Ebook: European Film Music

The vast majority of writing on film music is concentrated on Hollywood
in particular and on a canon of North American scores and films more
generally. Recent scholarship acknowledges other traditions of film scoring
but little has been written about European film music specifically.
Miguel Mera and David Burnand present a volume that redresses the
balance by exploring specific European filmic texts, composers and
approaches to film scoring that have hitherto been neglected. Films
involving British, French, German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Polish and Spanish
composers are considered in detail.
Starting from a study of the influence of propaganda on musical aesthetics
in Nazi Germany the book includes an analysis of Italian neo-realist
cinema, a consideration of the Ealing Comedies, experimental music in
contemporary. Spanish_scoring, the invocation of traditional music, the
portrayal of classical music performers, the use of space, silence and
manipulation of time, and the depiction of the processes of scoring Lm
independent film-making. Important issues that permeate all the essays
involve the working relationship of composer and director, the dialectic
between the diegetic and non-diegetic uses of music in films, the
image synergism and the levels of realism that are created by the Tele
visual mix. The book will appeal to those working in film studies, popular
music studies, musicology, media studies and cultural theory.