Radio show music

I have posted to my Google Drive a PDF file titled "Tables of Contents for Radio Show Music Collections": link. [Link updated 3-01-2024.]

As of March 20, 2024, the remainder of this post, including the tables of contents named in the title, has been moved to a file published on the Texas ScholarWorks platform: Film Music: Some Posts from Blogs. 

Theatre and radio organists: John Gart

As of March 20, 2024, the content of this post, including a list of musical topics and some musical examples, has been moved to a file published on the Texas ScholarWorks platform: Film Music: Some Posts from Blogs. 

Theatre and radio organists: Fred Feibel

As of March 20, 2024, the content of this post, including annotated musical examples, has been moved to a file published on the Texas ScholarWorks platform: Film Music: Some Posts from Blogs. 

How and What to Play For Moving Pictures

The catalogues of Seredy, Rapee, Borodkin and Hastings all date from the 1920s and they emphasize orchestral music. The same is true for the most elaborate of these catalogues, the Allgemeines Handbuch der Film-Musik of Erdmann and Becce.

The idea of a list of music catalogued by topics occurred early, however. Numerous times in the early days of his column, Clarence E. Sinn had mentioned a list he had compiled and was willing to share with correspondents for the cost of postage—though he declined to publish it in his column and so the extent of its coverage remains unclear.

The first publication I’m aware of that sees cataloguing music by topic as key to the whole enterprise is Lyle C. True’s How and What to Play for Moving Pictures: A Manual and Guide for Pianists (1914), which, aside from a two page introduction (reproduced below), consists almost entirely of a list of compositions catalogued by topic. Earlier publications had also contained topically arranged lists of compositions as part of longer works, but these lists were initially fairly short and clearly conceptualized as appendices rather than a primary order of musical knowledge.

The primacy given to the categorization is what changes with True's collection, even though his treatise remains relatively short: 11 pages of catalogue proper divided into about a dozen categories (some with subdivisions). In addition, he includes 7 additional pages that analyze well-known operas, operettas, and overtures into categories and also provide a list of some common, useful popular songs.

Here is the preface:

How and What to Play for Motion Pictures

The motion picture pianist who would be above the mere mechanical devices in playing for the picture must, first of all, take his work seriously. He should be able at once to recognize the dramatic possibilities of a picture and to augment and support them through the medium of his art.

It is obvious, of course, that the solo pianist has an advantage over two or more musicians through being able to watch the pictures and play at the same time. He can instantly follow each change of mood and character, and support the climaxes as it becomes desirable.

It is not sufficient, in many cases, merely to select a number of compositions of a given character, and to play them through as the drama is shown on the screen. To do so is to miss completely the scores of opportunities that arise for fitting the music to the action.

The pianist should create a tone poem that forms a frame, as it were, for the picture: and this involves a true test of his musicianship. To do this well, he should have at his finger tips a large and varied repertoire, and the ability to improvise, so as to unite several, or the fragments of many compositions into a pleasing and effective whole.

As a good accompanist merges his work with that of a soloist to a degree that the hearer is entirely oblivious of his work, so the good picture pianist makes the music so intregal [sic] a part of the picture that the two become one perfect, inseparable, and harmonious whole.

Of course there are scenes and situations requiring no particular kind of music, and yet even here, lack of judgment and taste can work to disadvantage.

After having read the synopsis of the picture in the "Moving Picture World", which is, of course, an essential guide in his work, and having gotten an idea of its general atmosphere, he can select from the particular group of compositions required,

[3]

those single numbers that his taste tells him are best suited. It is needless to say that often his second performance will be an improvement on the first, as some details, not forseen [sic], are sure to suggest more accurately fitting accompaniment.

It is the object of the classified lists and notes on the following pages to aid the player in the selection of suitable material, but he must use good judgment in fitting his selections, whole or in part, in modulating smoothly, and in playing through a picture without break or interruption.

Many songs are included, and these he will, of course, transcribe into piano solos, as they form one of the most valuable groups of his material.

The classification of the following numbers does not mean that they cannot be used for other situations, as, for example, numbers like the Grieg Nocturne, while pastoral in character, would be fine for a sad, or a love scene. The classification simply shows what they are originally written to picture. This is left to the judgment of the pianist.

Time and money spent in acquiring a good library of music is well spent, and this is a part of the preparation for those better positions that are sure to appear when the possibilities of the picture pianist's work are fully recognized, and when he will have developed with the demand created by the higher conception of this offices by the public.

