History of Sound Recording and Film Music

Music and Sound Recording

• The phonograph, invented by Thomas Edison in 1877, was the first device to record and play back sound, forming the basis of the modern music industry.
• Emile Berliner's gramophone (1887) introduced flat discs, making sound recordings more practical than Edison's cylinders.
• The phonograph was the earliest device for sound recording, using wax or tin foil cylinders for recording and replaying audio.
• The gramophone improved upon the phonograph by using flat discs instead of cylinders, establishing the standard for music recordings.
• The LP disc, or Long Play record, released by Columbia Records in 1948, was a vinyl disc enabling longer recordings, revolutionizing album releases.
• Magnetic tape, developed in the 1930s and popularized in the 1940s, allowed high-quality recordings, multi-tracking, and editing, becoming vital for studio and home recording.

Early Stages of Music in Film (Before the 1940s)

• Silent films relied on live music due to noisy projectors and lack of synchronized sound.
• Music enhanced emotional depth for the audience in silent films.
• Smaller theaters featured a single pianist or organist during film screenings.
• Larger theaters had orchestras playing pre-selected pieces or original compositions.
• The Mighty Wurlitzer organ became a popular, cost-effective way to mimic an orchestra.
• The Assassination of the Duke of Guise (1908), scored by Camille Saint-Saëns, was among the first specially composed film scores performed live.

Music in Film Before and After Synchronization

• Music was improvised or compiled from existing works in the Silent Film Era (1890s-Late 1920s).
• Theater owners sometimes employed composers to create cue sheets, which listed pre-existing songs or classical pieces for specific moments.
• High-budget cinemas used live orchestras or special instruments, such as the Mighty Wurlitzer, but most films lacked an official score.
• "Talkies" (films with synchronized sound) emerged in the late 1920s using sound-on-film technology like Warner Bros.' Vitaphone system, allowing combined music, dialogue, and sound effects.
• The 1930s marked the rise of professional film composers creating scores for perfect synchronization with the film.
• Charlie Chaplin composed music for his silent films, including City Lights (1931).
• Even silent films benefited from carefully planned musical scores.
• Film composers adopting leitmotifs, or repeating musical themes for characters or emotions, became standard practice in Hollywood.
• By the late 1930s, Hollywood film scores became more symphonic under the influence of European classical music, exemplified by Erich Wolfgang Korngold's The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).

Max Steiner

• Max Steiner (1888–1971) was a very influential early sound era film composer, known as the "father of film music."
• He composed the first major Hollywood film score with synchronized music for King Kong (1933), which became the standard for dramatic orchestral film scoring.
• Steiner enhanced drama and suspense through music.
• Steiner created leitmotifs for characters, later used by composers like John Williams.
• Steiner synchronized music to match pacing and action.

Terms and Figures

• Silent Film (1890s–1920s) was accompanied by live music due to the lack of synchronized sound, challenging synchronization until sound-on-film technology emerged in the late 1920s.
• Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) was the first major composer to write a film score for The Assassination of the Duke of Guise (1908), playing it live alongside the film.
• The Mighty Wurlitzer, a special theater organ mimicking a full orchestra's sound, was popular in silent film theaters because it was more affordable than hiring an orchestra.
• Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) was a legendary silent film actor, director, and composer, composing music for his films like City Lights, adding emotional depth even while resisting "talkies".
• City Lights (1931) is a silent film by Chaplin that blended comedy and emotion with Chaplin's musical score.
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957) was an Austrian composer bringing classical music to Hollywood, influencing composers like John Williams with his work on The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).
• The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), starring Errol Flynn, had an iconic orchestral score.
• "Talkie" refers to a film with synchronized sound.
• The Jazz Singer (1927) revolutionized cinema with recorded dialogue and music.
• Color film gradually replaced black-and-white, with The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) among the first major films shot in Technicolor.

