Foreign Correspondent

Last year Jeff Smith published an essay on David Bordwell's website Observations on Film Art: here is a link to "Spies face the music: Jeff Smith on FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT."

According to Smith, "if you want to get a handle on the basic features of the classical paradigm, Foreign Correspondent’s typicality makes it [very] useful as an exemplar.  Newman’s music neatly illustrates several of the traits commonly associated with the classical Hollywood score’s dramatic functions." The essay is in fact a detailed enumeration and interpretation of leitmotifs. Despite being somewhat understated in many places, Newman's score is densely constructed with musical themes, and Smith does an excellent job of unraveling the complicated web of themes and their uses.

Note: The leitmotif is initially discussed in Chapter 5 of Hearing the Movies, under "Characteristic Music Practices in the Later Silent Era," pp. 121 ff.

Cue list for Sleepless in Seattle

Sleepless in Seattle has been a staple in my film classes from the time of its VHS release in 1993. One scene in particular—the one we call "Second Botched Meeting" in HtM, chapter 1—has remained valuable as an introduction to detailed soundtrack construction in service of narrative. However, I never did not get around to making a cue sheet for the entire film. That omission has now been filled. A PDF file is available here: Sleepless in Seattle cue list. NOTE: This link has been updated as of 30 June 2023.

As typically happens, I found the musical component of the film more complex than I remembered it from viewing. Nora Ephron's early films are well-known for their song quotations, of course, but Sleepless in Seattle also contains four original songs by Marc Shaiman, only one of which is in the credits list: "A Wink and a Smile." The other three are instrumental underscore cues that are written in traditional song form, and developed in later cues. I did not have access to a studio cue sheet and so I gave those three my own labels: "Sam & Jonah," "Magic," and "Anticipation." "Anticipation" is the music in the first part of the "Second Botched Meeting" scene and "Magic" is the slower music for the second part.

Thanks to University of Chicago professor Berthold Hoeckner for noticing and asking about the first appearance of "Magic," early in the film as Annie (Meg Ryan's character) tries on her mother's wedding dress. That alone wouldn't have been enough; but "Magic" is developed at length in scenes starting with Annie's computer search (about 50:00), so that it clearly is an associative theme (leitmotif) by the time of the "Second Botched Meeting."

I learned two things from this: (1) the fact that "Magic" is developed as a tango supports re-hearing the original version as a slow, nostalgic waltz; (2) "Magic" does indeed work as we describe it—empathically mirroring Annie's deflation in mood—but it adds to the moment the idea of the magic of first meeting.

Carl Fischer Motion Picture Music Guide, Part 3

Another set of short articles from the Motion Picture Music Guide, this time covering topics such as the advantage of medleys, the use of well-known songs for accompanying film and the leitmotif. Part one of this series is located here. Part two is located here.

Serious Selections

It is customary when no special action is being carried on in the picture, to fill out in musical score with a selection in accordance with the dominating mood in the picture. It should be taken that those parts of the selection which are dramatic (agitatos, mysteriosos, etc.) are omitted. (p. 32).

* * * * *

Medleys

Every library should contain a few old Medleys to be used in cases where the action in teh picture goes back one or more decades. The Medleys listed here cover a period of about the last thirty-five years and contain the popular Songs and Dances of that time. They can be used in whole, or in part. (p. 33)

* * * * *

The Use of Well-Known Songs

Music should represent in sound the emotions of the characters on the screen and should also interpret the action. This function of the orchestra is well within its scope. After much experimentation, arrangers of music for the motion picture have come to the conclusion that standard published works are most satisfactory for this purpose. But occasionally, there are times and situations when a well known popular song may be employed with telling effect. For example, in a domestic life comedy, when the situation reveals a backsliding husband about to return home to an angry wife, it would be quite in order for the orchestra to strike up the dashing theme of "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight." The significance of this particular song lies in its being universally known. It happens to be one of the few in which the melody is characteristic of the title. But the audience will not think of the melody so much as the words of the song. And when these interpret a situation, the effect of the picture is enhanced. What really happens is that the audience adds another title to whatever the screen may have flashed. That title in the instance cited, is "There'll Be a Hot Time," etc. It would be manifestly ludicrous for an orchestra to play this melody simply because it has a brisk rhythm. The audience would think of the words, and if these did not add to the action of the scenes they accompanied, the picture would appear ridiculous.