In the better houses the ill-toned and often blatent [sic] mechanical instrument has given way to the grand piano and the ten thousand dollar pipe organ, played by an ambitious artist who is not satisfied to "get by" with a few stock tunes of questionable fitness.

The ambitious picture pianist is proud of his work, and glad of the opportunity never before so favorable, of bringing really good music to countless millions who are in a receptive mood and have no other opportunity of hearing music of lasting merit.

The following list, which includes many gems in piano literature, contains nothing which the author has not used often, and every class embraces the most suitable selections for its character and mood.

LYLE C. TRUE

Because it emphasizes categorization, the book appears almost entirely devoted to “what,” with the “how” covered mostly implicitly, through the act of choosing from the catalogue on the one hand and the presentation of a brief exemplar on the other.

This is a scan of the first two pages of the catalogue:



Here is True's example musical interpretation for Vitagraph's The Mystery of the Hidden House (1914).

The object of this book is to deal with the standard music and the serious pictures.

The following synopsis of the Vitagraph release, "The [Mystery of the] Hidden House" will serve as a model to the pianist showing what type of music to use for woodland or forest scenes, poetic fantasy, contrasts of sorrow and gladness, dancing and love scenes.

This two reel subject also demonstrates how much music is required (with no improvising) playing the music successively from beginning to end of the second reel.

There Is so much good music of this type, that the improvising of the average pianist would suffer in comparison.

[21]

"The Mystery of the Hidden House"
Synopsis

The music was played as follows:

Reel 1

Who is Sylvia. Song—Schubert
Moon Moths (entire suite; 3 numbers)—Kussner
Song of the Waternymph—Rhode
Festival in the Fields—Bachmann
The Lake of Como—Galos
What the Pond Lillies [sic] Whispered—Betts
Scarf Dance—Chaminade
Narcissus—Nevin

Reel 2

Dance of the Hours (from ''La Gioconda")—Ponchielli
Pas de Fleur (Nalla)—Delibes
Venezia (complete suite; 4 numbers)—Nevin
Strophe—Bartholdy
Pourquoi?—Latour
Serenade—Drigo

While tramping the hills of Virginia on his vacation, Dick Marston, a young minister, sprains his ankle. Moina Jardine, a demure little mountain maiden, assists him to her grandfather's home, "The Hidden House." Marston learns that Moina is subject to great stress of mind, at times. She tells him she and her sister, Robina, take turns caring for Mr. Jardine. Marston falls in love with the beautiful Moina. but Mr. Jardine and Mercy, the colored servant, say "Wait until you see Robina!" One day, Moina turns from Marston and begs her grandfather to explain the Mystery, but is angrily told to keep silent. That night Marston, walking in the grounds, meets Moina. She seems dazed, tells him that Robina comes! She disappears, leaving him greatly puzzled. The next morning Robina, beautiful and bewitching, comes dancing in.

Mr. Jardine and Mercy decorate the house and at night, before the blazing logs the colored servant tells witch stories. Marston, in his room, sees Robina dancing through the grounds in the moonlight. She pouts and goes straight up his room, laughing at his displeasure. Seeing a picture of Moina, she angrily tears it in pieces and rushes out. Marston is fascinated by Robina and one day, seizing her in his arms, he kisses her passionately. Suddenly her expression changes. She cries out that Moina is coming and falls unconscious. The girl is cared for by Jardine and Mercy, and when Marston next sees her, finds she is once more the sweet and gentle Moina. Appalled at the strange phenomena, he Is overcome with emotion. The grandfather explains that Moina is a dual personality, possessed in turn with the soul of Moina and that of Robina, which explains why Marston has never seen the two girls together, but he now knows that Moina and Robina are one and the same. Marston later meets Moina in the garden and tenderly takes her in his arms, telling her of his love. The mystery of the "Hidden House" is solved and Robina is only a memory of the past.

A scan of the whole book is available here [8 MB].

Sam Fox Motion Picture Music Catalogue

Catalogues classifying music by mood were quite common in the 1920s. We have already posted scans from Seredy's two catalogues from Fischer, Rapee's Encyclopedia from Schirmer as well as Bodokin's general collection. Today, we turn to the Sam Fox company. In 1929, J. B. Hastings published a loose-leaf volume very much in the spirit of Rapee's Encyclopedia (without the extensive notes and advice for exhibitors). The title of the collection was Classified Catalogue of Sam Fox Publishing Co. Motion Picture Music. Here the idea seems to have been to layout a proper cataloguing system for a music library that served a large movie theater. Preprinted in the catalogue were all of the appropriate items from the Sam Fox backlist, but Hastings' collection also contained ample room for the theater to log its own music and included numerous empty pages for this purpose. (The collection was also only printed on the recto side of the paper, leaving the verso free for additions as well.)

