Daniel Goldmark, Lawrence Kramer, and Richard Leppert, Eds., Beyond the Soundtrack: Representing Music in Cinema

Journal of Film Music 3.1 (2010) 95-97 ISSN (print) 1087-7142 doi:10.1558/jfm.v3i1.95 ISSN (online) 1758-860X Daniel Goldmark, Lawrence Kramer, and Richard Leppert, eds., Beyond the Soundtrack: Representing Music in Cinema Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 2007. [xiii, 324 pp. ISBN: 0520250703. $24.95 (trade paper)] Music examples, illustrations, figures, tables, filmography, bibliography, indices. MattHew Brown Eastman School of Music [email protected] ne of the most interesting developments over clear representational and expressive powers, whereas the past few years has been the emergence others insist that these powers are extremely limited.1 O of film music as a legitimate subject for The promise and the problems posed by film scholarly research. This move is an important one music are both on display in the recent set of essays not only because it acknowledges the significant role Beyond the Soundtrack: Representing Music in Cinema. The film music plays in contemporary culture, but also book collects sixteen papers delivered at a conference because it promises to foster exchanges between sponsored by the University of Minnesota in April experts in such diverse field as film studies, media/ 2004. Motivated by a desire to stop treating music cultural studies, aesthetics, historical musicology, “as a subordinate element” in films, this conference music theory, and music psychology. That being explored the ways in which films “conceptualize the case, the development has also shown just how music” and how they “position music and musicality problematic film music can be. Indeed, although as parts…of a fictional world” (p. 225). The papers are films normally create narratives from combining arranged into three groups: those that consider the images and sounds, the music does not necessarily ways in which music is represented in film (“Musical serve the narrative to the same degree as the images Meaning”); those that show how music influences the or the other sound sources, the dialog and effects. ways in which people understand the outside world Sometimes it seems to behave almost autonomously, (“Agency”); and those that discuss the ways in which imposing structure on the other elements. When the generic identity of music carries over into film scores do serve the narrative, many experts distinguish (“Identity”) (pp. 6–8). The editors also add a brief between music that is actually invoked by the story introduction, a filmography, and a general index. (so-called diegetic music, which by now should be Taken as a whole, Beyond the Soundtrack is an described as “source music”) and music that is not attractive book. Perhaps the most obvious strength (non-diegetic music, which by now should be described of the collection is the broad scope of its material; as the “score”). And yet, this dichotomy is often it contains lots of things for lots of people. This blurred at best. To complicate matters further, film enormous breadth stems in large part from the fact music reopens age-old philosophical debates about authenticity, representation, expression, reception, 1 For a convenient survey of these debates, see Peter Kivy, Introduction to a Philosophy of Music (Oxford and New York: Clarendon Press, 2002), especially and meaning in music: some claim that music has pp. 182–201. © Equinox Publishing Ltd 2010, 1 Chelsea Manor Studios, Flood Street, London SW3 5SR. 96 THE JOURNAL OF FILM MUSIC that contributors have varied backgrounds in film and Oskar Sala to recreate the squawk of the birds studies, literature, cultural studies, and historical in the studio. Seen in the context of 1950s and ‘60s musicology. Between them, they address many of the electronic composition, it is unclear whether they problems mentioned above. For example, Robynn created elaborate sound effects or a piece of avant- Stilwell and Daniel Goldmark expose problems with garde electronic music. And in The Picnic, the actors the distinction between source music (diegetic) and mumble or squeal in expressive ways without uttering score (non-diegetic). Goldmark is particularly skeptical a single coherent word.3 Are those mumbles and of its relevance in cartoons. He pursues this further in squeals sound effects or distorted forms of dialog? his book Tunes for ‘Toons: Music in Hollywood Cartoons The second half of the title also cries out for (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California clarification. The editors interpret the phrase Press, 2005). In his extremely engaging essay on the “representing music in cinema” liberally: “to film music of Nino Rota, Richard Dyer explores some represent music in film is to represent what music of the ways in which music can function independently represents” (p. 6). But this interpretation actually of the narrative. He also provides a brief summary conflates two separate questions. First, how is music