Film Music History Schedule & Assignments

Blake Howe

Lousiana State University

UNIT I: INTRODUCTION TO THE SOUNDTRACK Audio–Vision (1/13–1/15)

For 1/13: Introductions. Basics of film analysis (terms for shot types, image movement, transitions, etc.). For 1/15: Read Michel Chion, Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen, translated by Claudio Gorbman (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994), 3-24. Peruse the glossary of Michel Chion, Film: A Sound Art, translated by Claudia Gorbman (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), 465-99. Find a term that interests you and be ready to describe it to the rest of the class.

Rendering the Sound Track (1/20)

1. Read Michel Chion, “The Real and the Rendered,” in Film: A Sound Art, trans. Claudia Gorbman (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), 237-45 and 488. Be prepared to answer the following questions in class:

• What is rendering? Be able to describe some of Chion’s examples and to provide some of your own.

• Why, according to Chion, is rendering necessary in film? What does Chion mean when he writes, “cinema prefers the symbol...over the sound of reality”?

• Following Chion’s examples, how are the sounds of the city typically rendered in film?

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2. Sign up to watch selected clips from one of the following films: Das Boot (1981), Three Colors: Blue (1993), and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [2:26-5:40] (2001). Transcribe the sound track as if it were a musical composition: use the x-axis for time and the y-axis for the major elements of the sound track (music, sound effects, dialogue). Along the x-axis, chart the dynamic levels of each element.

• For inspiration, watch the brief clip from The Birds (1963) alongside James Wierzbicki’s two “transcriptions” of the sound track, found in his article “Shrieks, Flutters, and Vocal Curtains: Electronic Sound/Electronic Music in Hitchcock’s The Birds,” Music and the Moving Image 1, no. 2 (2008). As described in the article, “Chirping sounds are indicated by dashed horizontal blocks, flutter sounds by tremolo marks, chorus sounds by vertical blocks, barks by standard quarter notes, yelps by accent-headed notes, wooden knocks by note heads without stems, strangle sounds by X-headed notes, and the sound of breaking glass by a jagged-edged oval.” (Obviously, your transcription does not need to be so detailed!)

3. Watch the annotated clips from De-Lovely (2004), and attempt definitions of the following terms, which describe the sound track’s role in bridging visual or narrative transitions: sound match (two styles), sound advance, sound lag, sound link.

Music and Film Narrative (1/22–1/25)

For 1/22: 1. Read Claudia Gorbman, Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1987), 11-30. As you read, look for answers to the following questions:

• How does Gorbman view the image-music relationship in film? What element takes precedence? How does changing one element affect our impression of the other?

• What is the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic sound? What are some problems in conceiving non-diegetic space in film (especially off-screen space)? How does film music navigate this divide?

2. Observe the relationship between diegetic and non-diegetic sound (music, dialogue, effects) in clips from the following films: The Apartment [0:00-0:40 and 0:43-2:10] (1960), Atonement (2007), Big Broadcast [0:00-2:09] (1932), Glory (1989), Shakespeare in Love (1998) The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933), and Wings of Desire (1987). (Jot down your thoughts in a notebook so that you can easily contribute to class discussions.)

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3. Sign up to briefly speak in class on one of these clips, first introducing your own analysis of the diegesis and then answering questions from your fellow students about your interpretation. For 1/25: 1. Read David Neumeyer, “Tools for Analysis and Interpretation,” in Meaning and Interpretation of Music in Cinema (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2015), 50-96. 2. Read Ron Rodman, “‘Beam Me Up, Scottie!’: Leitmotifs, Musical Topos, and Ascription in the Sci-Fi Drama,” in Tuning In: American Narrative Television Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 102-31.

Sound Editors (1/27–1/29)

1. Watch the video “Sound One Studios” at SoundWorks Collection, a website devoted to sound design. You might also take a look at the page devoted to Film Sound Profiles, and watch a profile of a move that you have recently seen. 2. Browse through the chapters of Vincent LoBrutto, Sound-on-Film: Interviews with Creators of Film Sound (Westport, CT, and London: Praeger, 1994). Then, using the link below, sign up to present and write about one of the sound designers/editors profiled and interviewed in the book. 3. Prepare a five-minute presentation on your sound designer. Follow the instructions in the document on Writing Assignments and Presentations, above. 4. Write a short, 500-word paper on your sound designer, using the same organization of your presentation. Follow the instructions in the document on Writing Assignments and Presentations, above.

