A History of Film Music
by Mervyn Cooke
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Book Presentation:
This book provides a comprehensive and lively introduction to the major trends in film scoring from the silent era to the present day, focussing not only on dominant Hollywood practices but also offering an international perspective by including case studies of the national cinemas of the UK, France, India, Italy, Japan and the early Soviet Union. The book balances wide-ranging overviews of film genres, modes of production and critical reception with detailed non-technical descriptions of the interaction between image track and soundtrack in representative individual films. In addition to the central focus on narrative cinema, separate sections are also devoted to music in documentary and animated films, film musicals and the uses of popular and classical music in the cinema. The author analyses the varying technological and aesthetic issues that have shaped the history of film music, and concludes with an account of the modern film composer's working practices.
About the Author:
Mervyn Cooke is Professor of Music at the University of Nottingham.
Press Reviews:
'As cinema's second century gathers place and the film soundtrack acquires ever greater critical respectability, the need for a good, compact, one-volume survey of its evolution from solo piano afterthought to a meticulously planned, fully integrated element as crucial to the success of a film as cinematography,lighting or direction, has become increasingly necessary. Mervyn Cooke's A History of Film Music gets magnificently close to being just such a book. ...Written in a clean, clear prose shot through with a lightly-worn, concisely-argued scholarship, this is a considerable achievement and an essential read for anyone interested in this vital and still developing genre.' Classical Music Magazine
'Mervyn Cooke hasn't written merely 'a' history of film music - when all the reckoning is done, this will surely be 'the' history of film music written for cinema, from 1920s silent films to the latest Hollywood blockbusters. Writing about a medium that, as Aaron Copland once cogently put it, is designed to be felt rather than explicitly heard is an exacting task, and one that leaves many floundering. But Cooke's background writing about opera and jazz puts his brain in the right place for considering an art form that aims to balance artifice and spontaneity. … An authoritative read, written with the cracking pace of a Bond thriller.' Classic FM Magazine
"Cooke writes accessibly yet with as much intellectual rigor on the propagandistic songs of Shostakovich as on MTV's impact on Flashdance. ....Crammed with source acknowledgement for further reading, this is nothing short of essential reading for anyone with an interest in film." BBC Music Magazine
"Cooke has written a book useful to readers with or without musical background...they [readers] will appreciate a historical study that incorporates music and film studies and keeps the film music, not the films, its focus." Choice
"The real charm of Mervyn Cooke’s A History of Film Music, however, and one with which the reader is abundantly left, is the sheer breadth of coverage and the passion with which this coverage is conveyed. Never before has a work attempted such a wide-ranging, vivid, and well-documented sweep of film music and, for this reason among many others, it is a work thoroughly to be recommended." Music & Letters
'Cooke arranges his book thematically rather than chronologically, and gives substantial attention to the work of important film music composers such as Max Steiner, Alfred Newman, Hanns Eisler, Georges Auric, and Ennio Morricone.' Larry M. Timm, Journal of the Society for American Music
‘The world of film music will rejoice at being the subject of Mervyn Cooke’s new book. It is both scholarly and highly accessible - a must have for anyone interested in this increasingly popular topic.’ George Fenton, film composer
'If you can only buy one film music book, make it this one … This is perhaps one of the most clear and cogently conceived overviews of music that one is likely to see … one is struck by the fine choices Cooke makes to illustrate his point, whether he is discussing a Virgil Thomson score, or why a Scott Bradley animated short score works best. … With no room for subsequent updates or supplements, this may very well be 'the' film music book for some time to come. … this is a book that every lover of film music should have on their shelves. It is a book not so much to be read but to be savoured and enjoyed.' Film Music Review
'… this is a wonderful and important book, and its comprehensive, encyclopedic scope makes it a valuable resource especially for upper-level courses beyond the general education curriculum.' Blake Howe, Journal of Music History Pedagogy
See the publisher website: Cambridge University Press
> From the same author:
The Cambridge Companion to Film Music (2017)
Dir. Mervyn Cooke and Fiona Ford
> On a related topic:
Cinema Changes (2019)
Incorporations of Jazz in the Film Soundtrack
Dir. Emile Wennekes and Emilio Audissino
After the Silents (2014)
Hollywood Film Music in the Early Sound Era, 1926-1934
Beyond the Soundtrack (2007)
Representing Music in Cinema
Dir. Daniel Goldmark, Lawrence Kramer and Richard Leppert
Settling the Score (1992)
Music and the Classical Hollywood Film
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