Early Film Music
Early Film Music. Films shown starting in 1890s Projectors were noisy for silent films Live music added to cover noise Piano used with film in Paris, 1895
Early Film Music
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Presentation Transcript
Early Film Music • Films shown starting in 1890s • Projectors were noisy for silent films • Live music added to cover noise • Piano used with film in Paris, 1895 • In 1908, Paris company, Le Film d’Art,commissionedCamille Saint-Saëns to compose music for L’assassinat du Duc de Guise; live musicians played during film screeings • Work by Saint-Saëns was a success, but increased expense for theaters
Featured Listening : “Main Theme” from Star Warsby John Williams • Composed for film in 1977 • Movie music • Moderate tempo, slows near the end • Orchestra • Quadruple meter with some triple meter • Listen to the opening fanfare, heroic theme, battle music, and Princess Leia’s leitmotif Listening Excerpt from CD 2, tracks 38, p. 339-340
Listening Guide:The Main Theme from Star Wars(contd.) • Fanfare • Heroic theme played by brass and percussion, then entire orchestra • Light and soft transition • Strings build intensity • Battle music (triple meter), then syncopated punctuations obscure meter • Heroic theme returns in quadruple meter • Princess Leia’s leitmotif is played by cellos and basses • Heroic theme in high brass • Fanfare-like statements in brass • Tempo slows and intensity drops • Closes with music from Elgar’s The Coronation March