Main-Title Sequences (2/1)

1. Watch the opening title sequnce for The Simpsons (1990), with music by Danny Elfman. Think about how the sequence serves as an introduction to the series as a whole, and consider the role that music plays in shaping our perceptions of it. Come to class prepared with a list of observations.

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• After watching the sequence, read Martin Kutnowski, “Trope and Irony in The Simpsons’ Overture,” Popular Music and Society 31 (2008): 599-616. Concentrate on interpreting his musical examples, at the end of the essay. Does his analysis illuminate some essential features of the sequence?

2. Sign up to watch at least one of the following opening title sequences from film or television, and read the corresponding interview with the creators of the sequence on the website The Art of the Title. Come to a class with a list of the three interesting facts about the creation of the sequence and/or the role that music plays in shaping its meaning.

• Dexter (2006) • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) • Skyfall (2012)

3. In the second half of class, we will have a general discussion about the composition of main-title sequences, using the examples from some of the following films; you should familiarize yourself with them before class:

• Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) • Vertigo (1958) • Touch of Evil (1958) • Dr. Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) • Manhattan (1979) • Out of Africa (1985) • Do the Right Thing (1989) • The 25th Hour (2002) • No Country for Old Men (2007)

Montage (2/3) 1. Read these two short texts on the editing of montages. What are the main types of montage? What is their narrative function?

• Mark de Valk, The Film Handbook (New York: Routledge, 2013), 125-34.

• For an example of intellectual montage, you may watch the sequence from Eisenstein’s Strike (1925), widely available online. Warning: It contains a graphic display of animal slaughter.

• For an example of rhythmic montage, watch the Odessa Steps sequence from Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (1925). (In what recent films has this scene been imitated?)

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• Karel Reisz and Gavin Millar, The Techniques of Film Editing, rev. ed. (Focal

Press, 2010), 87-96.

• How do these examples of a “compressed time/space montage” differ from the Soviet model?

2. Watch the following montage sequences, paying particular attention to the function of music within them; we will base our class discussion on these examples:

• The Godfather (1972) • Rocky (1976) • The 25th Hour (2002) • Up (2009) • Treme, Season 1, Episode 10 (2010) • Breaking Bad, Season 5, Episode 8 (2012)

3. Come to class with a list of the diverse cinematic functions of the montage. Some questions to consider: What do montages accomplish within a film narrative? What are music’s roles (or, more broadly, the sound track’s role) in a montage sequence? What are the standard montage archetypes (training sequence, fantasy sequence, etc.)? Are montages unique to film?

UNIT II: MUSIC FOR SILENT AND EARLY SOUND FILMS (1894–1930) Silent Film Music (2/5–2/12)

For 2/5:

1. Read “Playing the Pictures: Music and the Silent Film (1895-1925)” in Julie Hubbert, Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2011), 1-33. Then read the following primary sources:

• Incidental Music for Edison Pictures (1909) [pp. 39-41] • Louis Reeves Harrison, “Jackass Music” (1911) [pp. 42-44] • Eugene A. Ahren, What and How to Play for Pictures (1913) [pp. 45-52] • Charles E. Sinn, Music for the Picture (1911) [pp. 53-55]

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2. Watch Edison Studios’ Frankenstein (1910) and The Land Beyond the Sunset (1912). Then complete a cue sheet for these films, using the worksheets provided.

• Edison Studios released a cue sheet for Frankenstein, so some of the cues are provided. Fill in the timings (minutes:seconds) and, using Erno Rapée’s Encyclopedia of Music for Pictures (New York: Arno Press, 1970) and Motion Picture Moods, for Pianists and Organists (New York: G. Schirmer, 1924; rpt. New York: Arno Press, 1974) (both on reserve in the music library), select compositions for the generic tempo markings.

• You must create the cue sheet for The Land Beyond the Sunset from scratch. Begin by identifying the film’s major sequences, then assign them topics, styles, or tempi (“chase,” “waltz,” “agitato”). Use the two Rapée sources to find appropriate music.

• Your cue sheets should reflect the advice on silent film performance practice described in the source readings.

For 2/12: 1. Read Rick Altman, Silent Film Sound (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004), 289-319. 2. Watch the beginning and ending of The Birth of a Nation [0:00-15:00 and 2:40:00-3:07:00] (1915).* Joseph Carl Breil’s score includes adaptation of existing concert music (Beethoven, Weber, Wagner), arrangements of popular songs (“Dixie,” “Old Folks at Home,” “Where Did You Get That Hat?”), and original music (including a network of motives for the main characters). As you listen, try to identify music within each of these three categories. How do Breil’s musical choices “add value” to D. W. Griffith’s visual imagery?

