The Origins Of Film Music In The 1920's

Music composition for film and television is a broad style that surrounds a wide variety of moods and genres. The origins of film music can be traced back to the era of silent film in the early 1900s. Pianists, and in larger theaters, entire orchestras, were initially hired to lead the action on the screen with sound in order to mask the noisy projector. However, it soon became clear that the ability of music to enhance the audience’s experience extended far beyond this practical purpose. With the arrival on the ‘talkies’ in the late 1920s, and especially with the arrival of several classically trained European composers to the United States in the 1930s, an entire industry dedicated to the scoring of film soundtracks blossomed in Hollywood.

For example, the opening credits for the popular TV series Lost (2006) shows an obscure scene that only reveals the title of the series. The dynamics of the music that accompanies these early moments (sharp, atonal sounds that gradually swell into a loud, sudden finish) signal the audience they are about to watch a drama with a supernatural twist. While Michael Giacchino scored the soundtrack for Lost, the 16-second opening track was composed by the show’s creator, J.J. Abrams, and is typical of the series’ suspenseful and chaotic

Tiomkin, an incredibly prolific and successful Ukrainian-born composer who, like Steiner, immigrated to the United States in the 1930s, is credited with developing the musical signature of Western classics like High Noon (1952). The movie’s Academy Award winning theme song “Do Not Forsake Me,” set the standard for the use of theme songs in the Western genre. The song plays in its entirety during the opening credits. As a narration device, it summarizes the story and identifies the dramatic battle that will play out on the screen. In effect, the song creates a tense, suspenseful atmosphere and hints towards an inevitable dramatic climax, without disclosing too much information on how these conflicts will be resolved. The leitmotiv function is apparent throughout the film, as instrumental extracts from the song are repeated to remind the audience of the protagonist’s torment and fear of losing his beloved, and his unescapable duty to confront his