Musical accompaniment of moving pictures

78 Pages·2011·4.79 MB·English

by  Lang, Edith

I
fg
'co
uo
L_0
MT
737
192O
c. 1
MUSI
Presentedtothe
LIBRARY
o/tfu?
UNIVERSITYOFTORONTO
fromthe
ARTHURPLETTNER
ISAMcILWRATTH
COLLECTION

MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT
OF MOVING PICTURES
A
Practical Manual
for
PIANISTS AND ORGANISTS
AND AN EXPOSITION OF THE PRIN-
CIPLES UNDERLYING THE MUSICAL
INTERPRETATIONOFMOVING PICTURES
By
EDITH LANG
AND
GEORGE WEST
Price, $1.2$ net
The -BatonMU/ICocmpoax
G. SCHIRMER . New York WINTHROP ROGERS, LTD. London
COPYRIGHT, 1920,
BY THE BOSTON MUSIC COMPANY.
B. M. Co. 6347.
Printed intheU. S. A.
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1
PART I: EQUIPMENT
.........
1. MENTAL ALERTNESS .......... 3
2. MUSICAL RESOURCEFULNESS ......... 7
a. General Remarks 7
6. Musical Characterization 8
c. Thematic Devel.opme.nt ......... 8
d. Transitionand Modulation 13
e. Transposition .. 21
.22
/. Improvisation . . . . . . . .
3. REPERTOIRE 26
PART II: MUSICAL INTERPRETATION
1. THE FEATURE FILM 31
2. "FLASH-BACKS" ..... 34
3. ANIMATED CARTOONS AND SLAP-STICK COMEDY 35
4. THE COMEDY DRAMA 37
5. WEEKLY NEWS PICTURES 38
6. EDUCATIONAL FILMS 40
7. TRAVEL VIEWS 41
PART III: THE THEAT.RIC.AL.ORG.AN...
.........
1. PECULIARITIES OF ORGAN TECHNIQUE 44
a. Howto Sitatthe Organ ....... 44
6. Pedalling ........ 45
c. Independenceof.Han.dsan.dFe.et ....... 46
d. Staccato and Legato Touch 47
.....
e. Registration 47
2. ORCHESTRATION BY MEANS OF ORGAN STOPS 47
.......
3. SWELL-PEDALS AND CRESCENDO-PEDAL 52
4. THE IDENTIFICATION OF TONE-COLORS 53
5. SPECIAL EF.FECT.S, A.ND H.ow.TO P.RODU.CE T.HEM..... 56
CONCLUSION 61
INDEX 63
iii

INTRODUCTION
THAT music is an invaluable and necessary aid to the successandenjoy-
mentofmovingpictures, isafact which no one will deny. Buttheaccom-
panying, or illustrating, music must be of the right kind, or else its very
aim will be defeated. Unfortunately, the right kind of "picture music"
is something that is not universally understood, and the musician, no
matter how learned he may be in his trade, is beset by a great many
problems, when he attempts to follow and illustrate in music the fast-
moving film. This book is not intended to exhaust a subject which is
almost unlimited in its aspects, but it rather endeavors to lay down a few
safe and dependable rules and courses of action from which any student
of these problems may make his own deductions and develop his own
personal style. For nothing would be moretediousorimpracticable than
to attempt uniformity where variety and individuality are the essentials.
The most successful and highest-paid player is the one whose style is the
most distinctive. When you analyze this distinction, you will find that it
is mainly based on certain characteristics of his personality, such as
intelligence, quick perception, realization of dramatic values, insight in
human psychology, and well-grounded musical technique. But aside
from thesefactors, there is one quality which the player requires above all,
and which this book primarily intends to awaken and develop. That
quality is resourcefulness.
With resourcefulness the average player of even mean endowments
may fit himself to follow any kind of picture that may be thrown on the
screen. This resourcefulness extends in two different directions: one of
them is the musical training which must aim to perfect facility in improvi-
sation; theotherisacultivationoftasteand asense offitness in adapting
musical material to the pictured scene. We shall try, in the following
paragraphs, to give practical hints in both of these directions. Therefore
this book may be considered as a "first-aid" manual for the beginner in
the field of moving picture music.
The prime function of the music that accompanies moving pictures is
to reflect the mood of the scene in the hearer's mind, and rouse more
1
2 MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT OF MOVING PICTURES
readily and more intensely in the spectator the changingemotionsofthe
pictured story. One hears much music in the "movies" that is as foreign
to the action on the screen as anything could be, and frequently actually
kills the effect of the photographer's art. Producers have been quick to
realize this danger, and therefore many pictures are being released with
minute instructions concerning the music that is to accompany them.
(See ill. p. 60.) But even so, the player will require some training to do
the music and the picture justice, and will succeed best if his mental
alertness and his musical resourcefulness work hand in hand.