French Silent Film (2/15)

1. Read Martin Miller Marks, Music and the Silent Film: Contexts and Case Studies, 1895-1924 (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 50-61 and 167-85. 2. Listen to Camille Saint-Saëns’s music for L’Assassinat du Duc de Guise (1908), following along with the score.

• How is the score structured? How would you characterize each of the five “tableaux”?

• Which themes recur? Why do you suspect this happens?

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• What cues have been written into the score? (You will have to translate them.) Are there passages in the score, not marked by a cue, for which you nevertheless expect strong image-music synchronization?

2. Watch Entr’acte (1924), following along with Satie’s score. (The clip begins at 2:30.)

• There are ten cues marked in the score (and, again, you will have to translate them). Using the worksheet, mark timings for each of these cues. What should performers do to ensure they stay “on cue”?

• How do you characterize Satie’s music? Are there moments of synchronization between image and music?

Vitaphone! (2/17)

1. Read “All Singing, Dancing, and Talking: Music in the Early Sound Film (1926-1934)” in Julie Hubbert, Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2011), 109-32. Then read the following primary sources:

• “New Musical Marvels in the Movies” (1926) [pp. 133-35] • “Musicians to Fight Sound-Film Devices” (1928) [pp. 136-37] • “Present Day Musical Films and How They Are Possible” (1931) [pp. 156-63]

2. Watch the selected excerpt from Don Juan (1926).

• What are the three sound effects that you hear? How are they used in the film?

• What is the style of musical underscore?

3. Watch The Jazz Singer (1927). (The film is available online from various rental and streaming services.)

• Note especially the interaction between intertitle dialogue, spoken dialogue, nondiegetic underscoring, and diegetic singing. When is each type of sound used?

• How are different styles of music--jazz music, liturgical music--characterized in the film’s plot?

• For an example of just how influential this film was, watch I Love to Singa (Merrie Melodies, 1936). How does this cartoon’s attitude toward different styles of music match with the viewpoint of The Jazz Singer?

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4. Optional: For more information about film sound technology, read Mike Alleyne, “Sounds Reel: Tracking the Cultural History of Film Sound Technology,” in Sound and Music in Film and Visual Media: An Overview, ed. Graeme Harper (New York and London: Continuum, 2009), 15-41.

UNIT III: “CLASSICAL” SCORES, IN RUSSIA AND HOLLYWOOD (1930–50)

Eisenstein and Prokofiev (2/19)

1. Watch selected excerpts frrom Alexander Nevsky (1938): the Pskov Invasion (21:50-43:45) and the Battle on the Ice (55:10-1:30:45). [Although convenient, the copy of this film on YouTube is very poorly recorded. The Criterion Collection has produced a wonderful restoration; however, it is only available on DVD. The State Library of Louisiana has a copy. (Netflix does not.)]

• In your notes, keep a log describing the main musical styles that you hear. How do they characterize the film’s two armies (German and Russian)?

• Do themes return? If so, are they always presented in the same manner, or do they undergo thematic transformation?

2. Read excerpts from Sergei Eisenstein, “Form and Content: Practice,” in The Film Sense, trans. Jay Leyda (London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1943), 123-68 (plus the foldout diagram). This is a difficult text, and much ink has been spilled trying to figure out what Eisenstein meant when he wrote it. Let’s do our best. Focus your attention only on the following passages:

• Eisenstein begins with a counterexample to his main argument by describing

“representational” modes of image-music correspondence in film (p. 125-26). What is this?

• He then shifts gears to the mode of image-music correspondence that he seeks to promote: matching the “fundamental movements” of music and image (also “plasticity,” or shape). He detours into discussions of other forms of art (pp. 129-31--you can skim) before reaching his grand conclusion (the very bottom of p. 131); the follow paragraphs (on p. 132) include examples that explain his point more clearly. What mode of image-music correspondence is Eisenstein attempting to describe? How does that differ from the counterexample (above)?

• Finally, Eisenstein uses a scene from Alexander Nevsky to explain his theory in greater detail. Carefully read what he has to say about Shots III and IV (pp.

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136-39, plus the foldout illustration in the appendix). Critiquing Eisenstein’s methodology is easy; defending him is more difficult. Be prepared to do both.

3. For more on the political history of Alexander Nevsky, see Simon Morrison, The People’s Artist: Prokofiev’s Soviet Years (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 217-33.

