Music: An Appreciation
10th Edition
by Roger Kamien
Part IX
Music for Stage and Screen
2011 © McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Ch. 1 - Musical Theater
• Musical, or musical comedy fuses script,
acting, speech, music, singing, dancing,
costumes, scenery, & spectacle
• Similar to opera, but musical has spoken dialog
• Sometimes called Broadway musical
• Originally designed for stage presentation
• Film versions soon followed
Development of the Musical
• Roots go back to operetta, or comic opera
• Show Boat (1927) topic: interracial romance
• Some musicals were political/social statements
• Until 1960’s, songs mostly traditional (AABA)
• Musical mostly untouched by the rock revolution
Ch. 2 - Leonard Bernstein
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West Side Story: Re-telling of Romeo and
Juliet set in the slums of New York.
Shakespeare's feuding families become rival
gangs (Jets—Americans and Sharks—Puerto
Ricans).
Listening
Tonight Ensemble
from West Side Story (1957)
by Leonard Bernstein
Listening Outline: p. 499
Basic Set, CD 9:42 Brief Set, CD 5:59
This melody is from an earlier fire-escape
(balcony) scene. Here, Tony & Maria (the
lovers) plan to meet, while Riff (Jets leader)
and Bernardo (Sharks leader, Maria’s
brother) each plan for the coming fight.
Ch. 3 - Music in Film
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Early Film Music
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Functions and Styles of Film Music
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1890’s - 1929
Provides momentum & continuity
Suggests mood, atmosphere, character, and
dramatic action
Most music is commissioned for specific films
Creating Film Music
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Up to 1950 – studios housed resident orchestra &
musicians
Since 1960 – freelance musicians
Listening
Vertigo (1958) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Music by Bernard Herrmann
[video clip available through ConnectKamien]
Tower Scene – Madeleine runs into the church and rushes
up to the bell tower. Scottie follows, but vertigo slows
him. He doesn’t reach her in time.
Music: string tremolos, dissonant chords, rapid whirring
ostinato suggests terror & frenzied motion