Music: Film music

For more than forty years, readers of The Age newspaper have learned about the latest films through the interpretations and judgements of Brian McFarlane, now himself a Melbourne institution of sorts. Over that time McFarlanes reviews of and articles on film have also featured in Australian Book Review, Cinema Papers, Inside Story, Meanjin, Metro, Screening the Past, Senses of Cinema, Sight & Sound, and many other newspapers, magazines and journals. This selection of McFarlanes writings on film, taken as a whole, tells a story about what has brought us back to the cinema again and again, from recent times to a now more distant past. His writing is sprinkled with wit and insight.

The esteemed film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum has brought global cinema to American audiences for the last four decades. His incisive writings on individual filmmakers define film culture as a diverse and ever-evolving practice, unpredictable yet subject to analyses just as diversified as his own discriminating tastes. For Rosenbaum, there is no high or low cinema, only more interesting or less interesting films, and the pieces collected here, from an appreciation of Marilyn Monroe's intelligence to a classic discussion on and with Jean-Luc Godard, amply testify to his broad intellect and multi-faceted talent. Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia gathers together over fifty examples of Rosenbaum's criticism from the past four decades, each of which demonstrates his passion for the way we view movies, as well as how we write about them. Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia is a consummate collection of his work, for all those open to the wide variety of films he embraces and helps us to elucidate.

For nearly half a century, Roger Ebert's wide knowledge, keen judgment, prodigious energy, and sharp sense of humor made him America's most renowned and beloved film critic. From Ebert's Pulitzer Prize to his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, from his astonishing output of daily reviews to his pioneering work on television with Gene Siskel, his was a career in cinema criticism without peer. Arriving fifty years after Ebert published his first film review in 1967, this second edition of Awake in the Dark collects Ebert's essential writings into a single, irresistible volume. Featuring new Top Ten Lists and reviews of the years' finest films through 2012, this edition allows both fans and film buffs to bask in the best of an extraordinary lifetime's work. Including reviews from The Godfather to GoodFellas and interviews with everyone from Martin Scorsese to Meryl Streep, as well as showcasing some of Ebert's most admired essays--among them a moving appreciation of John Cassavetes and a loving tribute to the virtues of black-and-white films--Ebert's Awake in the Dark is a treasure trove not just for fans of this era-defining critic, but for anyone desiring a compulsively readable chronicle of the silver screen. Stretching from the dramatic rise of rebel Hollywood and the heyday of the auteur to the triumph of blockbuster films such as Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, to the indie revolution that is still with us today, Awake in the Dark reveals a writer whose exceptional intelligence and daily bursts of insight and enthusiasm helped shape the way we think about the movies. But more than this, Awake in the Dark is a celebration of Ebert's inimitable voice--a voice still cherished and missed.

Dave Kehr's writing about film has garnered high praise from both readers and fellow critics. Among his admirers are some of his most influential contemporaries. Roger Ebert called Kehr "one of the most gifted film critics in America." James Naremore thought he was "one of the best writers on film the country as a whole has ever produced." But aside from remarkably detailed but brief capsule reviews and top-ten lists, you won't find much of Kehr's work on the Internet, and many of the longer and more nuanced essays for which he is best known have not yet been published in book form. This is the second collection of Kehr's criticism, written during his time at the Chicago Reader and the Chicago magazine from 1974 to 1986. "The majority of the reviews offer in-depth analyses of individual films that are among Kehr's favorites, from a thoughtful discussion of the sobering Holocaust documentary Shoah to an irresistible celebration of the raucous comedy Used Cars. But fans of Kehr's work will be just as taken by his dissections of critically acclaimed films he found disappointing, including The Shining, Apocalypse Now, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

No film critic has ever been as influential as Roger Ebert. Over more than four decades, he built a reputation writing reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times and, later, arguing onscreen with rival Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel and later Richard Roeper about the movies they loved and loathed. Great Movies IV is the fourth--and final--collection of Roger Ebert's essays, comprising sixty-two reviews of films ranging from the silent era to the recent past. From films like The Cabinet of Caligari and Viridiana that have been considered canonical for decades to movies only recently recognized as masterpieces to Superman, The Big Lebowski, and Pink Floyd: The Wall, the pieces gathered here demonstrate the critical acumen seen in Ebert's daily reviews and the more reflective and wide-ranging considerations that the longer format allowed him to offer. Ebert's essays are joined here by an insightful foreword by film critic Matt Zoller Seitz, the current editor-in-chief of the official Roger Ebert website, and a touching introduction by Chaz Ebert.

The London Symphony Orchestra performs this is a collection of themes from Goldsmith's movies. You can also access the extensive CD liner notes.