Here is the table of contents for Hastings' Classified Catalogue. (The copy I had access to did not include a title page.)



And this is the entry for Agitato:

Borodkin's Guide To Motion Picture Music

Here are some scans of the opening pages of Maurice Borodkin's Guide To Motion Picture Music from 1928, which unlike Rapee's Encyclopedia, the catalogues Seredy compiled for Fischer is not much mentioned in the literature. This is very similar to the Carl Fischer Motion Picture Music Guide compiled by Seredy et al. in 1922, albeit Borodkin's guide is not restricted to pieces by a single publisher. Borodkin's collection does not include the extensive information on each piece that Seredy's 1929 Analytical Orchestra does, but it is published in loose-leaf format which would have permitted easy updating of the content.

Borodkin apparently worked for Balaban & Katz, which by the time Borodkin compiled his Guide had been acquired by Paramount to form the basis of its Publix Theatre chain. The book was privately published and as such the details of why it was published are somewhat murky. One possibility is that the Guide was first assembled to help establish a degree of musical uniformity among the Publix theaters and was then offered for sale to music directors of other theaters. Why Publix would have permitted the dissemination of such proprietary information, however, is unclear, as is why the company would have allowed Borodkin to publish it on his own.

PREFACE

No one but the experienced musical director or organist can appreciate what a task the synchronization or fitting of appropriate music to a music picture is. The other numbers on the average picture house program, the overture, presentations, musical novelties, etc. are prepared along accepted lines but the job of setting the feature picture and the various short subjects to music is frequently the stumbling block of some of the most capable musicians.

There are many fine points to be learned before one can be really called competent to provide suitable music to the action of the film offerings. The volume of work that surrounds most picture theatre conductors and organists is generally so great the time in which to develop the art of cueing pictures is seldom available and every aid must be employed to complete the job.

To actually cue a picture correctly and artistically presupposes adequate equipment in musical knowledge and considerable experience. A finely balanced artistic sense of the propriety of things. An intimate and readily accessible knowledge of dramatic emotions, moods, scenes, incidents, climaxes and their musical complements.

To know even a part of this requires more time than the average musician can afford and so Borodkin's Guide to Motion Picture Music makes it bow and finds a place already awaiting it in the musician's library. To the thousands who prefer to specialize in their own work it places the work of cueing in the hands of an expert.

Maurice Borodkin, in the compilation of this carefully planned work has rendered a definite service to the profession—a service plainly apparent even by hasty investigation. More than six thousand numbers—in daily use in the finest De Luxe theatres throughout the country—are classified and sub-classified into more than one hundred and fifty distinct categories.

Each mood is accurately defined in plain language so that musician does not have to consult an encyclopedia of a musical dictionary. Each piece in a suite, potpourri, or medley is individually mentioned. This is a valuable point, for one will often remember but a single chorus of a selection and forget just where to look for it in the confusion ensuing from an overburdened memory.

The general task of filing is reduced to the extremely simple one of putting one's library away in consecutive, numerical order. There are even interesting program notes included which will assist the musician who has to furnish the explanatory material for his concerts. It is entirely a loose-leaf affair,—which means that the work can be added to from time to time and thus kept up to date.

Finally, this Guide is written in such simple language, it is so thorough in its scope of application, and so accurate in its attention to the details of classification that the user can compile his entire score away from his library. Once having completed a selection it is only necessary to look the numbers up and the score is complete and ready for the pit!

In this manner Mr. Borodkin relieves the musician of the tedious detail and lessens the experience otherwise necessary to do good work. He has had intimate acquaintance with thousands of musical compositions during his fifteen years of library experience so that "Borodkin's Guide To Motion Picture Music" ought to deserve a place in every serious musician's library for its value in picture fitting. The serious professional will not be without it.

—HENRY FRANCIS PARKS,
Instructor of Theatre Organ Chicago Musical College.

