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From the time that the first commercial movie theatres showing projected pictures started to open (1902 in the United States), entrepreneurs and technicians alike tried a variety of methods to replace the clicking of the projector with something more engaging. Sometimes either the theatre owner or somebody hired by him might stand behind the screen providing dialogue and sound effects, something a bit disarming or awkward at times. Edison and his counterparts experimented with synchronized discs but they did not always synchronize properly, as highlighted to great comic effect in the 1952 film Singing in the Rain. The most obvious and low cost answer to creating a film sound track that would convey some of what was happening on the screen was to provide music. So it was that nearly simultaneously, theatre owners sought out pianists of either gender to provide entertainment between reels and accompany the action during. Many were able to make a career of this, not the least of which was Canada's fabulous ragtime composer/performer Willie Eckstein. But even Aunt Myrtle could make a pretty decent income playing for the ten-cent shows on the corner. Many premieres and some of the higher-end theatres used orchestras of varying size with pre-composed scores written specifically for a certain film. In other instances, in an effort to provide versatility and variety, organs were installed in theatres that not only created a great venue for organ concerts, but also threw in a variety of sound effects and timbres not available on the piano. Many organs, in addition to their many stops ranging from xylophone to diapason horns, also featured moos, quacks, barks and other sound effects at the performer's disposal. Still, this was hard work. The 1985 Dire Straits song Money For Nothing says about the perception of musicians, "That ain't workin', that's the way you do it, Money for nothin' and your chicks for free!" But consider that not only was the performer captive for four or five shows a day, up to ten hours, they were tasked to provide the proper mood music for a wide variety of genres, cultures, emotions and specific incidents. And if the movie was bad - well, they had to endure that bad movie and try to keep it fresh or improve on it with their music. Some were even asked to play appropriate music under newsreels, a singular challenge that might be hard to imagine now. If you think about memorable movies, you will often note how well you remember parts of the score. So in some ways, a good pianist/organist or orchestra could subtly affect the opinion of a movie reviewer or audience member. To ease some of this pressure, and often to cut costs, automated orchestrions with multiple rolls were manufactured specifically for the cinema. This would give the better pianists some time off (albeit permanently on many occasions) and allow the lesser pianists an opportunity to play on occasion between manipulating the rolls or where there was nothing else appropriate available. To facilitate the proper moods, some studios commissioned scores for their movies, or perhaps just specific songs, and sent these out with the prints. It is little known that one of the more prolific composers of music for both comedy and pathos was Charlie Chaplin himself, who frequently composed music (notated by a professional arranger) for chase scenes, sad love scenes, and the like for distribution with his films. In many cases, you were able to purchase sheet music in the lobby of a piece you heard inside that could be viewed as either a memento or an advertisement. But the customized film score was an exception. The rule remained that the keyboardist was often on his own. In an effort to address this market, a few enterprising publishers created folios of mood music that was suited specifically for cinema. They provided music for varying cultures, using stereotypical musical motifs, as well as a variety of love scene schmaltz, military and Civil War tunes, mysterious melodies, and the inevitable chase or hurry scene music. With a little bit of practice a pianist could prepare for the next week of music in just a couple of hours based on the contents of one of these collections. Two of the better know folios of "Moving Picture Music" are presented here, along with what will be a growing collection of movie-specific tunes. They will also eventually be available on a CD, allowing you to create your own film soundtracks for anything from home movies to Chaplin classics. Please note that some of the compositions do present cultural stereotypes in their melodic makeup, but that this is a historical treatise of these books only, which does not necessarily reflect this performer's point of view on these cultures. In addition are some pieces known to have been written for or used in silent "fotoplays." So grab your popcorn, turn the TV sound down, and enjoy these musical vignettes. |
CONTENT AND TITLES ARE
STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT
Movie Music Folios