See th BBC Interview with Jerry Goldsmith (1969) in this book which is a unique sourcebook of writings on music for film, bringing together fifty-three critical documents, many previously inaccessible. It includes essays by those who created the music--Max Steiner, Erich Korngold, Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein and Howard Shore--and outlines the major trends, aesthetic choices, technological innovations, and commercial pressures that have shaped the relationship between music and film from 1896 to the present. Julie Hubbert's introductory essays offer a stimulating overview of film history as well as critical context for the close study of these primary documents. In identifying documents that form a written and aesthetic history for film music, Celluloid Symphonies provides an astonishing resource for both film and music scholars and for students.

"Musicologist/composer David Raksin discusses the career of his friend, the eminent film composer Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975). Many film clips illustrate his themes, and Raksin demonstrates some of "Herrmann's techniques on the piano. Herrmann stands as one of the geniuses in the art, and was a pioneer and risk taker in many of his approaches.

Includes the Concerto Macabre and a suite from Citizen Kane as well as suites from two of the most imaginatively orchestrated scores by the composer, Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953) and White Witch Doctor (1953).

No composer contributed more to film than Bernard Herrmann, who in over 40 scores enriched the work of such directors as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, François Truffaut, and Martin Scorsese. In this first major biography of the composer, Steven C. Smith explores the interrelationships between Herrmann's music and his turbulent personal life, using much previously unpublished information to illustrate Herrmann's often outrageous behaviour, his working methods, and why his music has had such lasting impact. From his first film (Citizen Kane) to his last (Taxi Driver), Herrmann was a master of evoking psychological nuance and dramatic tension through music, often using unheard-of instrumental combinations to suit the dramatic needs of a film. His scores are among the most distinguished ever written, ranging from the fantastic (Fahrenheit 451, The Day the Earth Stood Still) to the romantic (Obsession, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir) to the terrifying (Psycho). His music was commissioned and performed by the New York Philharmonic, and he was chief conductor of the CBS Symphony.

Regarded as one of the greatest film composers of all time, Bernard Herrmann was responsible for some of the most memorable music in film. His work with Alfred Hitchcock produced a slew of classics including Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and Psycho (1960). Several years before collaborating with Hitchcock, however, Herrmann composed the brilliant score for The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), which remained a personal favourite of the composer's. Herrmann's score reinforces the film's romantic theme, and much of the music has an appropriately elegiac quality. In mood, orchestration, and even to some extent thematic identity, it seems to prefigure his music for Vertigo. Cooper traces the development of Herrmann's craft as a film composer, especially through his radio work, where he made contact with many of the great artists of the age, most notably Orson Welles. This association was to give him a passport to Hollywood and led to the scoring of his first film, Citizen Kane. Herrmann's later film scores of the 1940s included The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Magnificent Ambersons, and Jane Eyre. In this guide, Cooper considers Herrmann's musical technique and offers a theorization of some of the ways in which music can be "meaningful" in film. Cooper also provides a quantitative, evidence-based study of the score. In doing so, he discusses the extent to which Herrmann adopted screenwriter Philip Dunne's suggestions for music.

Famous for movie classics like ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, ‘The Professional’, ‘Cinema Paradiso’, ‘The Mission’, he has composed over 500 film scores in an illustrious film music career, lasting more than 50 years. This collection offers 36 ultimate tracks of Morricone’s most beloved works, partly conducted by the maestro himself.

Master composer Ennio Morricone's scores go hand-in-hand with the idea of the Western film. Often considered the world's greatest living film composer, and most widely known for his innovative scores to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly , Sergio Leone's movies, The Mission, Cinema Paradiso and more recently, The Hateful Eight, Morricone has spent the past 60 years reinventing the sound of cinema. In Ennio Morricone: In His Own Words, composers Ennio Morricone and Alessandro De Rosa present a years-long discussion of life, music, and the unpredictable ways that the two come into contact with and influence each other. The result is what Morricone himself defines: "beyond a shadow of a doubt the best book ever written about me, the most authentic, the most detailed and well curated. The truest. Opening for the first time the door of his creative laboratory, Morricone offers an exhaustive and rich account of his life, from his early years of study to genre-defining collaborations with the most important Italian and international directors. In the process, Morricone unveils the curious relationship that links music and images in cinema, as well as the creative urgency at the foundation of his experimentations with "absolutemusic".

