The Demise of the Symphonic Film Score
- Dimitri Tiomkin's groundbreaking music for the Western High Noon (1952) was the turning point in film music history
- Contributed directly to the demise of the golden age symphonic film score
- Tiomkin composed "Do Not Forsake Me" (sung by Tex Ritter) a Western ballad heard at the beginning of the film and used throughout the movie
- Sparked a new trend to have composers write songs for their films instead of using the traditional symphonic approach of past years
- By the 1960s the symphonic score was replaced in favor of pop, rock and jazz scores that utilized smaller ensembles
- Wasn't rekindled until Star Wars in 1977
- High Noon won the Best Score and Best Song Oscars
The Big Country - Jerome Moross
- The Big Country (1958) Important landmark score by concert hall composer (theater and ballet) Jerome Moross
- Started as an orchestrator in the film music (Hugo Friedhofer)
- Was hired to provide a score that would not concentrate on individual leitmotifs for the major characters in direct contrast of common practice
- Wrote approximately 70 minutes of musical cues that were complete compositions and not fragments
- Score is considered to be the prototype Western score [see piano reduction]
THE BIG COUNTRY (1958) Main Title Music by Jerome Moross by musicmedia71
Film Noir
- Style of filmmaking and film genre.
- Films that use dark shadows, main characters are insecure loners, pessimistic, stories that feature abundance of night scenes
- Also associated with detective or crime genre
- Franz Waxman entered the 1950s as one of Hollywood's most respected composers
- 15 years of studio experience
- 6 Academy nominations
- Recognized with back-to-back Oscars for two Film Noir films: Sunset Blvd. (1950) [music ex.] and A Place in the Sun (1951) [music ex.]
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"We are all a product of those that came before us", Elmer Bernstein......
Changing Sounds of Jazz
- Unlike Casablanca (1942) where popular music was restricted to incidental roles jazz was expanded in a number of films inspired by film noir such as Laura (1944) [music ex.]
- 1950s sparked a movement of film composers exploiting the sounds of jazz to portray moods of sexual intensity and violence
Composer Profile - Elmer Bernstein
- American Born 1922-2004
- Score for The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) pioneered the use of jazz as a functional medium for dramatic uses in film [music ex.]
- Big break was scoring The Ten Commandments (1956) for Cecile B. DeMille
- The Magnificent Seven (1960) is an excellent prototype for Western Scores
- Score for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) is an excellent textbook example of how a film score should work-Used smaller, more intimate approach with chamber music [Noteflight Score/iTunes & YouTube Video]
- Makes detailed sketches for his orchestrators - believes that the orchestrator makes a significant contribution to the score
- Only uses music when necessary to enhance the film
- His style shows influence of the music of Aaron Copland and also jazz
- Stayed away from late 19th century European style that was favored by earlier composers
- Various phases in his career: Jazz composer, Western composer and a composer of melodies
- Prefers to work on films with no temp score added-Inhibits his ability to write an original score
- Feels the music should be a character
- Was a major and highly respected composer in the 21st century