Pianophilia

Kabalevsky aficionados might enjoy watching the 1935 movie "Aerograd," now available at
http://www.archive.org/details/Aerograd_177

Virgil Thomson's famous score gets played by Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in this movie:

http://www.archive.org/details/LouisianaStory

kh0815 wrote:
Another genial method to make modern (concert) music popular: to place it in an excellent movie. Remember György Ligeti's "Atmosphères", "Kyrie" from "Requiem", "Lux Aeterna" (16 voices choir a cappella) in Stanley Kubrick's "2001 - A Space Odyssey".

I was so completely blown away by Ligeti's "Atmospheres" that I spent a rather large sum to obtain the score. Looking at that huge score I found each single instrument on its own staff and the micro-polyphony......just mind boggling. Anyway this is the first really "modern" orchestral score that I can recall in a film. And the gorgeous "Lux Aeterna". And the older music? To this day, every time I hear "The Blue Danube", the uncompleted space station pops in my mind.

Here is a rather classy arrangement by Semprini.

The song was originally composed for the silent movie What Price Glory?, and most notably, the best-selling version, recorded by Guy Lombardo & his Orchestra, spent seven weeks at the #1 position in 1927. It was also featured in the movie Two Girls And A Sailor. It was recorded by the Harry James orchestra in 1944.

fredbucket wrote:

Alkan81 wrote:Where I can get this copyright??? This is my transcription

Making a transcription of a work does not in any way negate the copyright on that work, which remains with the original copyright owner, and you cannot publish that arrangement without the express permission of the original copyright owner.

If this were not the case, I could take a copyrighted piece, change one note, call it an arrangement, and publish it.

Regards
Fred

A friend of mine has created dozens of very fine piano transcriptions of film scores by a living composer yet is having trouble getting them published (despite demand for same). Curiously there are countless numbers of published arrangements of some of the same pieces for everything from marching band to easy saxophone from a plethora of publishers. Makes me wonder who is giving out these permissions.

In one of my idle moments, I started making a mental list of movies that feature, as part of the plot, a work for classical piano. Among them:

Rope (dir. Alfred Hitchock): Perpetual Motion No. 1, by Francis Poulenc..

All About Eve (dir. Joseph Mankiewicz): LIebestraum No. 3, by Franz Liszt.

Brief Encounter (dir. David Lean): Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

I'm sure there are many others, if someone else wants to pitch in. I would leave out movies specifically about classical pianists (e.g., Five Easy Pieces, Shine). That's cheating.

In "Intolerable Cruelty" (dir. the Coen brothers), the second Chopin Ballade (op 38) is the background music while George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones have lunch at a posh restaurant -but the movie uses only the first few relatively easy pages.

Hello All,

At the very end of the 2001 film "Eyes Wide Shut" with Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, the magnificent Shostakovich waltz is played:

"Waltz 2" from DS "Jazz Suite No. 2;" piece No. 6.

Imho, this is one of the most incredibly beautiful waltz melodies ever written. At least to my ears! One of my long-term projects is to compose a piano transcription of this one. The only piano score I've ever seen of this is a very basic, simplified arrangement. For anyone who hasn't heard this piece, I've attached an mp3 file.

All Best,

Frank

fhimpsl wrote:Hello All,

"Waltz 2" from DS "Jazz Suite No. 2;" piece No. 6.

Imho, this is one of the most incredibly beautiful waltz melodies ever written. At least to my ears! One of my long-term projects is to compose a piano transcription of this one. The only piano score I've ever seen of this is a very basic, simplified arrangement.

I'm guessing it's not this one as I also have a simpler one by Kula.
The lovely Romance from the Shostakovich Gadfly Suite was used as the theme for the series "Reilly, Ace of Spies". Harry Rabinowitz published a piano transcription of same.

I don't think this is under copyright but I might be wrong, in that case please delete
Well known but always funny to play