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J.S. Zamecnik - 1913: In many cases, such as with the Remick Folio below, theatre musicians used a combination of original pieces and snippets of other well-known works from popular songs to classical music. In an effort to be both specific to the task and to avoid copyright entanglements, Zamecnik composed the contents of this folio from scratch. Also, many of the common melodies used for Civil War or similar scenes were widely available and well-known, and where that didn't work the pianist could certainly fill in a waltz or a rag. In this folio, Zamecnik successfully addresses the issues of appropriate music to help bolster the action or emotional content of what was on the screen at any particular time. It also provided a nice style template for pianists who were less experienced and lacked the improvisational variety necessary to keep the music fresh. Zamecnik further designed it so that the pieces were not out of the technical reach of the average semi-professional musician.Some of the more ethnic pieces may sound vaguely familiar, but this is largely a result of the use of stereotyped chord progressions or intervals based either in fact or perceptions of such music in regard to its intended country of origin. Also note some changes in perception that have occurred in the decades since this folio was released. Cowboy music was well-defined starting in the 1940s with bold and sweeping soundtrack scores, but at this time it was usually some kind of loping or trotting rhythm that defined the genre, and bears little resemblance even to the cowboy singing style that would emerge in the 1930s. There are many varieties of "hurry music" available in part because dialogue scenes of any length were difficult to pull off in a media where the voice was not available to emote, prompting directors to include more action and less talk. While this folio lacks much of the world-music themes prevalent in the Remick Folio, it is still well-crafted and often referred to for content or adaptations of modern music soundtracks applied to silent films restoration, something in which I have been fortunate enough to participate in. |
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J. Bodewalt Lampe - 1914: This large folio was considered by many theatre musicians to be standard equipment for their job. Although a bit daunting in its scope, once the pianist/organist learned how to quickly locate what they needed, they were able to learn it post-haste. In lieu of copy machines, which were still decades off, many musicians simply tore the pages out and reassembled them in a notebook in an order that would better facilitate whatever the film du jour may have been. That may be one of the reasons so few copies of this top-selling musical resource survive today.Lampe was one of Remick's top arrangers, and a composer of some note as well. This folio represents a number of compiled arrangements of known pieces along with some originals by Lampe, and perhaps other Remick composers as well. Some of the pieces are unaccredited if familiar, which taken in the context of the last 60 years does not necessarily mean they were lifted without acknowledgement from another source. They are familiar to us because even after the movies gained the ability to speak, many composer/arrangers who had been theatre pianists still referred to this book. Many of the themes will be particularly recognizable to fans of Warner Brothers cartoons as house composer Carl Stalling used them with some frequency as appropriate to the mood of the action. They also appear in cartoon soundtracks from other studios, including the mega popular shorts from Walt Disney.
Whereas the smaller Sam Fox Folio uses descriptive titles for each of the works, the Remick is loosely arranged in broad categories using the original titles of tunes (sometimes no title at all) followed by more specific categories for which they are suitable. Fortunately, a cross index by category was provided, much in the same way as would be found in a hymnal, that comparison often reverently noted by the musicians who owned one of each. These pieces range from 8 measures in length to rather substantial pieces when repeats were applied. Of particular fascination is the last piece, The Moving Picture Rag by Lampe, which had been published separately yet has been successfully condensed to a one-page score here.
The Civil War was still fresh in the minds of many Americans a mere fifty years after it ended, and was therefore a popular movie topic since it not only provided stories the populous could relate to, but lots of action as well. A number of the pieces in this folio were well-known chestnuts from that time, and some readily suggested whether the music was from the North or the South. While there is no intentional racism in this resource, it was still present in subtle ways, such as the use of Dixie Land to suggest scenes with blacks in them, and a number of "Indian" or Native American tunes, although they were based on part on true Native American melodies. There is also no shortage of Asian or "Oriental" tunes which were steeped in stereotype, and may actually have helped establish the precedent of traditional musical stereotypes for many decades that followed. Similar but equal treatment was offered for Middle-Eastern nationalities as well in the form of Arabian and "Hindoo" melodies.
For action scenes, apart from the war-oriented vignettes, there were a number of "hurry" pieces, some of which were later used in cartoons or comedies. Know that often when the action involved comic antics, such as with Mack Sennett's Keystone Kops, many musicians turned to popular songs or rags since those tunes were inherently modern and often whimsical. Just the same, there are a couple of snippets in the folio relating to automobiles and aeroplanes, suggesting speed and daring. When the action was slower or more mysterious, two "misterioso" pieces filled in such scenes very well. In fact, the Misterioso Pizzicato may be the most recognizable eight measures contained within. (It is also the search for the name and origin of this piece that led me to this book).