The nature of popular music is adaptable to farces and to light comedies, but the compositions selected should have more than a titular relationship with the photoplay they are chosen to accompany. If the composition has no great popular vogue, the music alone will carry the necessary significance, but if the music is fairly well known, orchestra leaders must take into consideration what effect the words of the song, if the composition be a song, will have on an audience. (p.33)

* * * * *

Modern Orchestra Arrangements

The modern arrangements in the Carl Fischer Orchestra Catalogue are fully cued. This permits of any portion being played first by part of the orchestra, pianissimo and gradually (or instantaneously) being brought up to full orchestra, fortissimo or vice versa. Excellent effects can often be obtained by this method.

_____________
Good motion picture music should blend unerringly with the picture, and should be made to appear to the audience as an inseparable part of the picture itself, and not a separate and distinct attraction. (p. 34)

* * * * *

The Use of the Music Theme
The use of the "theme" in motion pictures is neither more nor less than applying to the film drama a principle Wagner introduced in opera. Wagner in his scores associates a certain theme, motive or air with the appearance of his leading characters. When they take the stage the melody with which they are identified is heard. This effective musical device has great possibilities in the picture drama, and is valuable in giving unity to music and dramatic action. The picture musician has wide freedom in the choice of his "theme" material. Most important to remember, however, is that the first requisite is a genuinely melodious theme, one which will bear repetition. A theme of pleasing outline, suave, graceful and pronouncedly melodic in type, is sufficient to establish clearly the identity of the character whose appearance it accompanies.

A theme such as that described may be varied in tempo and played either ff or pp, as the varying of the stage action may demand—the effect will be the same. It will make the role with which it is identified "stand out." The use of the "leading" theme is naturally best adapted for larger and more elaborate picture productions, in which the appearance and stage action of principals is broken up to some degree by minor incident. Yet the idea may, on occasion, if the picture conditions are favorable, be employed in smaller pictures as well. At all events the use of the theme is an idea on which the intelligent moving picture musician can ring his own variations. And in many cases he will find it of great value in "making the music fit the picture." (p. 36)

Source: Julius S. Seredy in collaboration with Chas. J. Roberts and M. Lester Lake, Motion Picture Music Guide to the Carl Fischer Modern Orchestra Catalog Indicating All the Themes and Motives Suitable for Motion Pictures and Showing their Practical Application to the Screen (New York: Carl Fischer, 1922).

Week 7 Lectures

I'm a little late getting this up. This week we jumped to Chapter 8*, "Film Style and the Sound Track," and looked at style topics and leitmotifs. I do this so I can cover all of the scene types at once. Because I need space to prepare the practicum assignment, where I have students create a sound track for a short film, I have to condense the text to fit it into a basic schedule of one week per chapter. I make the adjustment primarily in week 8, which I use to cover chapters 6, 7 and 9. I will have more comments about this particular compromise in my next pedagogical post dealing with Week 8 lectures.     *[In the 2d edition, the material of chapter 8 is in chapter 4, with the exception of "Love" themes and the scene analysis from Rebecca, which are in chapter 7.]

Chapter 8 deals with leitmotifs and style topics. Both draw on the overt signifying capacities of music, with leitmotifs forming relationships that are intrinsic only to a particular work, whereas style topics apply to those relationships that transcend the particular work and are properties of style in general. In terms of signification, the meaning of a leitmotif attaches primarily to characters, places, objects and ideas of the work (or film), whereas the meaning of a style topic is not determined by the particular work, but the signifying field of style generally construed. This means that style topics can be lifted from one work and transplanted to another without affecting their signifying properties (battle music in one work continues to signify battle music in another), though it is important to recognize that this says nothing about whether the particular battle music is a good expression of its type or whether it will seem appropriate in the new context on other grounds. It just means the signification transcends the work in which it is embedded. The issue can get somewhat confusing, however, in that leitmotifs are often also instances of style topics: the heroine will be represented by a "love theme," the solider by a military march—and it is the recurrence of a particular theme and its relationship to the unfolding story that determines whether a particular usage of a style topic is also a leitmotif.

I begin my discussion with style topics, noting that music has many conventional figures. I then suggest four categories—primitive, storm, funeral, and grotesque—and play appropriate examples from Zamecnik's Sam Fox Moving Picture Music and have students do a matching exercise to show how effectively these categories still signify for us. We then examined the issue of stereotyping through style topics, looking first at the "Indian" style topic and then the Arabian or, as it was known in the early part of the century, "Oriental" topic. For the Indian topic we looked not only at the example from the Zamecnik collection (the opening of which is reproduced in HtM, p. 207) but also its very crude form in Stagecoach (see image on right), where cuts from the stage coach to the Indian's preparing to attack are underscored by abrupt musical shifts. For an excellent overview of the issues involved with this style topic, see Michael Pisani's Imagining Native America in Music (2006).