And here are scans of the "agitato" section of the Guide:

Carl Fischer's Motion Picture Music Guide

The large music publishing firms recognized the value of selling music to the picture theaters fairly early on, and they quickly developed music specially suited to playing the pictures. Publishers also recognized that cinemas were ideal places to monetize their back catalogues. It was toward this end that Carl Fischer "published for the convenience of the profession" its Motion Picture Music Guide, which was essentially the Fischer orchestra catalogue organized according to the needs of a cinema orchestra. Compiled by Julius S. Seredy, Charles J. Roberts and M. Lester Lake, 1922 version ran about 30 pages of double-columned entries. Here is the opening of the collection:


You can see that each entry carries a classification, title, composer, catalogue number and price category.

The later better known 1929 version is far more extensive, running 244 pages albeit with a single column:

The new arrangement adds key, meter, tempo and duration to each line and this has clearly been laid out as much to be useful as to sell music.

Besides the entries, the 1922 version had also sprinkled a fair amount of advise throughout the catalogue. (The 1929 version, by contrast, has little text other than the preface.) Here is the text that introduces the 1922 version:

SIX REASONS

WHY

The MOTION PICTURE MUSIC GUIDE

Is Indispensable

* * *

It shows how many different themes each number contains.

* * *

It classifies each theme, according to the mood it portrays.

* * *

It lists themes which can be used to express different moods, in their proper classification.

* * *

It helps you to derive the utmost value from your library, by showing you all the material in each number suitable for motion picture use.

* * *

It points out—on the piano part—the pages and measures, where each theme starts and ends.

* * *

It places at your disposal the largest collection of modern, classical, standard and popular orchestra music in the world.

* * *

Note: Piano parts of all numbers listed here are fully cued and may be used for piano solo or organ.

The following plug for Fischer-sponsored publications preceded the catalogue itself:

Why Every Motian Picture Leader
and
Musician Should Read the Musical Magazines.

Nearly every professional man of any prominence subscribes for and reads a few good magazines devoted to his profession. Where would the doctor be without his medical journals or the lawyer without his law papers. The journals are the professional man's stock in trade and are equally important to the musician in the motion picture theatre. They help him keep in touch with the latest developments, to get new ideas, and to broaden his outlook.

There are three magazines which will prove of most help and interest to the musician playing for the films. They are “The Metronome” and “The Dominant,” both band and orchestra monthlies; and “The Musical Observer,” devoted to the interests of all music-lovers. Everyone who plays a band, orchestral or other instrument in a picture theatre, should read one or both of the first two magazines. They are the tools of the trade. Not only do they keep you informed on all the latest popular and standard successes but they bring you in touch with the important musical events in the movie field—events which are making history and which you should not miss if you would keep up-to-date. Music in the movies and for the movies is a leading topic in these journals. Each issue contains interesting articles written by expert writers upon music as the foremost and indispensable accessory to film presentation and the progress of music in this field. Many news items inform you of the music offered in all the leading picture theatres. There are personal notes about the musical directors and their orchestras. In addition, both magazines contain two complete orchestra or band selections in every issue.

"The Musical Observer" covers the entire musical field and is of value and interest to anyone identified with music. It will help you to keep out of a rut and will prove an inspiration and an ambition builder by bringing you in contact with prominent musical people and musical activities the world over.

If you are looking ahead, it will pay you to get acquainted with these magazines. If you can read and think for yourself you will profit by subscribing for those that meet your needs best. You could make no mistake in taking all of them. But you owe it to yourself to read one of them, at least. (p. 6)

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.

Carl Fischer Analytical Orchestra Guide

Julius Seredy compiled the Carl Fischer Analytical Orchestra Guide in 1929. A complete list of the topic headings has been posted to the web here: Seredy list. A reduced version showing only the main topical categories and organizing them by type is here: Seredy reduced list.

These lists complement another that was posted earlier: topics in Erno Rapee's Encyclopedia of Film Music.

Classification of Music

In this week's column, Sinn features a number of musical suggestions provided by readers. He also published a letter from a reader requesting a list or catalogue of music classified by musical topic. Sinn in fact had not only considered the idea, as he mentions in his response, but had actually produced such a list, which he supplied to readers upon request in the early days of his column. For the purposes of his column, Sinn points out that he adopted the expediency of well-known exemplars that could stand in for their type. In fact, about this time (1913) catalogues did begin to appear, first as appendices to early "how to" manuals, then as formal publishers' catalogues (most notably Fischer's Analytical Orchestra).

Miss Dittmar is here again with her usual good offering. I hope it is in time to be of service to those who may have occasion to play for this picture, as it appears to be well balanced, thoughtful, and in every way worthy of the subject it accompanies. She says: “Inclosed [sic] find my program for ‘The Crimson Cross’ (Éclair). It might be of help to some one.”