of the philosophical problems that arise in trying represented in film? Second, how does a given piece to understand expression and meaning in music. of music represent other objects, events, or ideas? Meanwhile, other writers tackle broad issues of history, There are many ways to answer the first question. gender, and culture. The papers by Rick Altman and The most obvious way to represent music in film is Daniel Goldmark, two of the strongest in the book, through images of people making music, as in the present wonderful insights about the use of music famous concert scene from Hitchcock’s The Man in feature films and cartoons during the 1920s. The Who Knew Too Much (1956).4 Such images can be sense of diversity is also borne out by the enormous abstracted in shots of musical instruments, music number of films mentioned in the text. Between stands, radios, among others. Another way is to them, the contributors refer to 172 films, ranging from show images of people responding to the music, as early silent films to recent Hollywood blockbusters, in the scene from Bruno Nuyten’s Camille Claudel and epic feature films to short cartoons. Given the (1988) in which Debussy (Maxime Leroux) dances editors’ insistence that music is not a subordinate a waltz with Camille (Isabelle Adjani). The motion element in film, it is ironic that their filmography of dancers can be represented more abstractly as in identifies the film’s director, country of origin, and the famous shot of the space station spinning to the date of release, but not the name of the composer. sounds of “The Blue Danube” in Kubrick’s 2001: A There are other missed opportunities. Take, Space Odyssey (1968). Still another way is to show for example, the book’s title. Although the term images of specific representations of music, as in the “soundtrack” is problematic, the editors basically shot of Rita Hayworth lounging over a giant page of equate the word with the musical score: as they sheet music in the publicity still for Charles Vidor’s point out, it acquired this meaning in the 1940s Cover Girl (1944). There are likewise many ways “as advertising lingo for recordings of music from to answer the second question, assuming that the the movies” (p. 3). This usage takes for granted music is indeed representational. Sometimes music the fact that soundtracks normally contain dialog represents non-musical objects by mimicking the and sound effects as well.2 And yet, it is not always sounds made by those objects or by alluding to the easy to differentiate musical scores from sound meaning of particular images or words; sometimes effects or sound effects from dialog. One need only it represents general ideas by including culturally think of works like The Birds (1963) and The Picnic coded musical figures, or topoi; sometimes it refers to (a 28-minute film originally aired on British TV particular ideas or people through the use of recurring in 1976). In The Birds, Bernard Herrmann worked themes or leitmotivs; sometimes it expresses the same closely with electronic composers Remi Gassmann 3 Written and performed by the two Ronnies (Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett), it was first shown on BBC 2 on 1 January 1976. It has since been 2 See Rick Altman, with McGraw Jones and Sonia Tatroe, “Inventing the shown several times by ITV 3, who currently holds the rights to the film. The Cinema Soundtrack: Hollywood’s Multiplane Sound System,” in Music and two Ronnies created a sequel By the Sea, which was first shown in 1982 and Cinema, ed. James Buhler, Caryl Flinn, and David Neumeyer (Hanover, NH: feature some as the same characters as The Picnic. A limited VHS release of Wesleyan University Press, 2000), 339–59. In addition, the Wikipedia article By the Sea and The Picnic was available in 1990 and deleted in 1994; a limited about “soundtrack” shows that many scholars use the term as a misnomer DVD release (by BBC Video) of By the Sea/The Picnic was available in 2007. (for example, as a synonym for “film score”). It is an interesting state of 4 At the climax of the film, the composer Bernard Herrmann conducts a affairs that Wikipedia seems better informed than scholars writing about performance of Arthur Benjamin’s cantata Storm Clouds at the Royal Albert film music. See “Soundtrack,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Hall. Benjamin’s music also appeared in the original British version of The Soundtrack (accessed on 18 June 2008). Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). © Equinox Publishing Ltd 2010. REVIEWS 97 emotions as the characters; sometimes it expresses to think about. One can only hope that the book will the tension in a particular scene by manipulating encourage even greater interest in film music and ever the principles of musical syntax; and so on. more fruitful dialogs between scholars from every But perhaps the biggest lacuna is that Beyond the part of the academic community.

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