Development of Film Music (1950s-1970s)

• Composers experimented with smaller ensembles and new genres during the 1950s, shifting away from traditional symphonic film scores.
• Alex North's score for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) was a milestone, incorporating jazz elements.
• It was the first film with non-diegetic jazz music specifically composed for it.
• Bernard Herrmann innovated horror film scores with expressionist music, as in Psycho (1960), using dissonant strings.
• The 1960s had needledrop techniques, using pre-recorded songs instead of scores, exemplified by The Graduate (1967), which used Simon & Garfunkel's music.
• Stanley Kubrick changed film music using existing classical pieces in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), featuring Ligeti and Strauss.
• In 1977, John Williams revived the grand orchestral film score with Star Wars, taking inspiration from Korngold's symphonic music.

Film Music Terminology

• Diegetic music is part of a film's world, heard by characters in settings like a radio scene or singing.
• Non-diegetic music enhances the audience's experience, not heard by characters, like film scores and background themes.
• Needledrop is using pre-existing recorded music rather than an original score, popular in the 1960s, like The Graduate (1967).
• Casablanca (1942) features diegetic music when Sam plays “As Time Goes By.”

Composers in Film

• Alex North introduced jazz to film scores in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), moving away from traditional symphonic scores.
• Bernard Herrmann is known for his psychological and horror film scores, like Psycho (1960).
• Alfred Hitchcock is an influential 20th-century filmmaker whose collaboration with Bernard Herrmann on Psycho (1960) created one of the most iconic cinema scores.
• Psycho (1960) is a horror-thriller with Herrmann's score.
• Kubrick used classical music in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
• Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Richard Strauss is associated with Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
• John Williams revived orchestral film scores, bringing back Hollywood tradition with Star Wars (1977).
• Star Wars (1977), directed by George Lucas and scored by John Williams, revived classical Hollywood film scores.

20th Century Relations Between Poetry and Music

• Mahler’s The Song of the Earth (1908-09) combines symphony and song cycle forms, using medieval Chinese poetry translated by Hans Bethge, marking a transition from late Romanticism.
• Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs (1948) explores aging and death.
• Witold Lutosławski's Three Poems of Henri Michaux (1960s) use Henri Michaux's surreal poetry and aleatory music, capturing chaotic essence.
• Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire (1912) is a cycle using Sprechstimme, creating an unsettling atmosphere.
• Mahler blended symphonic and vocal forms, exploring philosophical themes.
• The Song of the Earth is a symphonic song cycle based on German translations of Chinese poetry, symbolizing the end of an era.
• Richard Strauss's works explore emotional themes, with Four Last Songs marking a farewell to life.
• Strauss' Four Last Songs reflect on old age and death.
• Lutosławski used aleatory music in Three Poems of Henri Michaux, combining surreal poetry with complex textures.

History and Events of World War II

• World War II (1939-1945) was a global conflict between the Allies and the Axis Powers.
• The war began with Germany's invasion of Poland, which prompted Britain and France to declare war.
• The Holocaust systematically murdered 6 million Jews under the Nazi regime.
• The Axis powers were defeated in 1945.

Influence of World War II on Shostakovich's Music

• World War II had a big impact on Shostakovich's music by reflecting emotional impact.
• Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad" was written during the siege of Leningrad, symbolizing Soviet resistance.
• Its "Invasion episode" uses a tune from Franz Lehar's operetta, which was one of Hitler's favorites, as a symbol of defiance.
• String Quartet No. 8 is a tribute to the victims of WWII, including the Holocaust, using the "DSCH" motif, a reflection on the emotional trauma of the Holocaust.

Terms in Music & WW2 I

• WW2 (1939-1945) a global conflict between the Allied and Axis powers, resulted in the Axis' defeat and the rise of the Cold War.
• Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Nazi Germany, leading to destruction including the Holocaust.
• Dmitri Shostakovich was a prominent Soviet composer influenced by the political climate, especially reflecting on the struggles of Soviet people.
• Symphony No. 7 (Leningrad) by Shostakovich was composed during the Siege of Leningrad in WWII, as a symbol of Soviet resistance.
• The "Invasion episode" in Symphony No. 7 represents the Nazi invasion, distorting a theme from Franz Lehar's operetta.
• The "DSCH" motif is a musical anagram for Dmitri Shostakovich's name, recurring to express his personal connection.