First Reel.

1. “Pilgrim’s Chorus” (Thannhauser).
2. “Prayer from ‘Der Freischütz’” (Weber).
3. “The Rosary.”
4. “Consolation” (Leschetszky).
5. “How Lovely Are the Messengers” (from Saint Paul).
6. “Gloria from the Twelfth Mass.”

Second Reel.

1. “The Agony” from “Crucifixion.”
2. “Procession to Calvary” (Crucifixion).

Mysterious and Agitato until end of reel.

Third Reel.

1. Several bars from introduction to “Otello,” very softly, then a few bars of “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth.”
2. “The Heavens Are Telling.”
3. “Funeral March” by Tschaikowsky.
4. “How Lovely Are the Messengers” until end of reel.

A splendid accompaniment. I would suggest that it might be easier for another to use if you had given an idea of where to being and stop each number, taking cues from the action or from sub-titles appearing on the screen. Anyhow, the constituency is your debtor.

* * *J. D. S., Nebraska, says in part: “Can you give us a list of classified music (not dramatic) in your suggestions. For instance, some suggestions for music say ‘play —, or —, or —.’

“Now it seems that a list of music might be made out in which all music of the same character might be placed under the same head, thus enabling a person to choose from 25 or 50 numbers if he doesn’t happen to have the particular one called for.”

I want to say to J. D. S. that this question occurred to me when I first began contributing to this page three years ago. It seemed to me that considering the countless musical numbers on the market and in various libraries (and possibly no two pianists in the world have libraries exactly alike), a long list of numbers similar in character would fill more space than its importance would warrant. I therefore chose several numbers of different character, all of them well known, and let each one stand as a representative of its class. For example, Schumann’s “Traumerie” is presumably well enough known to give any pianist an idea of the character of music intended. Knowing this, he might play that number or substitute any similar piece of music he chose. The same may be said of [Braga's] “Angel’s Serenade,” and [Rubenstein's] “Melody in F.” I believe these three numbers are sufficiently well known to represent any number of similar pieces a pianist may chance to have in his library. Novelettes are so much alike it is seldom necessary to specify any particular one, though when a correspondent mentions titles his program of course appears as he sends it. Bendix’s suit of four: “Longing, Parting, Meeting and Reconciliation” I have also mentioned freely, not because I don’t know any others, but because they are good representatives of their class of music, are fairly well known and easy to get. The “Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffmann” [Offenbach] might be taken as representative of another class; Gautier’s “La Secret,” and Delibes’ “Pizzicato from Sylvia Ballet” may be taken as typical allegretto movements from scenes calling for something light, rather lively and not so noisy as a march (for example) might suggest. About all of the old standard music is published in cheap form by some one or other and is easily obtainable at small cost. I take it for granted that the average pianist is more familiar with these as a whole than with the more recent publications—that is, that these numbers are more widely known. For that reason alone I have thought it advisable to stick pretty closely to well-known pieces in my suggestions for music to the pictures, believing it would be intelligible to a larger number of readers than if I tried to choose new programs of up-to-date music for them. Your plan is all right so far as it goes, but it would take quite a large catalogue to hold a list that would be useful to all and for this reason would not be expedient in our limited space.

* * *The Selig Polyscope Company are making into pictures some of the successful satires of Chas. T. Hoyt, which were so popular a couple of decades ago. The first one to be released is “The Midnight Bell.” This is a comedy with a little melodrama running through it. The music is mostly of a lively nature, and as the characters are all of the “Down East” country type I would suggest that “barn dances” and “rube” music generally would help to carry out the atmosphere of the story. Suggestions for music are here offered:

“THE MIDNIGHT BELL” (Selig).Part One.

1. Any “Barn Dance” until title: “Steve and Ned Are Rivals.”
2. Chorus of “My Irene Is a Village Queen” (Remick) once. (Von Tilzer’s “Sun Bonnet Sue” my be substituted. Not important.)
3. “Daly’s Reel” (not too fast), or any similar “rube” tune, until title: “Steve Decides to Rob the Bank.”
4. Light mysterious music (not too pronounced) until: “Next Morning.”
5. Agitato pp. until title “Lemuel Tidd, Justice of the Peace.”
6. Any intermezzo for neutral scenes until: “The Squire’s Lawyer Is Called From Boston.”
7. Short Waltz—about 16 bars—just enough to make a change of music for this scene; until title: “Nora Resents, etc.”
8. “Parting” (Bendix-Witmark), until: “Afraid of Being Caught, etc.”
9. Mysterious until end of reel.