From Indians we next move to the Oriental topic, which I trace a little more extensively. The Oriental topic has a particularly long and rich history, due to a number of factors: the importance of Biblical stories to European culture; the proximity and perceived threat of Islamic culture from the Middle Ages through to the First World War; and European imperialism are three of the most significant. The signification of the Oriental topic is also broad and slippery: it was used to indicate Arabs, Turks, and Persians, but also North Africa and the Middle East in general, Jews, Moors and even Hindus and India. This broad signification was at least in part due to the fact that the primary representation was simply "other" and "primitive," which is one reason why the music could occasionally be interchangeable with other "others," such as Native Americans, African Americans, Chinese or Japanese, especially if the signification was primarily in terms of primitive and barbaric. As examples, we looked at the "Oriental Music" from the Zamecnik collection, then turned to the Blue Parrot music from Casablanca (a transcription is given in HtM, p. 206) and to three examples from Lawrence of Arabia (HtM, p. 208). The third example from Lawrence is particularly worth noting because it records a call to prayer; its seeming authentic quality can disguise a representational character that is every bit as stereotyping as the clearly composed "Oriental exotic" topic of the main theme associated with Lawrence. (I mention in passing that The Hurt Locker also makes extensive use of calls to prayer—though never as overtly as this instance in Lawrence—for much the same purpose. I will probably incorporate The Hurt Locker into a future version of this lecture.) I then turn to the opening of Black Hawk Down, where the apparently indigenous music is combined with orchestral underscore to paint a rather traditional musical representation of Somalia as other, as a dangerous and exotic place. (This example is briefly mentioned in HtM, p. 206.) Senegalese singer Baaba Maal provides the vocals, indicating again the wide signifying capabilities of style topics of the Other—as Senegal is on the opposite coast of Africa from Somalia. More could and probably should be said on this point with respect to globalization, the failures of imperialism, pan-African identity, its relation to Islam and the civil war in Somalia—all of which is to say that the signification of this scoring decision is complicated and subtle even if it is ultimately rather traditional in function. For general issues of exoticism in music, Jonathan Bellman's collection The Exotic in Western Music and Ralph Locke's Musical Exoticism serve as useful entries into the field.

In order to emphasize that diegetic status and appropriateness for the setting neither remove music from being a style topic nor diminish the signifying capacities of the music, I play the Christmas party scene from Die Hard, where a small diegetic orchestra plays a Brandenburg Concerto as background. Here, as we note in our discussion of the scene in HtM, p. 204, the music serves most obviously as a marker of class, an important thematic concern of the film. On some of the issues of the music to Die Hard, see Robynn Stilwell, "'I Just Put a Drone Under Him...': Collage and Subversion in the Score of 'Die Hard,'" Music and Letters 78.4 (1997): 551-580.

For explaining the leitmotif, I focused on two films: Captain Blood and Fellowship of the Ring. For Captain Blood we looked at how the three themes (transcribed in HtM, p. 198) become associated with Peter Blood and signify different aspects of his character. For Fellowship of the Ring, we focused on the prologue and the precise nature of the signification of the theme that arrives with the title. In fact besides for the title card, it shows up three times in the prologue: when Isildur cuts the Ring from Sauron's finger; when Isildur loses the Ring, and when Bilbo finds it. The point is that the theme is not here associated with the Ring per se but with its passing from one character to another (and indeed Howard Shore refers to the theme as "The History of the Ring"). Moreover because the theme has these broader associations it can also serve as an effective means of audiovisual phrasing: through the appearance of the theme, the music helps divide the prologue into epochs: a long opening segment concerning the history of the forging; a very brief second segment on Isildur, a longer third segment about Gollum, and a brief coda when Bilbo takes over the Ring. Each of these "audiovisual phrases" except Gollum's is initiated with a sync point of the theme with the Ring, and in general it is the way the leitmotif establishes such sync points that makes it such an effective tool for film composers.

Sound Effects and the "Thematic" Treatment

In this column, Sinn first addresses the issue of sound effects. Responding to a complaint about sound effects that are not sufficiently realistic, Sinn somewhat uncharacteristically criticizes more broadly than his correspondent, seeing the problem not just in a lack of fidelity but in their generally undomesticated quality. Nevertheless he also makes the important claim that learning to play sound effects was a first step toward the current practice of playing the pictures, because rather than being indifferent to the picture, as the ragtime piano apparently often was, the effects attempted to find motivation in the picture. Music for the picture, he implies, is a domestication of the old, crude sound effect.