The Classical Hollywood Film Score: Erich Korngold (2/22–2/24)

For 2/22: 1. Read Claudia Gorbman, Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1987), 70-91. Pay particular attention to the definitions and terms within each of Gorbman’s seven principles. 2. Sign-up to watch either Captain Blood (1935) or The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938); both are “swashbuckling” adventure films scored by Erich Korngold. [These films are available on Amazon Instant Video and iTunes, among other online streaming venues.] 3. Working as a team, fill out the “Gorbman’s Model of the Classical Hollywood Film Score” worksheet for your chosen film (on Google Docs). For each of Gorbman’s principles, provide an example from your film; include a brief description of the scene and its timing (hr:min:sec). Be prepared to teach your contributions to the rest of the class.

For 2/24: 1. Read “Carpet, Wallpaper, and Earmuffs: The Hollywood Score (1935-1959)” in Julie Hubbert, Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2011), 169-207; then read the following primary sources:

• George Antheil, “Composers in Movieland” (1935) [pp. 209-12] • Erich Wolfgang Korngold, “Some Experiences in Film Music” (1940) [pp. 231-

33]

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The Classical Hollywood Score: Max Steiner (2/29–3/2)

For 2/29: 1. Read Max Steiner, “Scoring the Film” (1937), reprinted in Julie Hubbert, Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2011), 221-30.

• Create a step-by-step outline of the typical musical production process for the classical Hollywood film, as Steiner describes it.

• Distill Steiner’s musical preferences and practical advice into a selective list of “do’s” and “don’ts.”

2. To review the major features of the Classical Hollywood score (as they relate to The Informer), read Kathryn Kalinak, Settling the Score: Music and the Classical Hollywood Film (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992), 113-34. 3. Watch The Informer (1935) [0:00-22:30]. [The film is available on Amazon Instant Video and iTunes, among other online streaming vendors.]

• As you watch, create a list of three important stylistic features that you associate with the film scores of Steiner. Provide timings for important examples of these features. Be prepared to share and explain these to the rest of the class.

• Does Max Steiner follow the advice he gives himself (and the film music industry) in “Scoring the Film”?

For 3/2:

1. Watch Casablanca (1942) [focusing on 0:00-4:56 and 31:15-51:10, or the entire film if you have not seen it]. [The film is available on Amazon Instant Video and iTunes, among other online streaming vendors.]

• How do diegetic music and non-diegetic music interact in Casablanca? What

role does music play in the story of the film?

2. Read Berthold Hoeckner and Howard C. Nusbaum, “Music and Memory in Film and Other Multimedia: The Casablanca Effect,” in The Psychology of Music in Multimedia, edited by Siu-Lan Tan, et al., 235-66 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).

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The Classical Hollywood Score: Franz Waxman (3/4)

1. Read “A Radio Interview with Franz Waxman (1950),” in The Hollywood Film Music Reader, ed. Mervyn Cooke (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 139–46. As you read, pay particular attention to the composer’s discussion of musical topics/styles, leitmotives, and “tone colors” in film scoring. 2. Watch The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). [This film is available on Amazon Instant Video and iTunes, among other online streaming vendors.]

• There are three main motives in the film’s score, associated with the characters of the Monster, the Bride, and Dr. Pretorius. Transcribe these three motives in the worksheet (below), then provide timings and scene descriptions for their major appearances. (Note that the motive for the Bride appears throughout the film, even when she has not yet been brought to life.)

• The worksheet also asks that you identify elements of pastiche in selected scenes. What musical styles does Waxman imitate in these instances?

• Be prepared to discuss the film’s explosive [!] final sequence, especially the rich interaction between dialogue, sound effects, and music.

3. Peruse Mervyn Cooke, A History of Film Music (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 67–103. This is mostly a review of material that we have covered in this unit: the classical Hollywood score; the Hollywood production process; the careers and styles of Steiner, Korngold, and Waxman; and Gorbman’s seven principles.

Interpreting King Kong (3/7)

We will use this meeting to discuss your papers on Max Steiner’s core for King Kong (1933), which are due to the instructor today. Be prepared to share your observations and conclusions with the rest of the class.

UNIT IV: ANIMATED FILMS AND DOCUMENTARIES (1930–50)

Copland and the Advocacy Film (3/9)

1. Read Aaron Copland, “Music in the Films (1941),” in Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History, ed. Julie Hubbert (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and

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London: University of California Press, 2010), 238–44. As you read, look for answers to the following questions:

• What about the film production process in Hollywood does Copland

criticize? • What about film scoring practices in Hollywood does Copland criticize?

(Which composers does he single out for special comment?) • According to Copland, what is the typical sequence of events for the

planning, development, and completion of a film score?

