest and most recognizable film music ever written. We'll also talk about why film music is sometimes looked down upon in the classical music world, and how we might begin to change that perception. Join us!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Sticky Notes, the Classical Music Podcast.
0:10.6	My name is Joshua Weilersdine, I'm a conductor, and I'm the music director of the Phoenix
0:14.1	Orchestra of Boston, and the chief conductor designate of the Alborg Symphony.
0:18.6	This podcast is for anyone who loves classical music, works in the field, or is just getting
0:22.6	ready to dive in to this amazing world of incredible music.
0:26.1	Before we get started, I want to thank my new Patreon sponsors, Don, Edwin, Lewis,
0:31.0	Kath, Emma, and all of my other Patreon sponsors for making season 9 possible.
0:36.0	If you'd like to support the show, please head over to patreon.com slash Sticky Notes Podcast.
0:41.0	And if you are a fan of the show, please just take a moment to give us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts.
0:46.0	Every rating you review, I'll support people find the show, and it is greatly appreciated.
0:51.0	So I'm heading to Boston this week for another concert with Phoenix.
0:55.0	I'm really, really excited for this week's program, which we're going to play in the amazing Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory.
1:01.0	We're doing a program of Caroline Shaw's Interact, an arrangement of Revelle's Mother Goose Suite by Ian Ferrington,
1:07.0	who I do as arrangements all the time. They're really remarkable.
1:10.0	Then Derek Skies, Sunlight Spread, and we're going to finish off with a 13-instrument version of one of my favorite pieces on the planet, Copeland's Appalachian Spring.
1:19.0	It's a very warm, fuzzy program for the wintertime period.
1:23.0	I really hope that everybody will enjoy it in Boston.
1:26.0	And for today, I've got one of my favorite episodes that I've ever done on film music, the history of film music,
1:32.0	its role in the orchestral world today, and just some of my favorite film scores and talking about them a little bit,
1:38.0	and how these amazing composers found a way to portray the incredible images that we see on the screen.
1:45.0	I really hope you enjoy this one. It's a warm and fuzzy episode for this cold and dark time.
1:50.0	I look at the window in the dark in London. Thanks so much, and I really hope you enjoyed this episode.
	...

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