With nearly 400 scores to his credit, Ennio Morricone is one of the most prolific and influential film composers working today. He has collaborated with many significant directors, and his scores for such films as The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; Once Upon a Time in America; Days of Heaven; The Mission; The Untouchables; Mal na; and Cinema Paradiso leave moviegoers with the conviction that something special was achieved--a conviction shared by composers, scholars, and fans alike. In Composing for the Cinema: The Theory and Praxis of Music in Film, Morricone and musicologist Sergio Miceli present a series of lectures on the composition and analysis of film music. Adapted from several lectures and seminars, these lessons show how sound design can be analyzed and offer a variety of musical solutions to many different kinds of film. Though aimed at composers, Morricone's expositions are easy to understand and fascinating even to those without any musical training. Drawing upon scores by himself and others, the composer also provides insight into his relationships with many of the directors with whom he has collaborated, including Sergio Leone, Giuseppe Tornatore, Franco Zeffirelli, Warren Beatty, Ridley Scott, Roland Joff , the Taviani Brothers, and others. Translated and edited by Gillian B. Anderson, an orchestral conductor and musicologist, these lessons reveal Morricone's passion about musical expression. Delivered in a conversational mode that is both comprehensible and interesting, this groundbreaking work intertwines analysis with practical details of film music composition. Aimed at a wide audience of composers, musicians, film historians, and fans, Composing for the Cinema contains a treasure trove of practical information and observations from a distinguished musicologist and one of the most accomplished composers on the international film scene.

Acclaimed director Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) reunites with renowned composer Ennio Morricone for The Best Offer, a dramatic mystery set in the high-stakes world of European art auctions. Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush) is a solitary, cultured man whose reluctance to engage with others, especially women, is matched only by the dogged obsessiveness with which he practices his profession as a high-end antiques dealer. One day Virgil receives a phone call from a mysterious young heiress, Claire (Sylvia Hoeks), who asks him to evaluate some family works of art. It will be the beginning of a relationship that will change his life forever.

Christopher Nolan's caped crusader trilogy--Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises--is considered by many to be one of the finest translations of comic book characters to the big screen. The second film in the series, The Dark Knight, was both a critical and commercial success, featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Heath Ledger as the Joker. The score--by Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer and eight-time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard--also received accolades, including a Grammy. Intricately interwoven with the sound design--and incorporating Mel Wesson's ground-breaking ambient music design, --Zimmer's and Howard's music gives the film an added layer of ominous tones that makes palpable the menace facing Gotham City. In Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's The Dark Knight: A Film Score Guide, Vasco Hexel delves into the composers' backgrounds to reveal the many facets of meaning in the highs and lows of the score. This book also highlights the working methods of Zimmer and Howard and how they collaborated with each other and the filmmaking team to create such a memorable soundtrack. By drawing on unprecedented access to some of the key creators of the film, the author provides unique insights into the score's composition. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's The Dark Knight: A Film Score Guide will be of interest to cinema and music scholars, as well as fans of both composers.

This book includes a chapter 'Hans Zimmer and the sounds of significance' by Frank Lehman. As both a distinct genre and a particular mode of filmmaking, the idea of the epic has been central to the history of cinema. Including contributions from both established and emerging film music scholars, There are ten essays which provide a cross-section of contemporary scholarship on the subject. They explore diverse topics, including the function of music in epic narratives, the socio-political implications of cinematic music, and the use of pre-existing music in epic films.

Senses of Cinema was founded in late 1999 to address the absence in Australian film culture of an informed and serious cinema magazine. Soon after its launch, Senses of Cinema garnered the interest and respect of readers worldwide. As an Australian-based journal, the editors have a commitment to the regular, wide-ranging analysis and critique of Australian cinema, past and present. Senses of Cinema is primarily concerned with ideas about particular films or bodies of work, but also with the regimes (ideological, economic and social) under which films are produced and viewed, and with the more abstract theoretical and philosophical issues raised by film study.

Studies in Australasian Cinema is a scholarly journal devoted to the screen cultures of, and film scholarship from, the Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific region. The journal features academic articles focusing on current and historical trends, representations, themes, styles, debates and scholarly work.

Music and the Moving Image, published by the University of Illinois, publishes articles that explore the relationship between music and the entire universe of moving images (film, television, music videos, computer games, performance art, and web-based media) through articles, reviews and interviews.

A bi-monthly trade journal that covers music in the movies, news, interviews, reviews and commentary. It also offers updates on releases, upcoming assignments (who's scoring what for whom), and CD reviews. There are feature articles on composers and behind-the-scenes looks at film music production.

This peer-reviewed journal provides a forum for the musicological study of film from the standpoint of dramatic musical art. Articles use analytical tools and methodologies of historical, systematic, cognitive, and ethnomusicology all of which are relevant to the study of film music. Authors seek to both document and illuminate film practice through source studies, analysis, theory, and criticism.

The Soundtrack is a multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed journal that brings together research in the area of music and sound in relation to film and other moving image media. The journal's aim is to nurture an expanding area of academic investigation, in dialogue with soundtrack producers of all kinds.

Music, Sound and the Moving Image (MSMI) is the first international scholarly journal devoted to the study of the interaction between music and sound in moving image media, including film, television, music video, advertising, computer games, mixed-media installation, digital art, live cinema, etc. The journal is truly interdisciplinary, inviting contributions across a range of critical methodologies, including musicology and music analysis, film studies, popular music studies, cultural theory, aesthetics, semiotics, sociology, marketing, sound studies, and music psychology.