[Han Jeong-ho's Classic Lounge] The Roots of Great Film Music That Created Iconic Scenes Are Classical

Han Jeong-ho, Guest Reporter · CEO of Etoile Classic & Consulting

In the early 20th century during the era of French silent films, cinemas even brought in pianos to perform live music during screenings or provided full orchestral accompaniment in the orchestra pit to enhance the movie-watching experience.

The work of composer Camille Saint-Sa?ns (1835?1921), used in the film The Assassination of the Duke of Guise (1908), is considered the first film music. Early film music composers were mainly classical composers, such as Erik Satie (1866?1925) for Entr'acte (1924) and Dmitri Shostakovich (1906?1975) for New Babylon (1929).

Opera is typically produced centered around the composer and director. However, film is a collaborative creation led by the director and screenwriter, involving vast teams in art, cinematography, special effects, editing, and sound recording, with music participating as part of this division of labor. Early 20th-century European classical composers were aware of this.

Even today, composers are often regarded merely as production staff responsible only for the music. Arthur Honegger (1892?1955) and Darius Milhaud (1892?1974) provided music simply without engaging in film production.

In the United States, the rapid advancement of sound recording technology, triggered by inventor Thomas Edison (1847?1931) in the late 19th century, led to the establishment of the "talkie" era in the 1930s, where video, voice, and music were presented simultaneously. As films grew longer, directors and producers urgently needed film music and skilled film composers to enhance artistic quality and secure popularity.

As a result, classical composers who had been commissioned by aristocrats, bourgeoisie, sheet music publishers, or musical organizations to write new pieces began accepting commercial commissions that considered both the completeness and box office success of films. As the boundary between art music and commercial music gradually blurred, many masterpieces were born through close collaboration between 20th-century film directors and composers.

Erich Korngold (1897?1957), who was a promising opera and operetta composer until his twenties, entered film music by arranging Felix Mendelssohn's (1809?1847) incidental music for the play of the same name in the film A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935). After fleeing to the United States in 1938 following Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria, Korngold produced a series of film scores featuring beautiful Germanic melodies and received exceptional treatment in Hollywood.

Henry Mancini, the film music composer of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' and the protagonist Audrey Hepburn (c) BBC

From the Silent Film Era to Modern Blockbusters, Film Music Serves as the Focal Point Weaving Scenes and Emotions Together

Korngold applied Wagnerian "leitmotif" (recurrent musical themes) techniques to film music. His grand orchestral sound in the late Romantic style complemented the historical subjects in films, earning him two Academy Awards for music in 1936 and 1938. His works were used both in cinemas and classical concerts, making him the first composer to break down the barriers between movie theaters and classical concert halls. Korngold himself regarded Puccini's (1858?1924) opera Tosca as the greatest film music, showing his adherence to classical idioms even in commercial contexts.

Sergei Prokofiev (1891?1953), while staying in the United States in 1938, was inspired by Disney's first animated film Snow White (1937) and met Walt Disney (1901?1966). Although they discussed film music composition, the collaboration did not materialize. Prokofiev returned to the Soviet Union and later composed the score for Sergei Eisenstein's (1898?1948) Alexander Nevsky (1938). The music perfectly synchronizes with the visuals in the famous ice battle scenes, such as the cavalry charge and soldiers drowning.

French film critic Georges Sadoul (1904?1967) praised the film as a work where Eisenstein's concept of vertical montage, intended to create contrapuntal effects between image and sound as advocated in his book Sound Film Manifesto, was realized.

In classical history, Nino Rota (1911?1979) is classified as a 20th-century Italian neoclassical composer through his symphonies Nos. 1?3, the opera The Florentine Straw Hat, and late trombone and bassoon concertos. Rota studied composition at Italy's Santa Cecilia Conservatory and the Curtis Institute in the United States before returning to Italy to work as a classical composer.