Part Two.

1. “Chicken Reel” (by Daly), or “Barn Dance,” until: “The Entertainment at the School House.”
2. “Well, I Swan” (Rube song pub. by Witmark), until telegram is shown; then a few bars of moderato (leading to next movement) until title: “Stop, My Uncle Is Innocent.”
3. Light Agitato. After he coasts down hill, a short strain of “rube” music may be introduced for comedy business to end of scene. Then back to agitato and continue until: “The Sewing Society.”
4. “A Good Old-Time Straw Ride” (Witmark), or any lively music suggestive of country scenes; until: “Leave My House Immediately.”
5. “Meeting” (Bendix-Witmark), until: “But As a Citizen of These United States.”
6. “Turkey in the Straw” until: “After Choir Practice.”
7. First strain of “Meeting” until Steve enters Church.
8. Long Agitato. A church bell effect is used in this number. Play until crowd enters church and Steve is arrested.
9. Lively intermezzo until: “The Minister’s Faith in Nora Is Restored.”
10. Any Novelette until end of reel.

* * *

“THROUGH THE TEST OF FIRE” (Great Northern).

Part One.

1. Waltz Lento (long) until Count leaves Goldstein’s room.
2. “Apple Blossoms” or any similar slow “Reverie” until: “After the Wedding.”
3. Waltz until “Bride and Groom Depart.”
4. Novelette until: “The Factory Workmen Have Arranged.”
5. Lively music—work up to gallop as runaway horse is seen; crescendo till Jack falls, then:
6. Short plaintive (about 16 bars).
7. Allegretto (“La Secret” by Gautier or “Passion” by Helf & Hager), until end of reel.

[694]

Part Two.

1. “In the Shadows” (Finck) until: “Jack Advises His Comrades to Strike.”
2. “Entr’Acte Gavotte” (Gillet) until: “Eight Days Later.”
3. Pirouette—“Pas Seul” (Finck) until: “A Few Days Later.”
4. Waltz until she is seen on bridge.
5. Agitato—p. Work up to f; till both men knocked down.
6. Waltz until: “Mr. Goldstein Is Killed in the Explosion.”
7. Hurry p. and f. (fire scene) until: “Count Hardegg Has Inherited a Vast Fortune.”
8. Pirouette until: “No, I Will Not Leave My Husband.”
9. “Reverie” until: “Youthful Arrogance.”
10. “The Flatterer” (Caprice by Chaminade), or some light allegretto; work up faster in agitated manner as action develops—until men exit. Then:
11. Intermezzo until end of reel.

Part Three.

1. Any novelette until: “The Workmen Press Their Claims.”
2. Agitato—p. and f. until they ride through crowd and exit.
3. “Love In Idleness” (Carl Fischer) until: “Let Me Stay With You, Dear.”
4. Short Waltz one scene.
5. Hurry (fire scene) till: “I Will Find Your Husband.”
6. Change to heavier hurry until both men come out of burning building.
7. Plaintive until wreck is seen burning, then hurry (fire scene) until end of reel.

Source: Clarence E. Sinn, “Music for the Picture,” Moving Picture World 17 May 1913, 693-94.

Musical Suggestions; More Discussion of Effects

This week's "Music for the Picture" column covers a variety of topics. Besides, a number of musical suggestions, one correspondent asks for help finding "characteristic" music for orchestra, in particular music that follows the eastern and/or "oriental" style topic. Another correspondent adds to the debate Sinn had initiated on sound effects.

Edgar Ray, Musical director Grand Theater, Newark, Ohio, writes: “I am sending you the program with which I accompanied the two-reel Vitagraph, “The Chains of an Oath.” Used your cues for the “Cowboy Millionaire” with success. Give us some more.”

“The Chains of An Oath” (Vitagraph).Part One.

1. “Joyous Farmer” (Schumann). Repeat once, then segue.
2. “Chants du Voyageur (Paderewski) until Donia enters house.
3. “Sicilian Chimes” (Kerry Mills) until title: “First English Lesson.”
4. “Pearls” (Novelette by Niel Moret) until Donia reads letter.
5. “Farewell to the Piano” (Beethoven) until end of reel.

Part Two.

