The Invisible Art of Film Music A Comprehensive History

by MacDonald, Laurence E.

• ISBN13: 9780810890589
• ISBN10: 0810890585
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-05-02
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Summary

Beginning with the era of synchronized sound in the 1920s, music has been an integral part of motion pictures. Whether used to heighten the tension of a scene or evoke a subtle emotional response, scores have played a significant-if often unrealized-role in a viewer's enjoyment of a film. In The Invisible Art of Film Music, Laurence MacDonald provides a comprehensive introduction for the general student, the film historian, and the aspiring cinematographer. This volume is a historically structured account of the evolution of music in films and the development of the films themselves. Arranged as a chronological survey from the silent era to the present day, this volume offers readers insight into the vital contribution film scores have made. MacDonald reviews key developments in film music and discusses many of the most important and influential scores of the last nine decades, including: Modern Times, Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, Laura, A Streetcar Named Desire, Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather, Jaws, Ragtime, The Mission, Titanic, Gladiator, The Lord of the Rings, Brokeback Mountain, and Slumdog Millionaire. MacDonald also provides biographical sketches of the great composers, including Max Steiner, Alfred Newman, Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann, Elmer Bernstein, Henry Mancini, Maurice Jarre, John Barry, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Dave Grusin, Ennio Morricone, Randy Newman, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, and many others. Updated and expanded to include scores well into the 21st century, this new edition of The Invisible Art of Film Music will appeal not only to scholars of cinema and musicologists, but any fan of film scores as well.