He met young director Federico Fellini (1920?1993) in 1951 with The White Sheik and subsequently composed music for all of Fellini's films. Rota's music completely blends with Fellini's visuals, giving the impression of "watching" both image and music together. His unique technique of infusing Italian nostalgia into melodies is exquisite. From the early script stages, Fellini would discuss his ideas, and Rota would demonstrate melodies.

Rota also worked on Ren? Cl?ment's (1913?1996) Purple Noon and Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather ? Love Theme (1972), but he said, "My main profession is classical music; film music is just a hobby."

Henry Mancini (1924?1994), raised in an Italian-American family in Cleveland, Ohio, learned flute and piccolo from his father as a child. He entered the Juilliard School in New York, studying under Italian composer Mario Tedesco (1895?1968) and Ernst Krenek (1900?1991), known for twelve-tone technique. In 1952, he partnered with Universal Pictures to compose scores for B-grade horror films and from the 1960s worked on films starring actress Audrey Hepburn (1929?1993).

The song "Moon River," sung by Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's, became a classic of film music. It is a piece that can create a dramatic atmosphere with just a single piano and a romantic melody, without complex orchestration. Especially, "Days of Wine and Roses" is a popular piece frequently chosen by renowned classical violinists for crossover projects.

Andr? Previn (1929?2019), called the "musician's musician" for his outstanding talent spanning conducting, composing, jazz, and classical music, entered Hollywood early. Escaping Nazi persecution in the 1940s, Previn moved from Germany to the American West Coast. In high school, he improvised piano accompaniment for silent films and soon connected with the Los Angeles film industry.

On the 6th (local time), the legendary film music composer Ennio Morricone passed away. (c) Gonzalo Tello

Classical Composers Entering Film: Iconic Melodies from Cinema Paradiso to The Mission, Faithful to Classical Techniques

Universal Studios and MGM entrusted Previn with arrangements and film score composition. He won four Academy Awards related to music in his early 30s for scores such as Porgy and Bess and My Fair Lady. In film music, Previn prioritized accessibility with sweet mood music over hardcore jazz for jazz fans. Until the mid-1960s, composing film music was a means for him to maintain reputation and livelihood. However, while making films enjoyable and lively, his musical language remained faithful to classical grammar.

Ennio Morricone (1928?2020), who passed away at age 91 on the 6th, was recognized in the 1960s as an innovative sound maker enriching the style of low-budget spaghetti westerns. Starting with Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven (1977), Morricone's film scores for Roland Joff?'s The Mission (1986) and Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987) received Academy recognition. He rose to global fame with Cinema Paradiso (1988), becoming one of the world's leading film music directors beyond Italy.

Morricone was a pioneering composer who introduced unique sounds such as whistling, church bells, clock chimes, and gunshots into films. He created textures in music that could not be produced by typical studio arrangements. This sensibility was honed during his youth as an experimental improvisational composer and arranger for the Italian RCA label.

He preferred his film work to be called "music for films" rather than "soundtracks." In his later years, he returned to classical composition but did not release subsequent works.

In the era after Previn and Morricone, the greatest film composer is John Williams. Born in New York, Williams studied piano under Rosina Lh?vinne at Juilliard. In the 1960s, he connected with Hollywood by participating as a pianist in Mancini's film music projects.

Williams fully demonstrated the orchestration skills he learned from Tedesco early in his career. He won an Academy Award in 1971 for Fiddler on the Roof and again for Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975). As a conductor, he served as music director of the Boston Pops Orchestra, filling the leadership gap after Arthur Fiedler (1894?1979), and composed the title theme for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

He excelled at creating spatial auditory experiences in blockbusters such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, and Harry Potter. His classical sensibility matured in the emotionally stirring violin performance by Itzhak Perlman in Schindler's List (1993). Recently, even approaching his nineties, he appeared as a conductor with the Vienna Philharmonic.

Guest reporter, Etoile Classic & Consulting CEO