Composer Profile: Franz Waxman
- 1906 -1967 From Germany
- Became head of the music department at Universal Studios
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935) was most significant score composed while working at Universal
- Score utilized the leitmotif technique with a main theme for the monster and one for the bride
- Used string tremolos to create suspense
- Signed a seven-year contract with MGM Waxman
- Went to Warner Bros after MGM Warner Bros had Waxman, Steiner and Korngold
- Placed great emphasis on orchestral color.
- Chose instruments to create sounds that would match the style of the scene
The Bride of Frankenstein
- Groundbreaking score by Waxman at age 29
- Ranks as a masterpiece of director James Whale
- Budget $300,000
- Score was not an ordinary sounding movie score.
- Contained sounds that would pave the way for composers of future horror scores
- Largest cues for this score used approximately 40 instruments
- Also uses the sound of the organ to achieve specific coloring in certain scenes
- Employs the use of the whole-tone scale-Provides the feeling of supernatural atmosphere
- Waxman pioneered string tremolos as a means for creating suspense in horror films
- Use of woodwind trills and flutter tonguing
- There are three musical themes heard at various times throughout the film.
- The score is comprised of several leitmotifs for some of the major characters
- Other less prominent motives are also present
- The first is a five-note theme based on the interval of a minor third
Frankenstein' Theme
For the monster's mate (the Bride)
Based on octave leap and a minor second descending
Bride theme not unlike that of Bali Ha'i from South Pacific
Dr. Pretorious-Descending arpeggio outlining a minor chord
- Ave Maria source music converts to underscore when Frankenstein enters the cottage then played on the organ
The Creation-Waxman introduces all three major themes in various musical settings
(notice the constant sound of the timpani)
(notice the constant sound of the timpani)
- Waxman became head of the music dept at universal studios due to the success of the score
The Studio System
- By the mid 1930s the Studio System was in full gear
- Production line approach of creating movies
- Each studio had its own music dept staffed with music supervisor, four to five staff composers, orchestrators, arrangers, music editors, music copyists, music librarian, and studio orchestra