Soul of Cinema, The: An Appreciation of Film Music / Edition 1

by Larry Timm

Overview

The Soul of Cinema is the first film music appreciation textbook ever written. This text explains the various functions of music in film and clearly describes the roles of producers, directors, and practically everyone else in cinema, and shows how they each relate to the composer and the musical score for a given film. The Soul of Cinema traces the evolution of film music from 1895 to the present, covering many of the representative film scores, film composers, and styles and trends along the journey. Some features include:

• each major composer is highlighted with a biography, a photo, a listing of the individual's recognizable compositional style, and other pertinent information
• interviews with film composers, music editors, orchestrators, film music agents, studio musicians, music copyists, music contractors, and others within the business
• an extensive section on women film composers and contractors
• rare Bernard Herrmann facsimiles of some of his greatest works

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780130304650
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	07/25/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 10.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Larry Timm is a veteran Hollywood studio musician, producer, and university professor who has been in the business for over 30 years. He is an active recording artist whose oboe and English horn solos can be heard on over 300 television and motion picture scores. He has performed as soloist in places such as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City; the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria; and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. As an educator, he teaches classes of over 700 students each semester at California State University in Fullerton, introducing them to the world of film music. He holds three advanced degrees from Yale University, including a doctorate, and is currently on the Editorial Board of the Film Music Journal. Dr. Timm is listed in the International Who's Who in Music, Who's Who in Entertainment, the Marquis Who's Who in America, and Who s Who in California.

Read an Excerpt

My intent in writing this book is to fill a void for a much-needed text on film music appreciation. Although there are other fine books on film music and film composers, at the time of this writing this is the only book designed specifically as a film music appreciation text. Obviously not every person has this enthusiasm for film music that I do, but it is hoped that after traveling through this book, you will come away with an appreciation and understanding of what it takes to make the movies and how their music affects us the way it does. Because this book is meant to be used as a college level "appreciation of film music" text, it has to have limitations both in size and content. After a discussion of the functions of music in film and a general survey of the film music industry, we go back in time and show where it all started. The rest of the text becomes a chronological history of music in film from 1894 to the twenty-first century. Although foreign films and composers are mentioned and/or discussed, the major thrust of this book is centered on the Hollywood movie industry. This book also concentrates more on symphonic scores as opposed to jazz, pop, rock, or any other nonsymphonic idiom. Having taught this subject over the years, some of the well-known stories in this book are sometimes paraphrased, because the author hopes to put a fresh new slant on some well-worn tales of yore.

Note to Teachers

Most of the films covered in this book are readily available on video for the convenience of teaching purposes. The author suggests preparing the film clips to be shown prior to the start of each class session.

Table of Contents

1. Functions of Film Scoring.


2. The Operational Aspects of the Industry.


3. In the Beginning: Music for Silent Films.


4. Music in the Early Sound Film (Late 1920s to 1933).


5. The Rise of the Symphonic Film Score (the 1930s).


6. The Golden Age of Film Music (the 1940s and 1950s).


7. The Golden Age of Film Music Continues.


8. The Age of Versatility (the 1960s through the 1990s).


9. The Age of Versatility Continues (the 1970s, from Patton to Star Wars).


10. New Faces Enter the Ranks (the 1980s, from Altered States to Batman).


11. Sailing into the Twenty-first Century (the 1990s, from Jurassic Park to Titanic and Beyond).

Preface

My intent in writing this book is to fill a void for a much-needed text on film music appreciation. Although there are other fine books on film music and film composers, at the time of this writing this is the only book designed specifically as a film music appreciation text. Obviously not every person has this enthusiasm for film music that I do, but it is hoped that after traveling through this book, you will come away with an appreciation and understanding of what it takes to make the movies and how their music affects us the way it does. Because this book is meant to be used as a college level 'appreciation of film music' text, it has to have limitations both in size and content. After a discussion of the functions of music in film and a general survey of the film music industry, we go back in time and show where it all started. The rest of the text becomes a chronological history of music in film from 1894 to the twenty-first century. Although foreign films and composers are mentioned and/or discussed, the major thrust of this book is centered on the Hollywood movie industry. This book also concentrates more on symphonic scores as opposed to jazz, pop, rock, or any other nonsymphonic idiom. Having taught this subject over the years, some of the well-known stories in this book are sometimes paraphrased, because the author hopes to put a fresh new slant on some well-worn tales of yore.

Note to Teachers

Most of the films covered in this book are readily available on video for the convenience of teaching purposes. The author suggests preparing the film clips to be shown prior to the start of each class session.

Editorial Reviews

Intended as a college-level music appreciation text, this work chronologically examines music in Hollywood from 1894 to the present. The focus is on symphonic scores, with some discussion of the operative functions of film music being presented before the text launches into appreciation of specific scores. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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