The Composer in Hollywood [Hardcover]

Christopher Palmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1990

Christopher Palmer discusses the life and work of eleven great Hollywood composers-Steiner, Korngold, Newman, Waxman, Tiomkin, Webb, Rozsa, Herrmann, North, Bernstein and Rosenman-analyzing the scores of many well-known or remarkable films, almost scene by scene. Each chapter is written in clear non-technical language for the general reader as well as film and music enthusiasts.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Palmer, a broadcaster, orchestral arranger and music writer who has published books on a number of modern composers, discusses the life and works of 11 of the great creators of film scores from 1930 to 1950: Max Steiner, Erich Korngold, Alfred Newman, Franz Waxman, Dimitri Tiomkin, Roy Webb, Miklos Rozsa, Bernard Herrman, Alex North, Elmer Bernstein and Leonard Rosenman. He shows how, after the advent of talking movies in 1929, these men developed a new type of music that enhanced the images on the screen and intensified dramatic effect. Writing in language understandable to the lay reader yet sophisticated enough to hold the interest of the professional musician, he re-creates the powerful spells that many of the famous scenes in movies from Hollywood's Golden Age exerted on audiences and shows how mood was achieved by the brilliant interweaving of music and drama. His analysis should do a great deal to help the movie score gain acceptance as a legitimate form of composition. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 346 pages
• Publisher: Marion Boyars; 1st Ed. (U.S.) edition (October 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714528854
• ISBN-13: 978-0714528854
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,021,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting look into the Golden Age of Hollywood., June 6, 2002

By 

William J. Finn "wjf88" (Sarasota Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Composer in Hollywood (Hardcover)

Although, not a definite work about the great film music composers of the Golden Age (those are few and far between anyway) this one does have it's charms, particularly when the author is writing about one of his favorite artists. But the obvious disdain Palmer seems to have for Max Steiner, or that the great Victor Young is barely mentioned, prevents this book from being as useful as it could have been. Still, if you simply love the movies of the 30's and 40's then you will likely enjoy this. The point of view of the author is closely tied with how the music works in the picture, and the films that are usually mentioned as examples are those that many if not most film buffs will have seen.