Film music

[ilu]

I have just this one tune from Anastasia.

Thank you so much, That is the movie and the main theme of the soundtrack.

ILU.

[Scriabinoff]

Rozsa complete supplemental liner notes.pdf

***
Miklós Rózsa
B. April 18, 1907 - Budapest, Hungary
D. July 27, 1995 - Los Angeles, CA, United States
Bio:
Miklos Rozsa was born in Budapest in 1907 and from an early age demonstrated his mother's same affinity for music. (His mother had trained as a pianist at the Liszt Academy.) He learned the violin, the viola and the piano and was publicly performing Mozart at the age of 7. A musical career awaited, and he was inspired by Bartok, Kodaly and Liszt among others, and shared their liking for Hungarian folk music. He studied formally at the University of Leipzig and there he composed a number of classical works including his first Violin Concerto. He continued composing after moving to Paris and won the attention of Richard Strauss and Dohnanyi. He studied further in London's Trinity College and his first film music was for European films by directors Jacques Feyder and Alexander Korda. When war broke out in Europe, Rozsa moved to the U.S. where his music for "The Thief of Bagdad" brought him instant attention and an oscar nomination. He continued his work in hollywood with a distinguished and prolific career scoring numerous well-known movies. Among these are several examples of classic "Film Noir" before he carved out a new reputation with several notable scores for historical and/or biblical epics such as Ben-Hur, "Quo Vadis" and "El Cid". He was also a music tutor to Jerry Goldsmith.

Rozsa's musical style is generally big and direct, though he is also capable of underscoring more delicate scenes. Some of his music has a religious feel to it as befits some of the biblical epics for which he provided the soundtrack, including for example his simple yet powerful setting of The Lord's Prayer for "King of Kings" which didn't appear in the movie but was written solely for the original soundtrack. His versatility allowed him to move effortlessly between Historical Epics and Thillers, Film Noir or Psychological Dramas such as "Double Indemnity", "The Lost Weekend" and "The Killers". In many ways his technique was a fore-runner for the music of Bernard Herrmann, not only when you consider his score for Hitchcock's "Spellbound", the schizophrenic waltz from "Madame Bovary", and the mythical adventure yarn "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" but also simply his powerful, darkly atmospheric but charismatic soundscapes. Incidentally, Rozsa adapted his oscar-winning music for "Spellbound" into a piano concerto.

Rozsa's Film Noir style is so closely associated with this type of film that it has been much borrowed and parodied, even to the extent that it now sounds almost cliched. The 4-note motto used in "The Killers" was employed (though not intentionally) on the TV series "Dragnet" and later also on the movie version with its dead-pan form of parody, and Steve Martin's "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" with its many ingenious clips from classic Noir films seemed to demand a Rozsa score. This was ironic since Rozsa had scored at least three of the original movies from which clips were taken, including "Double Indemnity", "The Lost Weekend" and "The Killers", so Rozsa ended up with something of a self-parody calling the score "Dead Men's Bolero". For "The Lost Weekend" (and also for "Spellbound"), Rozsa used that early electronic instrument the theremin to depict the mysterious attraction and effects of the Demon Drink, in much the same way as other composers have used this sound for B-movies of alien invasion.

Despite this versatility in his writing, it is impossible not to think of Rozsa without bringing to mind the Historical Epics for which he is justly famous. These soundtracks accompanied gargantuan spectacles with thousands of extras and demanded large and powerful orchestral forces to project fanfares and dark march themes. These depicted not just the scale of the movies but the sheer impact that these stories have had on succeeding generations, whether from the cultural influence of these past civilisations or the importance to the founding of some of today's leading religions. Throughout his years in film music, Rozsa continued to consider opportunities to create music for the concert hall. He composed another Violin Concerto for Jascha Heifetz in 1953 for example, and his "Sinfonia Concertante" for Violin, Cello and orchestra is essentially a double concerto for Heitetz and Gregor Piatigorsky. He later wrote a full Cello Concerto for Janos Starker, and his concert version of his music for "Spellbound" is very much in the form of a Piano Concerto. His health declined in later years and one project to create Choral Suites from the Biblical Epics was interrupted by his death in 1995, though completed by friends and pupils of the composer.

