The Art of Film Music [Paperback]

George Burt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 26, 1995

"George Burt's wonderful, intelligent book, The Art of Film Music, should be a 'must' read for anyone interested in the marriage of music and film." - Robert Altman

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Burt (music, Rice Univ.), himself a composer and former student of Babbitt, Mil- haud, and Sessions, is well qualified to offer this inside look at a complex art. He covers a lot of ground in just six chapters, making extensive use of dozens of musical excerpts and scene summaries from classic films from the 1930s through the 1980s. The author examines philosophical, aesthetic, and highly technical aspects in the course of discussions with leading film composers Hugo Friedhofer, Alex North, David Rakson, and Leonard Rosenman. Burt's credentials will lure the serious musician/composer, but this book's range of information will appeal also to the avid film enthusiast, though an ability to read music is key to fully appreciating the book. Notes and a glossary are included. For a more encyclopedia-style account and time period expansion, see William Darby and Jack Du Bois's American Film Music: Major Composers, Techniques, Trends (LJ 11/15/90).
Cynthia Ann Cordes, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Burt, a music professor with extensive film scoring experience, offers what amounts to a textbook for aspiring film composers, one that employs many musical examples from film scores by composers ranging from Erich Wolfgang Korngold, biggest gun among 1930s Hollywood composers, to John Williams, the most successful contemporary exponent of the trade. Burt especially emphasizes, however, the work of four other composers--Hugo Friedhofer, Alex North, David Raksin, and Leonard Rosenman--and uses their work to illustrate topics ranging from creating character through music to how to pace action with music. Particularly useful are extended discussions on how specific sequences in such famous movies as East of Eden, Laura, and The Best Years of Our Lives were scored. Burt concludes with a chapter emphasizing such practical details as timing, synchronization, use of the synthesizer, and mixing and dubbing. Although fairly technical, Burt's effort will interest, besides budding film composers, those interested in the nuts and bolts of film scoring. Libraries with hefty film collections can safely add this. John Shreffler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern (October 26, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555532705
• ISBN-13: 978-1555532703
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #841,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The terrific book shows the work of 4 great film composers., September 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Art of Film Music (Hardcover)

Burt's approach is for both musician and non-musician, so the book is ideal for composers and for directors and producers. There is a general descriptive text explaining what film music should do, and there is technical analysis of melody, harmony, counterpoint and orchestration of famous film/film music excerpts.Burt discusses drama and the importance of the many levels of a meaning in a scene, and shows how some of the greats of Hollywood film music accompanied (or left silent) important parts of well known films.This book is excellent for general film buffs and for somebody seriously interested in film scoring technique.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enhance your understanding of how music in film works, January 9, 2007

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Art of Film Music (Paperback)

I was fortunate to study with George Burt when he was teaching at the University of Michigan School of Music in the late seventies and early eighties. Just before he left to teach at Rice University, he taught a course on film music that I was fortunate to attend. David Raksin and a few other film composers came in and spoke to us about their scores for films and we watched some of the sequences (obviously, Laura was one of them).

This book came later and I am sure Burt used it in his teaching at Rice. This book emphasizes the works of Hugo Friedhofer, Alex North, David Raksin, and Leonard Rosenman, but they are used to illustrate the points Burt wants to make rather than a study of the composers works for themselves.

I remember that Burt emphasized that the music in film is not something added to it anymore than the music accompanying the theme in a fugue is separate from it in any material way. That is, what is on the screen and what the score provides form a counterpoint that fuse into a whole. Neither the music nor the film are complete or as effective without the other. If you watch films with this in mind, you will notice how some handle music so effectively, some less well, and some are just awful in the use of music (this is apart from - but a contributing factor to - the success of the film as a "work").

This book came out before the digital and computerized equipment used in film today, but the musical aspects are spot on and I am sure the technical considerations of synchronization and so forth still matter a great deal. The means and ease of integration doesn't change the difficulty of conception or composition.

There are six chapters:

1) The Story's the Thing: music's vital role, should film music be heard?, the contrapuntal aspect, the associative power of music.

2) Characterization: individual people, groups of people, symbolic meanings, the emotional context, ambient time and place, source of music

3) Emphasizing the Dramatic Line: Musical Accents, the missing beat or pulse, pacing

4) The Sequence as a Unit: The Best Years of Our Lives (Homecoming Scene), Laura (Apartment Scene), East of Eden (Climactic Scene)

5) The Sound and Function of When Music is Absent: Matter of fact dialogue, psychological containment, acoustic space, moments of anguish, the telling quality of ambient sound, the question of realism

6) Practical Matters and the Human Element: the spotting process, timings, synchronization, generalized compositional approaches, orchestration and the orchestra, the synthesizer, music mix and dubbing.

I think this music is invaluable for composers and arrangers wanting to working in film, TV, and even commercials. However, I also think that those wanting to direct and produce these works would benefit from reading through this material. Sure, there are music examples that someone not trained in reading music will find impossible, but the examples are not critical to understanding the points of the text. They add depth, but the points are made with the words of the text.

And anyone interested in this topic as a film buff or general reader will find their appreciation of film music greatly enhanced.

Enjoy! Recommended!