2. Read Henwar Rodakiewicz, “Treatment of Sound in The City,” in The Movies as Medium, ed. Lewis Jacobs (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1970), 277–88. Rodakiewicz was the associate producer of The City, also responsible for much of the film’s scenario. 3. Watch The City (1939). [A newly recorded orchestral performance—beautiful, high quality audio!—is available on DVD through Netflix.] You may wish to pause the film at the transition points to re-read Rodakiewicz’s commentary on each sequence. 4. Fill out the worksheet for “Sound and Image in The City.” Sign up to be a discussion leader for one of the film’s sequences.

Virgil Thomson’s Coded Quotations in The River (3/11)

1. Read Neil Lerner, “Damming Virgil Thomson’s Music for The River,” in Collecting Visible Evidence, ed. James M. Gaines and Michael Renov, 103–15 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999). This is a helpful introduction to Thomson’s score for the film and will aid you in completing the worksheet for this assignment, described below. As you read, look for answers to the following questions:

• What melodies did Thomson incorporate into his score for The River? For

whom are these quotations intended? How do these quotations impact the film’s political agenda?

• How does Thomson use the opposition between diatonicism and chromaticism in the film?

• According to Lerner, what is music’s role in documentary film? (Explain his “river” metaphor.)

2. Watch The River (1937). [A newly recorded orchestral performance—beautiful, high quality audio!—is available on DVD at the State Library of Louisiana.]

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3. Working as a class, fill out the worksheet “Pare Lorentz’s The River (1938): Image, Music, Narration,” available on Google Docs. (You should decide collectively on a “divide and conquer” strategy.) There are four tasks for this assignment: (1) fill in the time markings; (2) identify all hymn and popular song quotations (marked “QUOTATION?” in the worksheet); (3) identify all major motives (marked “MOTIVE?” in the worksheet); and (4) describe any musical features, sound effects, or imagery that you find significant. Use the handout, below, which provides links to online sources for all the hymns and popular songs that Thomson used.

Carl Stalling and the Music of Looney Tunes (3/14)

1. Read Daniel Goldmark, Tunes for ‘Toons: Music and the Hollywood Cartoon (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 2005), 10-43. As you make your way through both reading assignments, look for answers to the following questions:

• How did Stalling get his start as a film musician? • How did Stalling’s experiences accompanying silent film affect his later

compositional style? (What is “film funning”? How did Stalling continue this practice?)

• What were some unusual aspects of the cartoon style and production process at Warner Bros., and what impact did they have on musical scoring?

• How did Stalling use popular songs in his cartoon scores? What are some criticisms of his technique?

• How did Stalling’s style change over the course of his career at Warner Bros.?

2. Watch Bugs Bunny Rides Again (1947) and What’s Opera, Doc? (1957). 3. Sign-up to find one of ten quotations in Bugs Bunny Rides Again. First, study the sheet music and memorize the main melody (note that most Tin Pan Alley songs begin with a verse and conclude with a chorus); then, listen for a quotation of your melody in the Bugs Bunny cartoon. Fill in the blank cue sheet (in the handout) with your work. Come to class prepared to share your identification. If you have chosen a popular song, you will be asked to teach the rest of the class to sing the melody of the chorus.

Disney, Silly Symponies, and Fantasia (3/16–3/18)

1. Read Charles L. Granata, “Disney, Stokowski, and the Genius of Fantasia,” in The Cartoon Music Book, ed. Daniel Goldmark and Yuval Taylor, 73-91 (Chicago: A Cappella, 2002). Come to class knowing something about the following:

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• the major players in the film’s creation (Walt Disney, Leopold Stokowski, the

Philadelphia Orchestra, Deems Taylor) • the purpose of the film and the philosophy governing its design • the film’s major technological innovations (especially “Fantasound”) • the mixed response the film received from critics and audiences

2. Watch Skeleton Dance (1929) and Fantasia (1940). Follow along with the discussion guide. [Fantasia is available from various streaming vendors.] 3. Sign up to be a discussion leader for one of the sequences in Fantasia. (Begin with your discussion with a quick summary of the sequence, and then introduce a provocative question or two.)

UNIT V: STYLISTIC DIVERSITY (1950–90)

Hitchcock and Herrmann (3/28–3/30)

For 3/28: 1. Watch Vertigo (1958). Then, read “Vertigo: The Music of Longing and Loss” in Jack Sullivan, Hitchcock’s Music (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2006), 222-34.