Among the items released to mark the composer's centenary year in 2007, are the book A Composer's Notes: Remembering Miklós Rózsa and the limited collector's edition CD of his music for The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes based on his violin concerto and including a number of tracks unused in the film's final cut. In late 2008 Tadlow Music brought out the definitive recording of Rozsa's masterpiece "El Cid". There is a 2 CD version but it is worth seeking out the Special Limited Collectors Edition whose 3rd CD contains bonus tracks from El Cid and other films, plus footage and interviews from the recording sessions. Rozsa's music is amazing and perfectly captured by the new recording. This youtube video shows excerpts from the recording sessions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtwAwgO8VYQ ,
and the triple album can be found at :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/
http://www.amazon.com/
Film Scores
• The Thief of Bagdad - getting the first of many Oscar nominations with its love theme, a few songs and use of chorus to augment the orchestration
• Jungle Book - (1942), not the Disney cartoon
• Five Graves to Cairo - Rozsa's first collaboration with director Billy Wilder
• Double Indemnity - again with Billy Wilder
• The Song of Scheherazade
• Madame Bovary - an historical drama directed by Vincente Minnelli based on the novel by Gustave Flaubert, Rozsa delivers his first major assignment for MGM, a romantic yet tempestuous score, the waltz music for a key scene is a highlight and very possibly modelled on Ravel's La Valse (though not quite so demonic at the end) - here is the complete dance scene on youtube as Emma Bovary allows herself to be swept off her feet by a stranger while her husband gets drunk
• Providence
• The Asphalt Jungle
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - film noir with murder, guilt and love, starring a young Kirk Douglas, Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin
• The Lost Weekend - Billy Wilder's psychological drama starring Ray Milland as an alcoholic
• Quo Vadis - a love story between a high-ranking Roman and a Christian during the time of Nero
• The Light Touch - for this caper movie Rozsa uses an Italian style theme with mandolins, which becomes a song with lyrics for the end titles
• Ivanhoe
• King of Kings - the story of Jesus Christ with much choral music
• Plymouth Adventure - Rozsa incorporates a number of Psalm tunes into this story of the Mayflower's crossing to the New World
• Crisis - the score focuses on Spanish sounding music with acoustic guitars
• Beau Brummel
• The Story of Three Loves - an unusual film in 3 segments, Rozsa wrote original music but also made extensive use of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
• All the Brothers were Valiant - apart from some flute music for the natives of the South Sea islands, the music is even more stormy (in an emotional sense) than the Pacific.
• Young Bess - a royal epic, whose music is remarkably varied and includes a powerful rendition of the Dies Irae
• Valley of the Kings
• Spellbound - best music Oscar for this Hitchcock film with the Dali dream sequence, the soundtrack is dominated by a love theme but with some suitably eerie Theremin sounds for the psychological mystery
• The Killers - there is a scene near the end of the movie where some boogie-woogie style piano gets mixed with the 4-note killers theme
• Julius Caesar
• Something of Value - set in Kenya with Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier, the soundtrack is mostly singing either unaccompanied or minimally accompanied - the African sound is perhaps not totally authentic but it does give the movie a unique sound
• Tip on a Dead Donkey - functional soundtrack, but the light Spanish music on bassoon is wonderful
• Knights of the Round Table
• Ben-Hur - one of the best film soundtracks ever for this huge epic.
• El Cid - very romantic Spanish/Moorish-sounding music, the love theme is something like Rimski-Korsakov's Scheherazade
• Sodom and Gomorrah
• The Power - contains various music styles including some gypsy music
• The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes - a nice mix of material for this Billy wilder film, and even including some Scottish songs
• The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
• Time after Time
• Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - borrowing and adapting his earlier film noir style
• Dragnet - lending the motto to the movie version of the TV series scored by Ira Newborn

TV Themes by Rozsa (or not):
The interesting story behind the Dragnet theme is that it was composed by Walter Schumann, but unknowingly he used a 4-note motto which Rozsa had previously written for the movie "The Killers". When people noticed the similarity there was a law suit, and Schumann agreed to pay half the royalties for his Dragnet theme to Rozsa.
• Dragnet - actually composed by Schumann but associated with Rozsa due to that 4-note motto and the resulting law-suit


The following scores (in the next posts) are provided as representative examples of his film music for three of the most well known of his scores, Ben-Hur, El Cid, and King of Kings. These uploads were cleared with PianoPhilia.com before being submitted (though it should be stressed that because his death was so recent, no more of his scores should be submitted unless first specifically cleared with the site's administration).