The second part of the column is devoted to the leitmotive, what Sinn here calls the "thematic" treatment. He gives a brief account of the technique and then offers Gaumont's three-reel feature, The Vengeance of Egypt as an example of how the thematic treatment can be applied to a film. Importantly, Sinn does not associate a theme with the ring per se, but rather with its effect of bringing death. In this way, the thematic treatment serves the "dominant idea of the picture," and for Sinn locating and retracing this dominant idea is the main priority of all musical accompaniment.

Here’s that old complaint again, this time from New England: “Dear Sir.—Won’t you please give the exhibitors a jolt? Several Boston picture houses permit their drummers (or some Eastern product) to beat a tumpty-tum as of horses trotting on asphalt pavement—a terrific racket—during the army and Indian pictures, when it is plain the horses are on soft or sandy soil—the dust flying so they can hardly be seen. It’s anything but “Western,” is ridiculously absurd and intensely annoying to the audience. Many people speak of it.—C. D., Dorchester, Mass.”

One would have a right to hope that this sort of thing belonged to the past. Whoever is to blame, but it manager or drummer (and I fear it is usually the latter), he can hardly plead ignorance as an excuse. Noisy, silly and incorrect “sound effects” have been so often criticised by the public, the daily papers and the moving picture trade journals—particular the Moving Picture World—that even the most thoughtless and careless out to know better. I believe “sound effects” had an immense value a few years ago. I think they contributed largely to the awakening of managers and others to the importance of appropriate music for accompanying the picture. Previous to the sound effect period anything in the shape of a ”bally-hoo” was good enough for the musical part of the show; phonographs, mechanical pianos and rag-time “thumpers” amused (?) the easily entertained patron of the moving picture novelty. Then the sound effects were introduced adding a new element of interest. They were generally noisy, crude and misplaced, but the average picture of six or seven years ago was not harmed to an appreciable extent. Even then the better element among the picture patrons resented the incorrect and noisy “effects.” To the best of my knowledge the value of appropriate music began to be advocated at that time by critics, patrons and musicians. Music for the picture has advanced to a much higher plane in the past six years; the “sound effect” idea (with many) is practically the same now as it was in its crude beginning. It must either change for the better or be doomed to oblivion.

Music Programs.
Gaumont’s three-reel feature entitled “The Vengeance of Egypt” gives an opportunity for the “thematic” treatment which occasioned some comment in this page of a couple of years ago. Some musical theme may be chosen to represent the mummy’s ring and its malignant power (as Wagner uses a motif for the Shield, Fire, Sword or other important object), and this theme should be repeated each time the ring changes hands—that is, when it is developed that the ring has found a new victim. This theme should be of a weird, mysterious character; the third movement (doloroso) of Theo. Bendix’s “Hindoo Priest’s Incantation” is offered as a suggestion. If this is used it should be played slowly to end of number if necessary; if not long enough repeat from the same place (3rd movement doloroso). I believe it would be a good idea to use one plaintive also for the death of each victim of the ring; though not really necessary, it would still further carry out the “thematic” form and emphasize the dominant idea of the picture—the vengeance following the ring.

“THE VENGEANCE OF EGYPT” (Gaumont).

1. Marseilles. Begin softly; swell as Napoleon entersl diminish when slaves stoop to raise mummy casket. When casket is upright change to:
2. First part of “Sultan’s Dream” (Bendix) or any Oriental of mysterious character. At title: “Lieut. Berard, Officer of the Guard,” very softly until case is opened. Swell to mf until “The Mummy is Despoiled.”
3. Mysterious until he takes ring from mummy’s finger, then:
4. Theme of ring. I have suggested the third movement of Theo. Bendix’s “Hindoo Priest’s Incantation” for this. It will be referred to as “Theme” whenever it occurs. Repeat until title: “The Home of Charlotte Gartier.”
5. “Daisies” (from Bendix’s Floral Suite) until “A Weird Dream.”
6. “Theme” till vision; then:
7. First part of “Sultan’s Dream,” until vision over.
8. “Theme” again until after newspaper item shown.
9. Plaintive until end of reel.

Part Two.

1. Gavotte until he takes ring from cabinet.
2. “Theme until next title.
3. “Lilies” (or bright light waltz) until: “The Ring’s Second Victim.”
4. “Theme” until burglar enters behind girl.
5. Mysterious till change of scene.
6. Waltz lento (“Devotion”) until title: “The Antiquary Loves to Descend to His Shop.”
7. “Theme” until: “The Ring’s Third Victim.”
8. “Miama” (by Neil Moret) until: “The Ring’s Fourth Victim.”
9. Waltz until man is scene with gun.
10. Mysterious until “The Empty Boat.”
11. Pathetic (some [sic] as end of first reel) until end of reel.