• How are psychological states of the characters in the film suggested

musically? • What is the “vertigo chord”? What psychological effect might it have on the

listener? • Why was the studio interested in incorporating a popular song into the film?

What happened to this idea?

2. Read Bernard Herrmann, “A Lecture on Film Music,” in The Hollywood Film Music Reader, ed. Mervyn Cooke (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 209-22.

For 3/30:

1. Watch Psycho (1960). Then, read two musical analyses of Bernard Herrmann’s score:

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• James Wierzbicki, “Psycho-Analysis: Form and Function in Bernard Herrmann’s Music for Hitchcock’s Masterpiece,” in Terror Tracks: Sound and Horror in Cinema, ed. Philip Hayward, 14-46 (London: Equinox, 2009).

• Ross J. Fenimore, “Voices That Lie Within: The Heard and Unheard in Psycho,” in Music in the Horror Film: Listening to Fear, ed. Neil Lerner, 80-97 (New York and London: Rutledge, 2010).

Epic Film (4/1)

1. Read Miklós Rózsa, “Quo vadis” (1951), in The Hollywood Film Music Reader, ed. Mervyn Cooke (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 165-71. Then listen to the film’s opening-title music, featuring a choral adaptation of Gregorian chant and imitations of Roman buccinas.

• What does Rózsa identify as the essential characteristics of the historical/biblical epic? In his opinion, what style of music is best suited for this genre?

• In what ways is Rózsa’s score “historically informed”? In what ways is it still a product of the twentieth century?

2. Watch the following sequences from Ben-Hur (1959):

• Prelude and Introduction (0:00-16:53) • Desert March, Jesus Miracle, and Rowing (59:05-1:14:00) • Battle at Sea (1:17:30-1:26:00)

As you watch each clip, listen for the following and record your observations in your notes:

• musical signifiers of antiquity (although Rózsa does not quote any actual

Roman or early Christian music, he does attempt to emulate its sound and style)

• multiple appearances of a motive associated with Jesus Christ (how is Jesus portrayed in the film? what is music’s role in shaping his identity?)

• multiple appearances of a motive associated with Ben-Hur (i.e., Charlton Heston)

• interactions between diegetic and non-diegetic music (especially for music associated with Roman rituals and marches)

• mickey-mousing in the galleys and during the battle with the Macedonians

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3. Read Stephen C. Meyer, Epic Sound: Music in Postwar Hollywood Biblical Films (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2015), 1-18 (“Introduction”) and 142-64 (“The Law of Genre and the Music for Ben-Hur”).

Kubrick and the Art of Adaptation (4/4)

1. Read Kate McQuiston, “The Stanley Kubrick Experience: Music, Nuclear Bombs, Disorientation, and You,” in Music, Sound, and Filmmakers: Sonic Style in Cinema, ed. James Wierzbicki, 138-50 (New York: Routledge, 2012).

2. Watch the excerpts from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Shining (1980), and Eyes Wide Shut (1999), all directed by Stanley Kubrick.

• Sign up to obtain scores for one of the following works: Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra [opening], Béla Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste [mvt. 3], or György Ligeti’s Musica ricercata [mvt. 2]. (These may be found on IMSLP, in your Norton score anthologies, and on reserve in the music library, respectively.) Identify Kubrick’s use of one of these works in the assigned clips. Pick one brief passage (between 60 and 90 seconds) in which you find the audio-visual experience particularly striking. Annotate the score with the film’s visual cues. Come to class prepared to share and discuss your findings.

3. Read Kate McQuiston, We’ll Meet Again: Musical Design in the Films of Stanley Kubrick (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 128-62.

• Listen to the selected excerpt from Alex North’s film score for 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was ultimately rejected by director Stanley Kubrick. Begin to think about the strengths and weaknesses of North’s score as compared to the adapted score that appears in Kubrick’s final cut, and be prepared to make a case in favor of both works.

Jazz, Rock, and Popular Music in Film (4/6, 4/8, 4/11)

Sign up to watch and present on one of the following films:

• The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), score by Elmer Bernstein • Sweet Smell of Success (1957), score by Elmer Bernstein • Jailhouse Rock (1957) [various popular songs, performed by Elvis Presley] • Touch of Evil (1958), score by Henry Mancini • Elevator to the Gallows [Ascenseur pour l’échafaud] (1958), score by Miles Davis

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• Anatomy of a Murder (1959), score by Duke Ellington • Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), score by Henry Mancini • Goldfinger (1961), score by John Barry • The Graduate (1967), with music by Simon & Garfunkel • The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (1968), score by Ennio Morricone • Easy Rider (1969) [various popular songs] • American Graffiti (1973) [various popular songs] • Chariots of Fire (1981), score by Vangelis

