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To
order books on-line from Amazon.co.uk you can click on the links corresponding
to each book listed below  |
| books about film music |
On
the Track by Fred Karlin/Rayburn Wright - Hardcover - 856 pages
(January 1990) Schirmer Books; ISBN: 002873310X ; Dimensions (in
inches): 1.78 x 11.24 x 8.82 |
Certainly the most
complete and thorough book available about Film Music. Basically
it covers everything from the people involved at every stage in
the process of film scoringand what are their precise tasks to a
complete click book. With numerous musical examples included - a
lot of these in full score - to explain every compositional, and
technical points and with contributions by the major composers in
activity today, one can only agree with Henry Mancini: "On the Track
is simply the best book on the subject ever written". But don't
expect to find material to crack jokes at parties, though ! But
indispensable all the same. Foreword by John Williams |
To
order On the Track click on this link  |
| The Art of Film Music by George Burt - Paperback Reissue edition (April 1996) Northeastern Univ Pr; ISBN: 1555532705 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.89 x 9.21 x 6.2 |
| see larger picture of cover |
George Burt, himself
a composer is well placed to give an insider view of the scoring
of film. With a special emphasis on composers Hugo Friedhofer,
Alex North, David Raksin and Leonard Rosenman, this is a book obviously
focussed on one of the greatest eras of Hollywood when the big studios
were the only or nearly sole players. There is, in particular, a
wonderful analysis of Laura (D. Raksin) with excerpts from the
score and also are included many more musical examples from famous
soundtracks. This book is fascinating not only because of the detailed descriptions of all the compositional techniques but also for the psychological insights about writing film music. A very sophisticated book. Strongly recommended. |
| To
order The Art of Film Music click on this link |
| Film Music : A Neglected Art : A Critical Study of Music in Films by Roy M. Prendergast, Paperback - 329 pages - 2nd edition (June 1992) - W W Norton & Co; ISBN: 039330874X ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.09 x 8.26 x 5.54 |
In this book, mostly
dedicated to Hollywood, film music is presented from a chronological
point of view instead of a thematic approach as in On the track
or The Art of Film Music. From the silent era when a pianist or
a very small orchestra were trying to hide the projector noise with
more or less appropriate music plundered from the XIX century romantic
composers to synthesizers scores for television. Nevertheless the
emphasis is on the great scores of Hollywood 'golden age' like Leonard
Bernstein's On the Waterfont or Bernard Hermann's Psycho with numerous
musical examples included. In the second part of the book - and this is in my opinion the most interesting bit - Prendergast deals with music in the cartoons and experimental animated film and synchronization. The author being himself a music editor, it is easy to understand why he is so keen on music for cartoons where there is absolutely no room for error in terms of synchronization or timings. In short, a very enjoyable read. And in my knowledge the only book with a chapter about music in cartoons. |
| To
order Film Music: A Neglected Art click on this link |
| Listening to Movies by Fred Karlin, hardcover - 429 pages (July 1994) Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 0028733150 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.27 x 9.55 x 7.69 |
| see larger picture of cover |
In Listening to Movies Fred Karlin - the co-author of On The Track (see review above) - takes this time a historical approach to film music from the silent era to nowadays. A great part of the book is devoted to movie music making under the Hollywood studio system with a study of eight films famous for their music showing how the music functions in these outstanding scores which include The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and North by Northwest (1959) - with Bernard Herrmann composing one of his best scores on this occasion. In the last part of the book there is a list of selected composers with some comments about how they get started. A very well documented and interesting book. Highly recommended. |
| To
order Listening to Movies click on this link |