Some of the pieces were contrived for filler during specific moments. Whereas silence can be used quite effectively in sound films, it seems that it was hardly golden during this time, and musicians were expected to play for as much of the film as possible. Thus the inclusion of musical interstitial phrases like entrances and exits, classical melodies to accompany pastoral scenes, and even various titles categorized as "plaintive" for quiet times when nothing specific was called for. Oddly enough, sports other than racing are not represented here, so it may be assumed that some of this music was substituted for such scenes, except for baseball where the choice of tune would have been obvious by this time.
The remaining pieces were meant to tug at the emotional involvement of movie patrons in relation to love scenes, moments of passion and pathos, and anything involving children (the AAAAAWWWWW factor). Don't underestimate American patriotic tunes as well as a few from the European continent. And while some may question the inclusion of The Star Spangled Banner as well known as it is now, the piece was still nearly two decades from adoption as the anthem of the United States of America, and therefore played much less frequently than it is now.
So with a little skill you might be able to assemble these pieces as listed by theme and create a soundtrack of your own, even for home movies. While there is no music here applicable to soccer games, PlayStation tournaments or quiet moments with one's computer, it might still be fun and educational to try replicating the efforts of those pioneering theatre musicians of a century past. |
Other Pieces Used For Movie Music
 The Chariot Race, or, Ben Hur March |
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Edward Taylor Paull - 1893: This was Paull's first big hit. It established him through the use of both a beautifully colored cover and the descriptive text inside the music. Marches were gaining in popularity, and this same year would see the composition of John Phillip Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever. It was also the year that General Lew Wallace, bucking opposition from the church, managed to get his novel Ben Hur - A Tale of the Christ published. This is a fitting tribute to the most exciting part of the book, and indeed of both of the MGM productions of the story; that of the chariot race between once-friends Judah Ben Hur and Messala. For anybody who has not seen the 1925 production starring Ramon Navarro, I highly recommend finding it. It is part of the Ted Turner movie library, and has many color scenes using the early two-strip Technicolor process that come close to the brilliance of E.T. Paull's vision for his covers. This composition enjoyed a great deal of new popularity when the film was released, and was often used as an accompaniment to the chariot race scene. Note the gradual acceleration near the end of the race, and an ending style that would find a permanent place in many future Paull marches. |
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A Bag Of Rags |
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W.R. McKanlass - 1912: Around the time this piece was written, the movies, or "flickers" were becoming big business. There were very few features of the scope of D.W. Griffith films being produced. The majority of films released at this time were two reelers, about 20 minutes long. One of the things that sold best was comedy. Mack Sennett caught on to this quickly, and produced films featuring Charlie Chaplin, Ben Turpin, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, and the Keystone Kops, named for Sennett's Keystone Studio. The majority of theatres in the country employed one or two pianists or organists to accompany the films, and a handful had orchestras. It was often the musician's job to produce music that would properly accompany the mood of particular scenes in a film. On occasion, the film company would recommend various pieces. A Bag of Rags was reportedly the unofficial theme of the Keystone Kops, and it certainly has fit the mood for some of their films that I have played it with. The A section could be described as whimsical, and the B and C sections more melodic. The D section contrasts with a very full and lively sound. Try it against a silent comedy of your choice. |
Upstairs and Down
 Lyrics |
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Walter Donaldson (M) and Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young (L) - 1919: As the 1920s approached and silent movies were moving more into features than simple two-reeler shorts, the studios, and many directors, made various attempts to improve on the technology and presentation of their films. Among the techniques experimented with were tinting of various scenes in a color chosen to convey a certain mood or time of day (2 strip Technicolor was still a few years off), superimposing captions instead of using shots of lettered cards, widescreen presentation, and commissioning works of music written just for a film. D.W. Griffith had symphonic scores for his two big features, Intolerance and Birth of a Nation, and other studios wrote songs that would not only go with a movie, but promote it is well. The first of these has long been acknolwedged as 1918's Mickey by Charles N. Daniels as Neil Moret. As movie songs were suddenly in vogue, the well-known team of Lewis, Young and Donaldson penned this typical ditty for a Selznick Pictures film titled Upstairs and Down starring the enchanting but troubled actress Olive Thomas. Unlike songs written later for musicals (an unlikelihood in those silent days), it was simply a popular tune titled to fit the picture. These tunes were often performed by the stars at picture premieres, but usually saw widest distribution in the form of sheet music and audio recordings, a trend that has continued to this day. Thanks to Sarah Baker, a film historian and Olive Thomas fan, who commissioned the recording of this song. |
