Key Concepts in Film Music and Composition

Alzheimer's

A neurodegenerative disease that personalized music playlists can help.

Pentatonic

A scale that seems to be embedded in/comes naturally to all people.

Always

The duration for which people have been using music as an element in storytelling.

Mozart

The composer of the music used for the Academy Award-winning film 'Amadeus'.

Ride of the Valkyrie

A piece of music composed by Richard Wagner used in the 1979 film 'Apocalypse Now'.

Wurlitzer

A company well known for manufacturing organs for use in theaters before synchronized sound.

The Jazz Singer

The first feature film released in 1927 to use (some) synchronized sound.

Charles 'Charlie' Chaplin

The person who wrote, produced, directed, composed the score, and starred in the 1931 film 'City Lights'.

ABCDEFG

The 7 letters of the musical alphabet derived from the 26 letters in the English alphabet.

Fa Sol La Ti Do

The completion of the musical sequence 'Do, Re, Mi...'.

Max Steiner

The composer who wrote the score for the film 'King Kong' which premiered in 1933.

The Father of Film Music

The title earned by the composer of the score for 'King Kong'.

Leitmotif

A short musical phrase that represents a person, place, or thing.

Franz Waxman

The composer of the score for the film 'The Bride of Frankenstein' which premiered in 1935.

Ave Maria

The piece of extant sacred music used in 'The Bride of Frankenstein' to accompany the scene where the monster meets the blind hermit.

November 2, 1920

The date of the first commercial radio broadcast.

H. G. Wells

The author of the original story for 'War of the Worlds', released in 1898.

Bernard Herrmann

The person responsible for the music used in the 1938 radio drama adaptation of 'War of the Worlds'.

Bernard Herrmann

The composer who wrote the score for the film 'Citizen Kane', released in 1941.

Max Steiner

The composer who wrote the score for the film 'Casablanca', premiered in 1942.

As Time Goes By

The title of the decade-old popular song used in 'Casablanca' ranked as the #2 Greatest Song in American movies.

The Theremin

The instrument invented by Leon Theremin.

Atomic Bombs

What 'Little Boy' and 'Fat Man' were, which brought an end to the Second World War in the Pacific theater.

avant-garde

experimental, especially when applied to music

Forbidden Planet

the title of the 1956 'serious sci-fi' movie produced by MGM that featured a score created using electronic means only and 'snubbed' by the Academy during awards season as it was viewed as too 'out there/weird/unconventional'

Louis and Bebe Barron

the composers who wrote the score for the film Forbidden Planet

High Noon

the title of the 1952 Western Film that won the Academy Awards for Best Actor, Editing, Score, and Song

Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling

the title of the song that won the Oscar for best song in High Noon

Bernard Herrmann

the composer who wrote the score for 7 of Hitchcock's films including 'Vertigo,' 'North by Northwest' and 'Psycho'

Psycho

the film whose score uses strings almost exclusively

Spaghetti Western

the food-oriented name given to a genre of film set in the American West during the so-called 'Cowboy Era'

Dollars Trilogy

the group of films directed by Sergio Leone and scored by Ennio Morricone, released in 1964, 1965, and 1966, including 'A Fist Full of Dollars,' 'For a Few Dollars More,' and 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'

temp track

pre-existing music that a director will use to convey what they want/have in mind to the film composer

2001: a space odyssey

the film for which Stanley Kubrick asked composer Alex North to write a score but did not use it

the premier

when Alex North learned of the fate of his score for '2001: a space odyssey'

Johann Strauss

the Romantic Era composer known as 'The Waltz King'

Metamorphosen

the piece of music written by Richard Strauss in 1945, reflecting on the end of a terrible period of human history

Taxi Driver

the last film Bernard Herrmann worked on

John Williams

the composer who played jazz piano in bars and nightclubs to help pay the bills while he was a student

Lost in Space

one of the 3 sci-fi television shows from the 1960s that feature music written by John Williams

DEVO

the New Wave band that Mark Mothersbaugh was a member of

Island of Lost Souls

the film made in 1932 that profoundly influenced Mark Mothersbaugh and his bandmates

Oingo Boingo

the New Wave band that Danny Elfman was a member of

pitched percussion and voice

the orchestration signatures (sounds) preferred by Danny Elfman

Rachel Portman

the first female to win the Academy Award for Best Musical or Comedy Score for 'Emma' in 1996

Cello

the instrument played by composer Hildur Guðnadóttir

The Pawnbroker

a film scored by Quincy Jones

Trumpet

the instrument played by Quincy Jones

Tubular Bells

the piece written and performed/recorded by Mike Oldfield when he was 19 years old, used in the film 'The Exorcist'