The Music of Film Composers

The Music of Film Composers

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!

Jaksot(284)

Copland Clarinet Concerto

Copland Clarinet Concerto

The commission for a new Clarinet Concerto from the great American composer Aaron Copland came from a rather unlikely source: Benny Goodman, the man known as the King of Swing. Goodman was one of the ...

1 Touko 202548min

Steve Reich: Different Trains

Steve Reich: Different Trains

Steve Reich, the great American contemporary composer, provided this program note about his work Different Trains: "The idea for the piece came from my childhood. When I was one year old my parents se...

17 Huhti 202552min

Best of Frenemies: Debussy and Ravel

Best of Frenemies: Debussy and Ravel

Debussy and Ravel are often described as the prototypical musical impressionists. It is often said that the two composers are the closest equivalents to the artistic world of Monet, Renoir, Pisarro, D...

3 Huhti 202552min

Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1

Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1

It's hard to overstate the depth of the connection between Dmitri Shostakovich and the legendary cellist Mstistlav Rostropovich. Shostakovich and Rostropovich were extremely close friends, and Shostak...

20 Maalis 202550min

Ravel, Ravel, Ravel, w/Boris Giltburg and G. Henle Verlag!

Ravel, Ravel, Ravel, w/Boris Giltburg and G. Henle Verlag!

Magician, Swiss Watchmaker, Aloof, Elegant, Precise, Soulful, Childlike, Naive, Warm: these are all words that have been used to describe Maurice Ravel, a man of elegant contradictions. But perhaps th...

6 Maalis 202559min

Amy Beach, "Gaelic" Symphony

Amy Beach, "Gaelic" Symphony

Amy Beach is a name that might not be familiar to you. She was born in 1867 and died in 1944, and her life was one of the most fascinating and varied in musical history. She was a child prodigy, becam...

6 Maalis 20251h

Sticky Notes en Français! Shostakovich Symphonie No. 13 (Bonus Episode)

Sticky Notes en Français! Shostakovich Symphonie No. 13 (Bonus Episode)

Voici un épisode bonus spécial de Sticky Notes en français, en avant-première de mes concerts avec l'Orchestre National de Lille, présentant la 13e symphonie de Shostakovich. Si vous souhaitez écouter...

27 Helmi 20251h 10min

Smetana: Ma Vlast

Smetana: Ma Vlast

Nationalism, patriotism, cultural identity, a sense of home; these are concepts and ideas whose popularity have ebbed and flowed throughout history. Nationalism has been seen as a natural expression o...

6 Helmi 20251h 5min

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