1. Agitato p. until Svan enters apartment with Donia.
2. “A Summer’s Dream” (By P. Hans Flath) until title: “Svan Decides to Follow.”
3. Short light Hurry until title: “The Land of Bondage.”
4. “Sans La Feuille” (F. Thome) until Gregory appears with knife.
5. Agitato pp. and ff., following action until Gregory turns to leave apartment first time.
6. “Sans La Feuille” until end of reel.

“If entre d’acte is desired, “Romanze” by Schumann will hold the “color” until part two is projected.”

A dignified program which follows the motive of the picture very well. Our constituents will be glad to hear from you again Mr. Ray.

* * *
From the Broadway Theater, Salt Lake City, Utah: “This is the first time I have taken the liberty of communicating with the music section though I have contributed many other articles and suggestions to various departments of the Moving Picture World. We are using first run pictures and of course all your accompanying music and suggestions for the various pictures come too late to be of much assistance to us, though from the program you selected for Reincarnation of Karma, I picked many numbers which we will be able to use in future pictures of this nature.

“In making up a recent order list of orchestra music I found the catalog’s particularly short of Oriental and Eastern music; at least they were hard to select from the titles. Also the Mexican music we have on hand is well worn since the long run of these pictures we have had. I think it would be of great value and assistance to exhibitors and orchestra leaders if you would from time to time publish lists of various classes of music, giving when possible the composers’ and publishers’ names. In our new house we will use an orchestra of ten pieces. Yours, Dean R. Daynes.”

I can appreciate Mr. Daynes’ difficulty in selecting music with nothing to guide him but the titles in the publisher’s catalog. The music suggested in this department is usually accompanied by the name of the composer and frequently the name of the publisher is given, but it would not be expedient to publish lists from their catalogs here. Such advertising would be too valuable to the publishers to give them free gratis. When these gentlemen awaken to the fact that over 16,000 moving picture theaters in this country alone are constantly on the lookout for appropriate music, and that the Moving Picture World is read in every one of them, they will arrange assorted lists of their music and publish them in the advertising pages of this paper. They might be surprised to learn that moving picture musicians desire something else than “rags” and popular songs. In the meantime the suggestions for musical accompaniments will give the composers’ names and occasionally, the publishers; but I am sorry to say, no catalogs or lists.

* * *
From C. H. Snow, Middletown, Del.: “It is doubtlessly seldom that you hear from this part of the country. I want to congratulate you on the excellent work you are doing in the music suggestions in your department, especially your ‘tips on improvising.’ Am working in the opera house here running the cream of licensed pictures and two 2- or 3-reel features per week. Speaking of the art of picture playing in general, it would benefit all photo-pianists to keep in close touch with each other and exchange views and compare their ideas as to the conception of music for the picture.” (That is what this department is for.—Ed.)

“Only recently a friend sent me a good suggestion and since that time I gave a few pointers to another friend because one had done me a good turn and I passed it along.”

Our correspondent has the right idea, but if he will watch the Moving Picture World closely he will find many friends busily engaged in “passing along” their ideas and suggestions. Not so many as I should like to see, perhaps, but compared to the apathy of a few years ago, it is encouraging to observe the number of thoughtful musicians who are willing to share their experience; in proof of this, witness the growing number of “musical suggestions” sent in from various parts of the country and given this page. They are “passing it along.” Some time ago a correspondent sent us a set of rules for the guidance of picture players. One of his maxims was: “go and hear other pianists play the pictures.” This is broadening. It gets you out of the rut and stimulates your ideas. Studying the other fellows “dope-sheet” is of great help too. In both cases you are bound to criticise or approve; if the latter, you may get some new ideas. If you criticise you will naturally try to think how his work might be improved—if it is wrong, where and why it is wrong, and what will make it right. We develop by sharing our ideas and comparing our efforts.

* * *
H. R. Seeman, La Fayette Theater, Saint Louis, Mo., says: “In the issue of the Moving Picture World, March 1st, I notice a letter from Albany, Oregon, in reference to effects from Oregon. If I get him right he thinks a drummer with a first class air-cabinet in the orchestra with the pianist can make the pictures more realistic, and (if I understand him right), is of the opinion that such a combination can accomplish more. Quoting his words, ‘You have got to show me.’