For more information on your presentation, consult the instructions in the document on Writing Assignments and Presentations, above. For 4/6: Read “The Recession Soundtrack: From Albums to Auteurs, Songs to Serialism (1960-1977)” in Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History, ed. Julie Hubbert (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2011), 289-314. For 4/8: Read the following primary sources as found in Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History, ed. Julie Hubbert (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2011):

• Arthur Knight, “Movie Music Goes on Record” (1952) [pp. 258-61] • Elmer Bernstein, “The Man with the Golden Arm” (1956) [pp. 262-73] • Alan Freed, “One Thing’s for Sure, R ‘n’ R is Boffo B.O.” (1958) [pp. 286-87] • Quincy Jones, Henry Mancini, Lalo Schifrin, and Pat Williams, “The Jazz

Composers in Hollywood” [pp. 349-48] For 4/11: Reading the following primary sources as found in Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History, ed. Julie Hubbert (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2011):

• “Herrmann Says Hollywood Tone Deaf as to Film Scores” (1964) [pp. 321-22] • Gene Lees, “The New Sounds on the Soundtrack” (1967) [pp. 323-29] • David Raksin, “Whatever Became of Movie Music?” (1974) [pp. 372-77] • Terry Atkinson, “Scoring with Synthesizers” (1982) [pp. 423-29]

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Takemitsu and the Sounds of Silence (4/13)

1. Read Noriko Ohtake, Creative Sources for the Music of Tōru Takemitsu (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1993), 52-64. As you read, look for answers to the following questions:

• What are some differences between Western and Japanese conceptions of sound?

• What is ma? What are the biwa and shakuhachi? • For Takemitsu, what is the value of “unfractionalized” music?

2. Watch excerpts from Kwaidan (1964) [title sequence, 0:00-3:31; ending of The Black Hair, 30:05-37:29; and Hoichi the Earless, 1:12:59-2:15:40] (available for online streaming at various vendors); as well as the brief excerpts Woman in the Dunes (1964) and Ran (1985). Note that these clips contain graphic violence and sexual content.

3. Read the following analyses of Takemitsu’s film music:

• Kyoko Koizumi, “Creative Soundtrack Expression: Tōru Takemitsu’s Score

for Kwaidan,” in Terror Tracks: Sound and Horror in Cinema, ed. Philip Hayward, 75-87 (London: Equinox, 2009).

• Christopher I. Lehrich, “Hearing Transcendence: Distorted Iconism in Tōru Takemitsu’s Film Music,” Signs and Society 2 (Supp. 2014): S215-S245.

Film and Musical Minimalism (4/15)

1. Read Charles Merrell Berg, “Philip Glass on Composing for Film and Other Forms: The Case of Koyaanisqatsi,” Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism 5 (1990): 301-20.

• Concentrate on the interview with Glass. What information does he provide about the creation of the film and his relationship with director Godfrey Reggio?

• Spend some time interpreting the facsimile of the conducting score on p. 303. What sort of cues has the conductor marked for this performance? How many times does each bar repeat? Where are the moments of precise synchronization? Follow along with the film at 16:15-18:14.

2. Watch Koyaanisqatsi (1982). Be prepared to discuss your interpretation of the film and music’s role in shaping it.

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3. Read John Richardson and Susanna Välimäki, “Disaffected Sounds, Temporalized Visions: Philip Glass and the Audiovisual Impulse in Postminimalist Music,” in The Ashgate Research Companion to Minimalist and Postminimalist Music, ed. Keith Potter, Kyle Gann, and Pwyll ap Siôn, 219-37 (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013).

John Williams and a New Classicism (4/18–4/20) For 4/18:

1. Watch the opening sequence of Jaws (1975), then read Giorgio Biancorosso, “The Shark in the Music,” Music Analysis 29 (2010): 306-33, considering the following questions:

• What issues of film sound ontology does the famous Jaws motive raise? From

where within the world of the film does this motive originate? What is its function?

• What is “hearing-in”? What is a “trigger”?

2. Read Tom Schneller, “Sweet Fulfillment: Allusion and Teleological Genesis in John Williams’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” The Musical Quarterly 97 (2014): 98-131; then watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), keeping Schneller’s Appendix handy.

• What is teleological genesis? How has it been used in concert music? Why does

John Williams use the compositional technique in Close Encounters?