Part Third.

1. Waltz or Novelette until he puts ring on girl’s finger.
2. “Theme” until title; “Paul Is a Daring and Successful Aviator.”
3. Lively Intermezzo till machine starts.
4. “Theme” (faster this time—agitated character) until machine is seen wrecked.
5. Crescendo until title: “From the Fingers Cold in Death.”
6. Pathetic (same as before) until title: “The Journey.”
7. “Passion” (by Hager) until: “Into the Depths of Doom.”
8. Agitato until: “The Fisherman’s Discovery.”
9. “Passion” again until mummy case is opened.
10. First Part of “Sultan’s Dream” until close.

Another fine picture with the atmosphere of ancient Egypt is
“WHEN SOUL MEETS SOUL” (Essanay).

1. “Autumn (by Losey) until letter is shown.
2. “Egyptian Love Dance” pp and crescendo until: “Off to Battle.”
3. Soft agitato until: “The Return From the War.”
4. “Isis” (Witmark). Begin soft and slow through two scenes, then crescendo and quicken to march tempo until they are about to drink at the table.
5. Agitato (soft) until change of scene.
6. “Egyptian Love Dance” until old man awakes.
7. “Heartsease” (by Moret) until close.

Through favor of W. E. King, of the Orpheum Theater, Chicago, I offer the musical accompaniment (as played by his orchestra of
“ROMEO AND JULIET” (Pathe)

1. “A Little Story” (by Zimmerman; pub. by Carl Fischer) until title: “Hopelessly in Love with Romeo.
2. “Reconciliation” (Bendix) until reception scene.
3. Gavotte (Harp effect) until all exit but two.
4. Barcarolle from “Tales of Hoffman,” until they enter church.
5. Religioso until: “Provoked By His Rival.”
6. Soft agitato until he is brought before the duke.
7. Rather slow and solemn. (Could use introduction of “Poet and Peasant.”—Ed.) “Romeo Takes Leave of Juliet.”
8. The Roses Honymoon” (Bratton) until end of reel.

Part Second.

1. “Roses and Memories” (Ted Snyder) until: “Friar Laurence Gives Juliet.”
2. “Melody of Peace” (Carl Fischer) until title: “Romeo Ignorant of the Death of Juliet.”
3. “Pansies” (Witmark) until funeral procession seen coming down steps.
4. Funeral March (Sousa’s “Our Honored Dead”) until Romeo is left alone with bier.
5. “Longing” (Pathetic) from Theo. Bendix suite until close.

Source: Clarence E. Sinn, “Music for the Picture,” Moving Picture World 25 January 1913, 352.

Musical Themes from Glory

In Ch. 3 of HtM, we discuss a scene from Glory (1989) in detail. In the graphic below, I have transcribed three important melodies, two of which appear in that scene or immediately thereafter. The Bugle Call (a) was heard early in the film and is played again at the end. Melodies (b) and (c) are the principal themes in James Horner's orchestral underscore, which is developed almost entirely out of them (they even form the basis of the end credits music). Theme (c) often follows immediately after (b), as if it's an ending phrase (or coda), but it is used independently as well.

Theme (a) appears in its entirety during the second segment of the party scene, a conversation between Shaw and Governor Andrew, at the mention of Antietam (DVD timing 00:11:40). Theme (b) appears in the third segment, under conversation (00:13:00) as Shaw and his friend Forbes talk about forming the regiment, then more plainly in the foreground @ 00:13:44. Details for the first part of the scene are given in HtM. Here is a link to a page that gives details of the second and third parts: Boston Party Scene, 2-3.

Thematic association and Casablanca

As the final, summarizing example for style topics (HtM, Ch. 8), specifically for theme, leitmotive, and thematic association, I used these four sequences from Casablanca: Rick and Ilsa meet again -- DVD ch. 13; after hours (first night) -- DVD ch. 15; after hours (second night) -- DVD ch. 29; and the ending -- DVD ch. 34. The first three all make use of the signature stinger chord (in fact, these are the only three places it occurs in the film), and the second and third have some close relationships of other musical material (to the point that the third can virtually be considered a "variation" of the second). Students have no difficulty with the leitmotive (the opening of the chorus for "As Time Goes By"), given the way it is first introduced (in ch. 13), and the treatments of the theme in the four sequences offer opportunity for discussion of reinterpreted contexts.

Obviously, many other examples might work as well, but this was relatively compact (useful for a compressed summer semester course) yet gave a good sense of musical strategies in the film as a whole.