I came across these quite by chance, and due to their more difficult to find nature, I sought permission to share here. They are particularly nice as they do not suffer greatly from the modern trend of 'movie music' piano albums to be watered down to bland, so-so, intermediate level works that do not take better advantage of the range of register, colors, and dynamics of the piano (which publishers have been doing for ages even before films in order to appeal to a wider piano playing audience, i.e. lower technical buy - in). (NMS)

For more information, you are encouraged to visit the Miklos Rozsa Society website where you can read a different biography, and link to retailers that sell his music and other relevant information.
http://www.miklosrozsa.org/

***PS
Supplement Liner Notes for some of the OST releases with nice information on the score and individual tracks (permission for distribution for personal use only is granted by the appropriate statement with the copyright information)

[Scriabinoff]

Ben Hur Liner Notes Supplement.pdf

Ben - Hur

Rozsa Miklos Ben-Hur.pdf

"Although still in copyright these are just examples of his extensive catalogue of film music"
some of the OST may be listened to here (info box has a time stamp breakdown)
http://youtu.be/12miZEqp0yU

[Scriabinoff]

Rozsa Miklos El Cid.pdf

El Cid
"Although still in copyright these are just examples of his extensive catalogue of film music"

[Scriabinoff]

King of Kings

Rozsa Miklos King Of Kings.pdf

"Although still in copyright these are just examples of his extensive catalogue of film music"

[liveforpiano]

Thank you very much for this post Scriabinoff. It makes very interesting reading, and I have bought, and downloaded a couple of Cd's as a result, which I have enjoyed very much.
Thank you also for the scores you have been kind enough to share. I have a rather heavy work load on at present, but am sure I will enjoy playing them in the near future.

Very best wishes, and thank you for all your interesting posts. I did get the Abeliovich Sonatas etc discs and found the music very interesting. Keep up the good work.

Best wishes.
Peter.

[Scriabinoff]

Thank you very much for this post Scriabinoff. It makes very interesting reading, and I have bought, and downloaded a couple of Cd's as a result, which I have enjoyed very much.
Thank you also for the scores you have been kind enough to share. I have a rather heavy work load on at present, but am sure I will enjoy playing them in the near future.

Very best wishes, and thank you for all your interesting posts. I did get the Abeliovich Sonatas etc discs and found the music very interesting. Keep up the good work.

Best wishes.
Peter.

you're very kind. and you're welcome. im glad (and hopefuly) you and others will discover Rozsa or at least learn more about him from these posts, and i am happy you have found some new music to listen to! to me, his style was immediately appealing and has only become more so as I have sought out and listened to and read more and more of his work. if you are not already familar with it, i encourage you (and others reading) to listen to his fine piano concerto op 31 (which has a nice score that is currently in print and can be purchased from various music score retailers)

i.e. http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Kla ... 31/2660927
Klavierkonzert op. 31 by Miklos Rozsa (1907-1995) and Miklos Rozsa. For Piano, Orchestra (2 pianos). This edition: paperback. Edition Breitkopf. Piano reduction. 120 pages. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.EB-6530).

ISBN 979-0-004-16768-7.



this is one of my favorite concertos (that 'cadenza', quoted since it is actually written out in the score, in mvmnt I, wow wow wow, I love that thing! approx 6:50 in or so....)
I
http://youtu.be/42RIaYzOBoY
II
http://youtu.be/SPZT0yKPyyw
III
http://youtu.be/TpbCQZeYWA0

also quite lovely (and very very popular in its day is the "Spellbound Concerto" which youtube has some nice Piano + Orchestra performances , this was transcribed for solo piano into a very nice concert piece, I have not checked youtube to see if any effective recordings of this are posted yet).

