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Early Film Music. Films shown starting in 1890s Projectors were noisy for silent films Live music added to cover noise Piano used with film in Paris, 1895
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Early Film Music • Films shown starting in 1890s • Projectors were noisy for silent films • Live music added to cover noise • Piano used with film in Paris, 1895 • In 1908, Paris company, Le Film d’Art,commissionedCamille Saint-Saëns to compose music for L’assassinat du Duc de Guise; live musicians played during film screeings • Work by Saint-Saëns was a success, but increased expense for theaters
Featured Listening : “Main Theme” from Star Warsby John Williams • Composed for film in 1977 • Movie music • Moderate tempo, slows near the end • Orchestra • Quadruple meter with some triple meter • Listen to the opening fanfare, heroic theme, battle music, and Princess Leia’s leitmotif Listening Excerpt from CD 2, tracks 38, p. 339-340
Listening Guide:The Main Theme from Star Wars(contd.) • Fanfare • Heroic theme played by brass and percussion, then entire orchestra • Light and soft transition • Strings build intensity • Battle music (triple meter), then syncopated punctuations obscure meter • Heroic theme returns in quadruple meter • Princess Leia’s leitmotif is played by cellos and basses • Heroic theme in high brass • Fanfare-like statements in brass • Tempo slows and intensity drops • Closes with music from Elgar’s The Coronation March