Music and Motion Pictures

Introduction

If it were possible to see at a glance every city of 50,000 inhabitants and over in France, Italy and Central Europe, one would be struck by a certain similarity. However widely these cities may differ in architecture, in language, in the appearance of their people, they have one element in common. Each has its own municipal theatre where the entire population goes regularly to hear opera and light opera. And each has its promenade concerts where the symphonic works of the great masters are played.

Here in the United States we have no such institution for developing an appreciation of good music among the people. With the exception of the Metropolitan, the Chicago Opera Company, and one or two touring companies, we have no organization which furnishes us with operatic performances. We have twelve symphony orchestras of first order for a population of one hundred million.

Were it not for a substitute that has sprung up in the last twelve years or so, a vast number of Americans would never hear the finer musical works. This substitute is our motion picture theatre-an institution in which the United States rules supreme-which more or less duplicates the work of the European musical organizations.

Early in its existence the motion picture discovered that its growth could be materially aided by grafting to itself the sister art, music. Each of them has benefited. Whenever there is a film theatre of any size, there is now a good orchestra. When one considers that there are about 18,000 such theatres in the country, one realizes what an influence the industry can exert on the musical life of America.

The development of motion picture music in the short space of ten or twelve years has been remarkable. Those who were adventurous enough to go to the much-maligned movies a decade ago will recall what a miserable musical accompaniment was furnished. A single pianist drummed mechanically on a tuneless instrument. The same threadbare melodies tinkled in one's ears whether the screen showed a tender romance or the villain getting his just reward. During the supper hour the music would stop altogether while the pianist slipped out for a bit of nourishment.

Turn the pages from yesterday to today. Many of the country's finest instrumentalists are now playing in motion picture houses. The palatial theatres in the larger cities often have orchestras of eighty or more players. They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on music alone. In fact, in some cases the cost of music totals a third of the total running expenses. The best organists and conductors are engaged. Music and music of the highest caliber is considered indispensable.

The dignity that has been achieved by the motion picture industry from a musical standpoint is indicated by the important musicians who have entered the field. Henry Hadley, well known associate conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, appeared on the program at the presentation of Don Juan. Such recognized artists as Percy Grainger, Orville Harrold, Hans Kindler and Sascha Jacobson have frequently played in motion picture houses. Film theatres, because of their ability to pay large salaries, can attract the best musicians, where sometimes concert managements are loath to take the risk.

Kinds of Music

Motion picture music may be divided into two groups. There is the program music, which includes the overture, solos, ballet and dance music, and the like. And there is the accompanying synchronized score, which forms the background of the film.

As to the former, the taste of the public is in a state of flux just now. American passion for jazz is at its height. The public-at least the motion picture public-cannot seem to get enough of it. It is like a child with a new toy, unable to see anything else.

So, for the time being, jazz predominates in our film theatres. However, I believe it is only a matter of time before the wheel of public favor again turns, bringing the better type of music to the foreground again. Above all else America wants variety, and in time it will again want its jazz tempered by classical music. A jazz selection is old and discarded in a single season. A Beethoven overture or Chopin nocturne is eternally new.

Jazz, that native American product, should by all means be encouraged. It has proved itself worthy of admission to the field of modern music. It has undoubtedly a permanent place in the world's store of fine music. Such modern composers as Gershwin, Harling and John Alden Carpenter have helped to dignify and perpetuate it.

On the other hand, there is still a vigorous minority of theatergoers who want classical music, who loudly express regret that it has been dropped from some programs. I believe that the motion picture theatre should cater to the desires of this minority. From a commercial standpoint it would be worth while because it would serve to hold these people to the theatre. From an artistic standpoint it would be invaluable, since it would keep alive in this country a love of finer music. There is no reason why classical and modern music cannot be combined on the same program. Some of our finest symphony orchestras do this in the concert halls.

Aid to Musicians

Much has been done by the motion picture theatre already to aid the cause of good music. It has offered to new singers and instrumentalists an excellent means of developing their art. The practical experience of singing before a film audience for a week is equivalent to months of secluded practice at home. It develops poise and stage presence, so that when the performer is at last ready for his ultimate goal, the opera house or concert hall, there is less probability of stage fright.

As a training school for singers, America's motion picture houses more than take the place of the provincial opera houses of Europe. The standards of the former are higher in most cases, and certainly they offer better compensation. Salaries for soloists at the major metropolitan theatres range from a hundred to four hundred dollars a week. This money enables numbers of new performers to continue with their studies, where without such financial help, it might be necessary for them to give up the struggle, with success a short but unspannable distance away.

A number of successful artists have graduated from the motion picture stage to that of the coveted Metropolitan Opera House. Among those who served their apprenticeship in the film theatres are Mario Chamlee, lyric tenor, Anne Roselle, dramatic soprano, Vincente Ballester, baritone, Jeanne Gordon, contralto; also Mary Fabian of the Chicago Opera Company and Emanuel List of the Berlin Opera and La Scala, Milan. For the young and striving artist, this is an invaluable stepping stone to a broader career.

Arrangement and Use of Scores

Now as to the scores. The hit-or-miss musical accompaniment furnished by the bored pianist in the old days has long since been abandoned. Nowadays no important picture is released without a specially prepared score. Nearly every large theatre has a musical director who arranges the scores of the lesser films from week to week.

Infinite care is taken and sometimes weeks spent in the preparation of a score, so that every emotion and every bit of action on the screen will be exactly reproduced musically. As long as six months has sometimes been spent on certain of the more important scores.

The chief difficulty in score writing or arranging is keeping the music subordinate to the action on the screen. It must never obtrude itself. The audience must never be conscious of hearing a familiar tune.