[Scriabinoff]

Herman Hupfeld

Herman Hupfeld.jpg

b. 1 February 1894, Montclair, New Jersey, USA, d. 8 June 1951, Montclair, New Jersey, USA. A little-known songwriter, pianist and conductor, who, although he did not compose complete scores, was particularly adept in interpolating the occasional superior song into stage shows and films of the 20s and 30s. After being sent to Germany at the age of nine to study the violin, Hupfeld returned to the USA and completed his education at the local Montclair high school. After serving in the US Navy during World War I, he worked as a pianist-singer before contributing songs such as ‘Baby’s Blue’, ‘Sort Of Lonesome’, and ‘The Calinda’ to the smart and fashionable Broadway revues of the day. In 1930 his ‘Sing Something Simple’ attracted some attention when it was introduced by Ruth Tester, with Arline Judge and Fay Brady, in The Second Little Show. A year later, as well as contributing the amusing ‘When Yuba Plays The Rumba On His Tuba’ to The Third Little Show, he wrote the song for which he will always be remembered - ‘As Time Goes By’. It was first sung by the popular platinum blonde singer Frances Williams in the musical Everybody’s Welcome, and subsequently recorded by Jacques Renard and Rudy Vallee, amongst others. However, it came to world-wide prominence in the 1943 film Casablanca, when it was memorably performed by Dooley Wilson. More than 50 years later, it still conjures up the bitter-sweet romance between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in the movie, and that magical moment when Bergman requests the pianist to ‘Play it Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By’’. In 1932 Hupfeld had another of his best-known numbers, ‘Let’s Put Out The Lights And Go To Sleep’, featured in George White’s Music Hall Varieties stage show, and during the remainder of the 30s his other songs included ‘Wouldn’t That Be Wonderful’ (Hey Nonny Nonny! revue), ‘Savage Serenade’ (Earl Carroll’s Murder At The Vanities), and ‘Buy Yourself A Balloon’ (The Show Is On revue). He also placed songs in movies such as Moonlight And Pretzels (‘Gotta Get Up And Get To Work’ and ‘Are You Makin’ Any Money?’) and Take A Chance (‘Night Owl’). During World War II Hupfeld travelled widely, entertaining the troops in the USA and Europe. In 1950 he had one last fling at Broadway, contributing material to the musical Dance Me A Song. The show was notable only for an early appearance of dancer Bob Fosse, and was quickly withdrawn.

As Time Goes By (1931), by Herman Hupfeld from the film Casablanca (1942)

Hupfeld Herman - As Time Goes By (Casablanca).pdf

US version (blue).jpg

Hupfeld H alt As Time Goes By.pdf

Hupfeld wrote "As Time Goes By" for the 1931 Broadway musical Everybody's Welcome. In the original show, it was sung by Frances Williams. It was recorded that year by several artists, including Rudy Vallee and Binnie Hale, as well as orchestra recordings by Jacques Renard and Fred Rich. In terms of popularity at the time, it was a modest hit.

The song was re-introduced in 1942 in the film Casablanca, sung by Dooley Wilson accompanied by pianist Elliot Carpenter[1] and heard throughout the film as a leitmotif.[2] Wilson was unable to record his version of the song at the time due to a musicians' strike, leading Brunswick to reissue the Jacques Renard's 1931 recording, as well as Victor to re-issue Vallee's 1931 recording and giving Vallee a number one hit in 1942.[3]

The famous opening line, "You must remember this...", is actually the start of the chorus as the song was originally written and performed. Wilson did not sing the preceding verse in Casablanca, however, and most subsequent recordings have followed the film's lead in omitting it, leading to its being virtually unknown to most listeners.

In addition to the American Film Institute including it as number two in their list of the 100 best songs in film,[4] National Public Radio included it in their NPR 100, the 1999 list of the most important American musical works of the 20th century as compiled by their music editors.[5]

Casablanca rare vintage movie promo poster.jpg

http://youtu.be/_yTzjc056qM
Rudy Vallee - As Time Goes By 1931

[thalbergmad]

HAHA, does not really "work" in German.

Thanks

Thal

[Scriabinoff]

Probably the largest ''collection" of PD works from movies/films I've come across to date, looks like the run was limited to 500 sets (of the volumes, 10 in all with index). A collection of 4,597 titles by variuos composers from different films. Index file will have the master list- two master lists- one lists all the pieces by title (with the composer listed later), the other by composer (with the titles for that composer listed later), it then gives a key for which book and page the work can be found in addition to the key the score is in plus the original key of the work.

Per PP file posting guidelines, link to the download archive site is provided vs directly posting.

http://archive.org/details/TDavidFrankl ... eetMusic_0
Million Dollar Collection of Sheet Music



Description

Over one million dollars worth of public domain sheet music in 10 volumes. Brought to you as a public service from T. David Franklin.


Creative Commons license: Public Domain