For 4/20: 1. Read Craig L. Byrd, “Interview with John Williams (1997),” in Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History, ed. Julie Hubbert (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 2011), 414-22. 2. Read James Buhler, “Star Wars, Music, and Myth,” in Music and Cinema, ed. James Buhler, Caryl Flinn, and David Neumeyer (Hanover & London: Wesleyan University Press, 2000), 33-57. As you read, look for answers to the following questions:

• What are some significant characteristics of the music for the opening titles? • How do sound effects contribute to the characterization of good and evil in

the film? How does music emphasize this distinction? • What does Buhler mean when he writes, “film music has...secularized the

leitmotif” (42)? In what ways are the scores for the Star Wars films similar to Wagnerian opera? In what ways are they different?

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3. Watch The Empire Strikes Back (1980). In your notes, keep timing markings for the main musical themes that Buhler describes.

POSTLUDE: CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS Film Music Today (4/22, 4/25, 4/27, 4/29)

Your final project of the semester will consist of a class presentation and short essay on a contemporary film composer. For this project, you will need to read at least one major interview or profile of your composer (this will serve as your source material) and watch at least two films scored by your composer. I have suggested some interviews with composers that are available online, in the Celluloid Symphonies anthology, and in books on reserve in the music library. Sign up to work on one of the following composers:

• Carter Burwell (see David Morgan, Knowing the Score: Film Composers Talk

about the Art, Craft, Blood, Sweat, and Tears of Writing for Cinema [New York: HarperCollins, 2000], 57-71)

• Danny Elfman (see Randall D. Larson, “Danny Elfman: From Boingo to Batman (1990),” in Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History, ed. Julie Hubbert [Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 2011], 443-51)

• Michael Giacchino (see Alex Ross, “The Spooky Fill: The Man behind the Avant-Garde Sounds of Lost,” The New Yorker [17 May 2010])

• Jonny Greenwood (see Alex Pappademas, “Radiohead’s Runaway Guitarist,” New York Times [9 March 2012], and “An Interview with Jonny Greenwood,” Nialler9)

• James Horner (see interviews on YouTube and other sources online, including Daniel Schweiger, “James Horner Hearing the Music of His Avatar” Venice [December 2009])

• Cliff Martinez (see interviews listed on his personal website) • Thomas Newman (see “Thomas Newman on His Film Music (1999)”, in The

Hollywood Film Music Reader, ed. Mervyn Cooke [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010], 245-56)

• Rachel Portman (see Christian DesJardins, Inside Film Music: Composers Speak [Los Angeles: Silman-James Press, 2006], 196-204)

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• A. R. Rahman (see interviews on Youtube and many blogs, e-journals, and newspapers, including Peter Culshaw, “Interview with AR Rahman, the Composer behind the Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack” The Telegraph [6 February 2009])

• Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (various YouTube interviews, and Miguel Isaza, “The Sound and Music of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” Designing Sound [5 January 2012])

• Gustavo Santaolalla (see interviews on YouTube and other sources online, including Michael Martin, “Oscar-Winning Gustavo Santaolalla Talks Artistry,” National Public Radio [8 October 2009])

• Howard Shore (see Royal S. Brown, Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music [Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 1994], 334-42; and Philip Brophy, “Composing with a Very Wide Palette: Howard Shore in Conversation (1999),” in Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History, ed. Julie Hubbert [Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 2011], 465-71)

• Hans Zimmer (see interviews on YouTube and many blogs and e-journals, including Rick Florino, “Interview: Hans Zimmer Talks Inception Score” ArtistDirect [12 July 2010])

For more information on your presentation, consult the instructions in the document on Writing Assignments and Presentations, above.

For 4/22: Read “The Postmodern Soundtrack: Film Music in the Video and Digital Age (1978-Present)” in Julie Hubbert, Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2011), 379-407. For 4/25: Read the following primary sources as found in Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History, ed. Julie Hubbert (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2011):

• Marianne Meyer, “Rock Movideo” (1985) [pp. 430-36] • Stephen Holden, “How Rock is Changing Hollywood’s Tune” (1989) [pp.

437-42]

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For 4/27: Read the following primary sources as found in Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History, ed. Julie Hubbert (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2011):

• Randall D. Larson, “Danny Elfman: From Boingo to Batman” (1990) [pp. 443-

51] • Jonathan Romney and Adrian Wootton, “Selections from The Celluloid

Jukebox” (1995) [pp. 452-64]

For 4/29: Read the following primary sources as found in Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History, ed. Julie Hubbert (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2011):

• Rob Bridgett, “Hollywood Sound” (2005) [pp. 472-81]