To achieve this, the musical director who is obliged to prepare a new score every week must have at his disposal a limitless supply of music. For this purpose the metropolitan theatres maintain enormous libraries, some of them containing 25,000 pieces of music. These are all catalogued, not only by titles and authors, but also by the type of emotion or kind of action which they suggest. When the score writer wishes a piece of music giving the atmosphere of the opening scene of MacBeth, he refers to the sections marked "Witch Dances" or "Ominous Music." In the same way he may instantly put his hands on music which suggests the sound of an aeroplane, anger, a runaway horse, a canoe drifting down a quiet stream.

A staff of trained librarians is required to keep this stock of music constantly replenished with fresh works. The larger musical publishing houses have a standing order to send everything that comes off their presses. Material is sought in France, Germany, England, Italy and even the Orient.

The musical stores of every country are assiduously combed for melodies that will create just the right illusion. When that remarkable film Grass was being prepared for public presentation, the services of an authority on the music of Eastern tribes were called upon. For The Vanishing American, rare and little known songs of the Indians were utilized. In Deception, original music written by Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII was dug out of the forgotten archives.

The compiler or arranger of scores searches down every possible alley, in every corner for something that will give just the right effect. He knows the vital importance of an appropriate score. A good film can be made even better by a good score. An inferior film does not seem nearly so bad if it has an excellent musical background.

In preparing the music for a film, the director first has the picture run off while he makes notes. He then consults his library for selections which he believes will produce the proper atmosphere. With these before him he again calls for a running off of the film, and working at a piano, he tries out the music he has selected. Now and then he presses a button which notifies the projectionist to stop the machine while he looks for a different number or makes further notes. After the music

the music is assembled and timed to the film, it is turned over to copyists who prepare a complete score for the musicians. Usually three or four days are devoted to rehearsals.

Very often, if the arranger cannot find satisfactory music for a certain bit of action, he is obliged to compose some himself. The musical ability required for this work is of such a high caliber that only the larger theatres are able to afford it. It cannot be expected that the musical head of a theatre in a small town will be able to write as good a score as an expert employed by a metropolitan theatre. For this reason many scores are syndicated, and sent with the film all over the world.

The most recent developments along the line of making the best music available to smaller communities is the Vitaphone. This invention is the best so far in reproducing synchronized music and films. It makes it possible for artists and orchestras of the first order to be heard in the smallest towns. The reproduction of the voice and music is very fine. It seems almost as though the performers were in the same room as the listener. It is not probable that the Vitaphone will ever entirely replace the orchestra, but it does make it possible for certain films requiring the finest musical accompaniment to be shown in places where there is no orchestra available.

Field for Composers

Before leaving the subject of scores, I wish to touch on a matter about which I have often been questioned. That is: Do motion pictures offer a new field for composers? What future does this new art form offer to the creative musician? Tales have been spread of fabulous sums paid to certain composers for original scores. It is true that a few of the larger films have employed composers for original scores, but these can almost be counted on one hand. Civilization, Puritan Passions, The Thief of Bagdad, and Little Old New York are among them. At present, at least, the field is too limited to insure a promising outlet for composers.

There is also this difficulty: The average super-film, which lasts about two hours, requires as much music as an opera. Think of the physical effort of writing such a work! The life of even important films hardly exceeds two years. It is then put aside and forgotten, except for rare revivals. Will the composer of first rank be willing to devote his best effort and energy to something whose death is doomed before its birth? From what I know of composers, they would rather starve with the hope of creating a great symphony that will live through the ages, than grow fat off the proceeds of an excellent but short-lived film score.

If, however, the film world has not made serious inroads into the ranks of the better composers, it has encouraged a larger number of Americans to take up music as a profession. A short time ago the life of a musician-an orchestra player-presupposed great financial sacrifice. Even the first-rate symphony player did not earn as much as the average second-rate business man.

Growing Demand for Musicians

With the growing demand for musicians, however, their value has gone up. The musician today is in demand as he never was before. Think of the army of them necessary to man the orchestras in our 18,000 film theatres, to say nothing of the requirements of the dance halls, cabarets and legitimate theatres. The American musician has become a commercial asset. In the larger of our motion picture theatres the minimum salary is eighty-three dollars a week, and almost half of the players get one hundred dollars. First stand players and concert masters usually are paid from $7000 to $10,000 a year. The organists get from $6000 to $20,000, depending on their individual performances. Is it any wonder with our American love of luxury that the ranks of musicians have increased so enormously during the last few years? We have more musicians and better ones. Men who are naturally musical are no longer forced to become clerks or traveling salesmen in order to earn an adequate living.

American Leadership

In this country we are supreme in utilizing music in the motion picture theatre. While traveling in Europe during the past summer, I saw little that could compare with our methods of presentation. European countries themselves are aware of this and are beginning to send over representatives to study our methods. Theatre owners abroad are amazed at the way we use music in our houses. They are eager to learn from us. They are engaging our conductors to go over and take charge of presentations in their theatres.

By no means do I wish to imply that America has achieved the peak musically, any more than it has reached the limit in the development of motion pictures. There are still limitless possibilities. It is certain that the next decade will see still greater strides made by the motion picture industry. Lately large Wall Street banking firms have been allying themselves with motion picture companies, thus demonstrating their faith in the industry. With millions invested, great progress is certain. And there is no reason why music, now inseparably linked with motion pictures, should not also benefit.

Original article by Hugo Riesenfeld, 1926.

Hugo Riesenfeld, "Music and Motion Pictures," in The Motion Picture in Its Economic and Social Aspects, issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, November, 1926, pages 58-62.

© 1996, David Pierce, on editing and revisions (if any)

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