films shown starting in 1890s projectors were noisy for silent films live music added to cover noise...
TRANSCRIPT
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, commissioned Camille 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
Listening Excerpt from CD 2,
tracks 38, p.
339-340
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
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