“I grant that the effects are quite essential for making the picture realistic, but I must say that effects and music are two different things, and when a drummer of an orchestra attempts to make all the effects for the picture with his $1800 air cabinet he then and there becomes an effect man, and that orchestra is sadly in need of a drummer that can make effects—I mean effects that are characteristic to the music his leader is playing—and let the effect man take his place behind the screen where he belongs. My idea of a drummer and his traps is to make effects incidental to the music the orchestra is playing. For instance, I am playing this week for the Pathe special release, “Mother”—a western drama, and there is one scene where there is galloping horses and Indian fights. I am playing a good number for this scene entitled “Cowboy Capers” in the drum part of which there is lots of work for cymbals, tom-tom, etc. Is it right for the drummer to sacrifice these effects that are characteristic to the music in order to catch shots, horses hoofs, etc.? In other words, the effect drummer must play his effects according to his picture whereas the orchestra drummer who makes his effects characteristic to the music is helping his leader carry out his contract to play music suited to the picture. I must say again that the drummer who attempts to do both not only sacrifices his work a drummer, but is also doing an injustice to the music. Both good effects and good music are essential, but cannot be worked together in the orchestra pit. The drummer using bells, chimes, xylophone, tympani, etc., is doing more to help the cause of “better music for the picture” than the drummer with his $1800 air cabinet. Yours very truly, H. R. Seeman.”

These gentlemen are evidently looking at the proposition from different angles. Without taking sides one way or the other at present, I wish to point out that the majority [1326] of picture houses employ but one effect man, viz.: the drummer in the orchestra pit. With the larger houses using an orchestra it is often differently arranged, but in the smaller places employing but two or three musicians (usually two—piano and drums), the sound effects incidental to the picture are the most important part of the drummer’s work.

Mr. Seeman kindly encloses his musical program for two pictures.

“Mother” (Pathe).

Part One.

1. Waltz “Blush of the Rose” until title: “Their Boy;” then:
2. Intermezzo “Starland” until he writes home; then:
3. Song “Mother” (from play of that name) until title “Bob Gambles, etc.”
4. Same intermezzo (“Starland”) softening for fireside scene, continuing until mother gets letter. Then waltz (No. 1) until scene out west.
5. March “Local Pride” (fast) until title: “Bob’s Mother Prepares, etc.”
6. Waltz “Asphodel” (Hildreth) until end of reel.

Part Two.

1. At title: “Bob Sells the Stolen Horses” Bright characteristic march “Cowboy Capers” (new—by Allen), until title: “Believing Her Son the Sheriff.”
2. Waltz “Asphodel” until sheriff sends for Bob.
3. Tosti’s “Goodbye” until title: “Their Dreams—and the Reality.”
4. “Mother” song till end.

“A Chance Deception” (Biograph).

1. 16 bars Spanish dance (Bolero) then:
2. “Il Bacio” (The “Kiss Waltz”) until title “Am I Too Old?”
3. “In the Shadows” (Finck) play second part quasi mysterioso at title “His Suspicions Confirmed.” Continue until husband enters house; then:
4. “The Romance of a Rose” (new) 2d movement agitato until title: “Asphadia” then take up “Romance of a Rose” at introduction, play through—then:
5. “Titl’s Serenade” (or any serenade) until finish.

Source: Clarence E. Sinn, “Music for the Picture,” Moving Picture World 29 March 1913, 1325-26.

To Have and Have Not--additional comments

I have posted a music cue list for To Have and Have Not on the supporting materials page of the HtM website: Supporting Materials.

Two additional pedagogical comments about music:

1. Franz Waxman's music for the establishing sequence is built in a sharply defined two-part design, with a dramatic opening for main titles followed by a more melodically profiled and rhythmically robust "native music." The elements are similar to the main-title music for Casablanca, which in turn is a reworking by Max Steiner of his music that opens The Lost Patrol (1934). In its somewhat crude directness, the "native music" (that's what it's called in the studio cue sheet) is uncharacteristic of Waxman, and one has to wonder whether he was asked to write "something like Casablanca."

In Casablanca, a brief dramatic opening is followed immediately by "native" or "Arab" music, then by La Marseillaise. In The Lost Patrol, the opening is identical, but the end is a British military march. The three main title cues make for interesting comparison, and they provide an interesting instance of reuse as well as a case of style-topic duplication.

2. The second comment is about music as sound advance. The Hotel Martinique is the central and primary location of action in the film. Although even the basement is used at one point (to hide the injured resistance leader), the primary locations are the main floor restaurant-bar, a second-floor corridor and rooms, and the street outside the Hotel. Several times music from Cricket's band is heard before the scene changes to the restaurant-bar area, and the effect is very similar to sound advances that bridge more radical breaks in both time and place. The first example occurs after 00:11:00, with the entrance of "Martinique." (See earlier blog entries for more information about Hoagie Carmichael's music.)