Concepts Related to Ur-Fascism

• Umberto Eco describes Ur-Fascism as recurring traits instead of a single doctrine.
• Ur-Fascism has cult of tradition and rejection ofmodernism.
• Ur-Fascism has obsession with conspiracy and appeal to middle class.
• Ur-Fascism hs selective populism.
• Authoritarian governments promote traditional music; censoring subversive or contemporary music.
• Political movements resist modern music, claiming undermining of cultural values; illustrated by Nazi control of "degenerate music".
• Music has been accused of spreading hidden messages, like Cold War rock and jazz.

World War II influence on Classical Composers

• Olivier Messiaens Quartet for the End of Time was composed in Nazi prison.
• Religious faith and visions of the apocalypse expressed in Quartet for the End of Time.
• Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen laments German culture's destruction, including Beethoven's Eroica Funeral March.
• Ur-fascism is a concept introduced by Umberto Eco.
• Messiaen incorperated birdsong, complex rhythms, and religious elements.
• Richard Strauss works reflect the turmoil of the 20th century.
• Quartetto for the End of Time composed in Nazi prison.
• Metamorphosen mourns the destruction of German culture.

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Classical Music

• The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 marked the end of World War II, leading to over 200,000 deaths.
• These events prompted questions about using nuclear weapons.
• Arnold Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw blended spoken word and music.
• Krzysztof Penderecki's Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima created an unsettling soundscape.
• Benjamin Brittens War Requiem combined Latin requiem text with Wilfred Owen's war poetry.
• These works serve as artistic memorials.
• Hiroshima & Nagasaki lead to lasting damage.
• The bombings became a symbol of horrors of war and nuclear weaponry.
• Threnody for the Hiroshima includes unconventional writing and techniques.
• Penderecki created dissonance.
• Britten explored horrors of war in Requiem.

Music under Communism

• The official artistic movement of the Soviet Union was called socialist realism.
• It required art to be accessible.
• Composers like Prokofiev had to balance personal expression with political demands.
• Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk was eventually banned for being avant-garde.
• Composers struggled under state control.
• Stalin strictly controlled artists.
• Socialist realism made art understandable by all.
• Shostakovich revealed tension of expression and tension.
• Prokofiev conformed to Communist Party.
• Khachaturian embodied Socialist realism.

Events of the Cold War

• The Cold War ideological conflict between the U.S. and the USSR.
• Artists and musicians were persecuted, suspected of communism.
• Aaron Copland was monitored by the FBI.
• The U.S. State Department sent jazz musicians.
• The U.S. government used music as a form of soft power, with jazz diplomacy promoting culture abroad.
• Brubeck's Ambassadors.
• The Cold War, from the 1940s to the 1990s, was characterized by conflict and the arm race shaping global politics.

Revising Christianity in 20th Century Music

• Christianity continued to influence music during the second half of the 20th century; composers explored religious themes through composition.
• Messiaens cycle explores aspects of the childhood, using Christian symbols, such as birdsong.
• Pärt combines simplicity and spiritual depth, typical of his "tintinnabuli" style.
• Penderecki was influenced by sacred music resisting state-imposed secularism.
• CCM combines worship with musical styles like pop and rock, offering spiritual appeal.
• Messiaen incorporated symbolism/
• Penderecki was influenced by sacred themes.
• Pärt is an Estonian composer

Influence of Science on 20th Century Music

• Composers were increasingly influenced by scientific ideas.
• Composers explored math principles and physics.
• Anton Weberns use of twelve-tone is scientific influenced.
• Edgar Varese wrote for percussions.
• György Ligeti influenced by geometry and chaos.
• Iannis Xenakis combined background in arch and math.
• Dodecaphony dev by Schoengberg.
• Webern used minimalist, geometric.
• Varese use of percussion new possibilities.
• Xenakis use probability stochastic.

Use of Chance in 20th Century Music

• John Cage used chance with randomness.
• Cage's 4'33" and Imaginary Landscape No. 4 employed chance elements.
• Limited aleatory music had fixed parameters.
• Unlimited aleatory music had complete unpredictability.
• Cage used allowed outside factors.
• Aleatory music allowed improvisation by perfromers.
• Cage used chance randomness.
• The ambient of silence.