8.21 Film Music and Theory

Texture and basic textures in music

• Monophonic texture: when all voices sing the same line or pitch. Example: a choral/chant where everyone sings the same melody in unison. Even if singers sing in different octaves, it remains monophonic because they’re still on the same notes.
• Hum awn? If everyone sings the same pitch sequence, it’s monophonic; octaves don’t change the texture.
• Homophonic texture: melody with accompanying chords. Example: melody in the right hand, chords in the left hand on a piano.
• Polyphonic texture: multiple independent melodic lines sounding simultaneously. Example: two or more voices with independent rhythms/melodies; not simply one voice with accompaniment.
• In the Hallelujah Chorus, the texture can be described as having all three textures (monophony, homophony, and polyphony) at different moments.

Keys, tonality, and modulation

• Keys: there are 12 major keys and 12 minor keys, i.e. 12 major keys and 12 minor keys.
• Modulation: changing from one key to another within a piece. If you change the key in the middle of a piece, you have modulated (modulation).
• Teaching note: tonality establishes a central pitch or key; modulation shifts that center to a new key, creating contrast and development.

Rhythm and harmony concepts

• Syncopation: emphasizing beats that are normally weak or off-beats. Example: stressing the and-beats (the off-beats) such as the and of 2 and the and of 4 in a 4/4 measure.
• Harmony: discussion of consonants (pleasing combinations) vs dissonants (clashing sounds). Music sits on a spectrum; some dissonance is desirable for tension, but too much can be uncomfortable.
• Timbre: the color or quality of sound that distinguishes different instruments or voices playing the same pitch in the same octave.
  • Example: a flute, a sung note, and a piano playing the same pitch all sound different due to timbre.
• Instruments and orchestral families (brief inventory mentioned):
  • Strings: violin, cello, bass
  • Woodwinds: piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon
  • Brass: trumpet, trombone, horn, tuba
  • Percussion: various drums and other percussion
• Main musical parameters (as introduced): melody, harmony, timbre, rhythm

Film music: terminology and practice

• Soundtrack: all music associated with a film, including the overall score and any musical elements used throughout.
• Diegetic music (source music): music present in the film world that characters can hear, e.g., a radio, TV, or live performance within a scene. If the audience hears the music but the character does too, it is diegetic (source music).
• Non-diegetic music (underscore): music that accompanies the film’s emotional or narrative content but is not heard by characters in the scene (background score).
• Opening credits music and closing credits music: commonly used music throughout films; openings often begin with overtures or opening cues, sometimes tied to opera tradition.
• Overture and entr’acte: overture is a medley or collection of tunes used to begin a work (common in opera). An entr’acte is music between acts, used in films or stage works when acts are separated.
• Mickey Mousing: music that closely follows the on-screen action in a deliberately explicit way (often seen in cartoons). It cues exactly to physical actions (e.g., a character hitting a wall triggers a sting).
• Wall-to-wall music: continuous musical accompaniment throughout a film, more typical of older or certain films; not as common in modern scoring.
• Spotting session: collaboration between the director and film composer to decide where music will appear in the film and what mood/tone is needed in each cue.
• Modern vs older practices: in contemporary films, directors may specify where they want music and where they don’t; the process includes timing cues (e.g., at precise timestamps like 3:32).

Film music production history and practicalities

• Silent film era: films without synchronized sound relied on live accompaniment in theaters (often a theatre organ or an orchestra) to provide music during the screening.
• The silent film organist would use cue sheets or stock music anthologies to accompany scenes; this allowed theaters to fit music to mood and action without a full original score for every film.
• Cue sheets (1909 onward): published recommendations by studios like Edison to guide theater musicians on what type of music to play for particular scenes.
• Anthologies of stock music: collections like Motion Picture Piano Music (descriptive music to fit action/scene) helped a pianist select appropriate passages rather than improvise.
• Influence of Edison and early cinema music governance: cue sheets and anthologies standardized some scoring practices for silent films.
• Transition to scored sound: as films grew in ambition, composers wrote original scores and orchestras conducted the music in theaters, which was more expensive but offered a unified musical experience.
• Demonstration example: silent film screenings with wall-to-wall organ music (e.g., a staged demonstration with a famous Buster Keaton short) show how music was synchronized with actions and scenes; the experience is different from modern film scoring but demonstrates the essential role of music in shaping perception.

Early cinema exemplars and scores

• One Week (1920) with Buster Keaton: a silent comedy where background music is provided by a silent film organist. A modern reproduction might include a soundtrack to illustrate how cue-based scoring can reflect action; the audience can experience wall-to-wall music as accompaniment to the on-screen comedy.
• Metropolis (1927) and expressionist scoring: a German Expressionist sci‑fi film focusing on class conflict in a futuristic city; features a prominent score by Godfrey Hubertz (often described as closely matching the film’s mood from intimate religious moments to wild festivities). The score would unify many distinct musical themes and often align with darker forces in the narrative, helping to shape character and atmosphere.
• Silent film music practice in Metropolis: the score would be designed to accompany the action and reflect the film’s visual style, with musical cues tied to scenes, characters, and events.

Leitmotif and Wagnerian influence

• Leitmotif: a melodic idea associated with a specific character, situation, or idea, used to reinforce narrative elements.
• Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle: a set of four operas famous for its use of leitmotifs; associated with a vast web of musical themes tied to characters and events.
• Tristan and Isolde: famous uses of a recurring chord progression (often referred to as the Tristan chord) to signal love and longing; the music reinforces dramatic moments and emotional states.
• The influence on film scoring: leitmotifs and thematic transformation became a foundational approach in film music, with composers developing musical themes for characters or situations and evolving them as the plot progresses.

