The Polysynchronous Film Score: The Relationship Between Music and Image/Narrative In Contemporary Scores For Silent Film By Phillip Johnston Doctor of Philosophy in Music Composition Newcastle Conservatorium, School of Creative Arts University of Newcastle Date of Submission: Feb 15, 2015 Statement of Originality The thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to the final version of my thesis being made available worldwide when deposited in the University’s Digital Repository**, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. **Unless an Embargo has been approved for a determined period. ________________________________________________ ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my advisors and supervisors Philip Mathias, Frank Millward, Colin Spiers and Richard Vella. I’d also like to thank Angela Philp, Chris Allan and Sally Walker, of my Confirmation Committee, and all of the faculty and staff in various departments at Newcastle Conservatorium /University of Newcastle for their support. I’d like to thank the members of the Ingall family for selecting me for the Joy Ingall Scholarship, and the committee that selected me for the UoN Research Higher Degree Achievement Award. I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to present papers at a number of conferences, which helped me clarify my ideas through discussion with colleagues and the opportunity to take in a number of interesting papers by other presenters. The Music and the Moving Image Conference at NYU, which I have attended twice and will return to later this year, has been particularly enjoyable and useful. I also presented at number of conferences sponsored by the Musicological Society of Australia, which were also both pleasurable and enlightening. The experience of editing and peer review in submitting a paper to Screen Sound Journal was also helpful, in particular the feedback from editor Rebecca Coyle. I’d like to thank Kathryn Millard, Jason Weiss and Tim Kennedy, who read my thesis in draft form and gave me terrific feedback: they are three utterly diverse and unique intelligences. I’d like to thank the musicians who played on the recording and performances of my score for The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Alister Spence, Casey Golden, James Greening and Nic Cecire, as well as the engineers for the recording and mix sessions, Richard Hundy and Paulie Bromley. I’d like to thank my fellow silent film music composers, Richard Einhorn, Gus Macmillan, Richard Marriott and Ken Winokur, who generously gave their time to filling out my extremely lengthy and detailed interview. I learned so much from them about our craft, and about their work. I’d like to thank my composition teacher, Edgar Grana, who taught me the most important lesson of all: ‘you’ve got to earn your next move’. Finally, and most importantly, my wife, Hilary Bell, has put up with my obsessive talk about the issues around my thesis, both theoretical and practical, for the last four years with grace and humour. She also served as copy editor, sounding board and therapist. Thanks, hon. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... vi LIST OF VIDEO CLIPS ............................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ viii CHAPTER ONE—MUSIC FOR SILENT FILMS: from synchronicity to polysynchronicity 1 Synchronicity and asynchronicity …........................................................................... 2 Foundations of film music analysis ......................................................................... 4 Alternative film music thought in early film.............................................................. 9 Alternative film music thought in the sound film era............................................... 13 The polysynchronous possibilities inherent in contemporary scores for silent film. 17 (Methodology and Chapter Summary)...................................................................... 18 CHAPTER TWO—SCORES FOR SILENT FILM: HISTORICAL & CONTEMPORARY....... 21 Historical music for silent films………………………........................................................ 21 Discontent with early film accompaniment ............................................................. 23 Cue books ................................................................................................................. 25 Compiled scores ....................................................................................................... 27 Original scores .......................................................................................................... 29 Silent film music conventions ................................................................................... 31 Silent film music conventions as applied to sound film scoring ............................... 35 Practitioners of sound film scoring ………………………………………………………………………. 39 Film music analysis: current practice ........................................................................ 41 Writing about contemporary scores for silent film ................................................... 44 The possibilities of the polysynchronous film score ……………………………………………….47 Criteria for polysynchronicity…………………………………………………………………………………. 51 CHAPTER THREE—POLYSYNCHRONICITY IN CONTEMPORARY SCORES FOR SILENT FILM........................................................................................................................... 53 Contemporary scores for silent film as a distinct art form……………………………………. 53 The origins of the art form of contemporary scores for silent film.……………………….. 56 Le Voyage dans la lune (Méliès 1902): A survey of the field........................................ 60 Contemporary composers for silent film and polysynchronicity .............................. 70 What areas of polysynchronicity have been little investigated? ............................... 70 What are the presumptions of contemporary composers for silent film? ................ 71 CHAPTER FOUR—CONTEMPORARY SCORES FOR SILENT FILM: FOUR CASE STUDIES.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 81 I Sherlock Jr. (1924): Buster’s meta-geographical jump …………………........................ 81 The Club Foot Orchestra & The Blue Grassy Knoll .................................................... 83 Scene change sequence, with music by the Club Foot Orchestra ............................ 84 Scene change sequence, with music by the Blue Grassy Knoll ................................. 86 II The Golem: Two contemporary rock silent film scores ......................................... 88 Black Francis and Gary Lucas .................................................................................... 89 iv The Golem (Black Francis) ......................................................................................... 90 The Golem (Gary Lucas) ............................................................................................ 94 The Alloy Orchestra .................................................................................................. 99 III The General: Tempo as melody ............................................................................ 102 IV Richard Einhorn’s score for Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer 1928): Reinterpretation/Reframing.……………………………………………………………………………….. 106 ‘The Torture Chamber.............................................................................................. 110 CHAPTER FIVE—THE APPLICATION OF POLYSYNCHRONICITY: FIVE CASE STUDIES. 116 I Film music as unreliable narrator: Money Man (Hass 1992), Main Titles ............. 117 II A film score takes sides: The Unknown (Browning, 1927) final scene ................. 120 III Film score as hall of mirrors: The Georges Méliès Project (Méliès 1899-1909)… 122 IV Silence become audible: Page of Madness (Kinugasa 1926) riot scene ………….. 125 V The music sides with the Devil: Faust (Murnau 1926), Main Titles and ending .. 127 CHAPTER SIX— EXEGESIS: The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926):.................... 136 Lotte Reiniger ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 136 Why Prince Achmed.………………………………………………………………………………………….. 140 Macro concepts.…………………….………………………………………………………………………….. 141 Micro concepts…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 144 The Prelude …..…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 144 Musical jokes I.……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 146 Trapping.……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 147 Thematic material ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 148 The Dm/Bdim ostinato…………………………………………..…………………………………………… 152 Permutation 2 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 153 Musical jokes II/Symbolic Music.………………………………………………………….…………….. 154 Tempo/Pacing ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 156 Silent film score conventions/assumptions.…….…..……………………………….……………. 157 Criteria For polysynchronicity.………………………………………………………….………………… 160 CHAPTER SEVEN—Conclusion ................................................................................ 162 Future possibilities for contemporary scores for silent film and polysynchronicity 164 Postscript…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….