Film Music (Very Short Introductions)

Description: The rich and deeply moving sounds of film music are as old as cinema itself. Even the very first projected moving images were accompanied by music in many places as a variety of performers - from single piano players to small orchestras - brought images to life through musical accompaniment. Film music has since become its own industry, an aesthetic platform for expressing creative visions and a commercial vehicle for growing musical stars of all varieties. This Very Short Introduction provides a lucid, accessible, and engaging overview of the subject of film music. Beginning with an analysis of the music from a well-known sequence in the film Reservoir Dogs, the book focuses on the most central issues in the practice of film music. Expert author Kay Kalinak takes readers behind the scenes to understand both the practical aspects of film music - what it is and how it is composed - and also the theories that have been developed to explain why film music works. This compact book not entertains with the fascinating stories of the composers and performers who have shaped film music across the globe but also gives readers a broad sense for the key questions in film music studies today.

Review: Kathryn Kalinak has emerged as one of the freshest and most authoritative commentatory on film music of her generation. Michael Quinn, Classical Music Both an admirable thumbnail portrait of the history of film music and an impressive precis of key issues Michael Quinn, Classical Music You won't find a better primer than this pocket-size one...Her scope is enorous. Classic FM Magazine, Her scope is enormous...and her tone is intelligent, invigorating and well-informed. Superb. Classic FM Magazine,

Author Biography:
Kathryn Kalinak is Professor of English and Film Studies at Rhode Island College. Her extensive writing on film music includes numerous articles as well as the books Settling the Score: Music in the Classical Hollywood Film and How the West was Sung: Music in the Westerns of John Ford.