Historical overview of classical music periods (high level outline)

• Renaissance (roughly 1500–1680): vocal-dominated sacred music; modal harmony; complex polyphony; pentatonic echoes; palatal features; emphasis on voice lines and church music.
• Baroque (Bach, Handel): importance of texture, ornate melodic lines, and early tonal harmony; harpsichord as a key instrument; growth of instrumental music and forms.
• Classical (Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven): clear balance, symmetry, and proportion; elegant melodies and well-shaped phrases; dialog between melody and accompaniment; refined structure.
• Romantic (Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann): emphasis on emotional expression, rubato (flexible tempo), dramatic contrasts, and programmatic content; expansion of orchestras and expressive range in color.
• 20th century: many isms, including Impressionism, Expressionism, American nationalism, avant-garde, and minimalism.
  • Impressionism: emphasis on atmosphere and color; subtler harmonic language.
  • Expressionism: intense dissonance and exploration of darker moods (psychological and nightmares); influenced by Freud.
  • American nationalism: composers like Aaron Copland creating music that evokes American landscape and identity (e.g., hoedown).
  • Avant-garde: music that seeks to shock or redefine what is considered art; experimentation and breaking norms.
  • Minimalism: repetitive, highly simplified musical materials with subtle changes over time; Philip Glass as a notable figure.

Romanticism and performance practice notes

• Rubato: flexible tempo used to express emotion; emphasized in Romantic performance; Chopin particularly suited to rubato—straight playing can be dull for his music, but rubato adds stylistic character.
• Romantic emphasis on emotional connection, dramatic expression, and narrative drive in music; this aesthetic continues to influence modern film scoring, even though the period is historical.

Non-European and contemporary influences in film music

• Ethnic/international instruments and sounds in film scoring: use of non‑Western instruments to evoke setting or mood (e.g., Shakuhachi flute from Japan; Chinese instruments; bagpipes for Scottish/Irish flavor; African drums; Middle Eastern instruments).
• Ethnic music can be used to create a sense of place or to evoke a particular culture within a film's world, beyond traditional Western classical scoring.
• Pop music in film: directors sometimes favor using popular songs rather than a fully original underscore; this approach can shape a film’s historical trajectory and audience reception; the speaker offers personal opinions on this trend.

Pop music, leitmotifs, and modern film scoring practice

• Use of popular songs in film scores as a trend: some directors adopted pop songs as a primary soundtrack, influencing the evolution of film music and audience expectations.
• The enduring relevance of leitmotifs: the idea of musical themes representing characters or ideas remains central to many film scores, continuing the Wagnerian tradition in contemporary cinema.

Practical examples and notable works discussed

• Wagner and leitmotifs (Ring Cycle, Tristan and Isolde): foundational concepts that inform modern film music in terms of character-associated motifs and thematic transformation.
• Copland’s hoedown and American nationalism: example of a distinctly American sound that has been widely used in films and commercial media to evoke the American landscape and spirit.
• Metropolis (Lang, 1927): an early German Expressionist film; Hubertz’s score demonstrates how a score can unify disparate moods and scenes through recurring themes.
• Silent film scores in practice: cue sheets and stock anthologies enabled theaters to perform accompaniment; the transition to original scores represented a shift toward more integrated cinematic storytelling.

Course logistics and assessment mentions

• Quizzes: there is a periodic quiz tied to class content; students are encouraged to complete it by a specific deadline (e.g., before the next class or by a stated weekend time) to ensure completion.
• Viewing and discussion activities: planned screenings of silent films to illustrate historical scoring practices (e.g., a silent film with a dedicated score or a live demonstration with a film composer discussing their approach).
• Future topics: continued exploration of silent cinema, the relationship between music and film in different eras, and analysis of specific scoring strategies for iconic films.

Connections to broader concepts and real-world relevance

• The relationship between music and image: film scoring demonstrates how music shapes perception, emotion, and narrative pacing, mirroring core musical concepts like texture, timbre, harmony, and rhythm.
• The role of the composer and the director: collaboration (spotting sessions) and the cost/feasibility of live orchestration vs. recorded scores reveal practical considerations in producing film music.
• Ethical and cultural considerations: films like Birth of a Nation (referenced as a historically problematic example) remind us of the ethical responsibilities in media and how music can contribute to or critique representations.
• Historical evolution: tracing from silent era practices to modern scoring highlights how changing technology, aesthetics, and business models shape the music accompanying moving images.

Quick reference: key terms and concepts

• Monophony, homophony, polyphony
• Key, major/minor, modulation
• Syncopation, rhythm, beat terminology (1-2-3-4 and accents on the ands)
• Consonance vs dissonance; timbre
• Diegetic vs non-diegetic (source music vs underscore)
• Mickey Mousing and wall-to-wall scoring
• Overture, entr'acte, spotting session
• Cue sheets and stock music anthologies (1909 onward)
• Leitmotif; Tristan chord; Ring Cycle; thematic transformation
• Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th-century isms (Impressionism, Expressionism, American nationalism, Avant-garde, Minimalism)
• Rubato; Romantic expressive performance
• Ethnic music in film scoring; use of pop songs in cinema
• Notable filmmakers/composers mentioned: Wagner, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Copland, Philip Glass, Godfrey Hubertz, Fritz Lang, Buster Keaton, Edison (historical context), and Metropolis as a case study