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My Buddy
Lyrics |
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Walter Donaldson (M) and Gus Kahn (L) - 1922: This piece provides a nice opportunity to get a glimpse into the hit-creation process that had become such a vital element of Tin Pan Alley in the 1920s. The "Alley" was actually comprised of a number of publishers centrally located in New York City, although there were also some in Chicago and on the West Coast of the US. The sole purpose of many of these publishers had shifted from the 1880s edict of producing good music for performance or home use to that of creating massive hits that would spawn sales of phonograph records, piano rolls, sheet music, and royalties from many different sources. In essence, composers were hired to turn out hits, and some even had quotas to fulfill. Whether it be a sentimental weeper, some new dance craze, or a novelty number, getting it out to the public and pushing it in exchange for revenue (most of it going to the publisher and not the composers) was the focus of many of the firms in the music business up through even the mid 1960s. Teams worked well, and firms such as Jerome Remick, Shapiro, Bernstein and M. Witmark hired people with the intent of teaming them up. With a good collection of lyricists and composers, if one combination didn't click another would soon be discovered. Such was the case with Donaldson and Kahn, who were responsible for many of the standards composed in the 1920s. Once decent songs were copyrighted (and even some not-too decent ones), the next phase was to push it. There were several methods, some employed simultaneously, to achieve this. E.T. Paull depended in part on his colorful covers to attract attention to the piece in the store. But just as it has remained since the 1910s in advertising, endorsements are a big key. So the firms also employed people who did nothing but shop the songs to various artists who were either recording or performing on stage, or both. And some artists actually had agents who sought out new songs from the publishers based on a particular topic, the antecedent of musical writing that was still two decades off. In the case of a piece like My Buddy, it sometimes took a little while for the endorsements or for the tune to catch on. It was still published in a generic format, as shown in the first cover. Once an artist, in this case it was Al Jolson, took a liking to it or recorded it, they would get their name and/or picture on the cover, sometimes in exchange for gratuities of some type. This is clearly shown in the second cover. An additional aspect of endorsement started to come into use in the late 1910s - that of associating a song with a movie or stage production. While there were obviously no soundtracks to movies until the late 1920s, a director or producer, sometimes at the insistence of a publisher (financial or otherwise) would request that a thematic piece be played at a certain moment in the movie, thus providing continuity between performances and another method of selling the song (shown by the third cover). Copies would, of course, be available in the lobby after the performance. My Buddy was thus introduced to the public this way, and has long remained a sentimental favorite based largely on the quality of the tune. Ella Fitzgerald sang this to a weeping crowd at the funeral of Harlem drumming legend Chick Webb in June of 1939. |
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Recommended Reading and Viewing Click on a cover to locate and order it. |
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NOTE: To those looking for silent film releases on either video or DVD. In many ways you get what you pay for. I highly endorse anything restored by David Shepherd on either Image Entertainment or Kino International releases, as he has gone to an inordinate amount of effort to locate the best quality prints as well as footage thought to be forever lost. His collections are also well-grouped and logical. He furthermore has new soundtracks recorded when possible and insists on well-developed and thematically appropriate tracks for each film. By the same token, I will caution you against silent film collections put out by Madacy Entertainment since they are often rehashes of older pre-digital restoration recorded material, have soundtracks that have little to do with the era and no logical synchronization to the action, and are often missing varying chunks of footage that are found on Image or Kino for just a little higher investment. This is not to slight the management or integrity of Madacy - just to point out that there are alternatives in this instance which are superior to their product. Read the reviews on Amazon.Com for each product to verify this contention. Bill Edwards |
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