OVERWORKED MELODIES

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 August 1928, Page 12

OVERWORKED MELODIES

PROBLEM OF FILM REPETITIONS

One of the most baffling problems of cinema music is that presented by the repetition of the same piece of music with a. different film, writes a musician in the “Daily Mail.” Such repetitions are practically inevitable because of the enormous amount of music required: two hours at least, renewed twice weekly, represent a formidable number of hours in a year. Moreover, the higher the standard adopted by the musical director, the more frequent such repetitions are likely to be, as there is obviously less music available in the higher grades, and it is more quickly exhausted. If a musical director were to confine himself to the world’s masterpieces—certainly an indiscreet course for him to take —his audience would knowthen almost, by heart within a year or so.

The fact is that music possessing any characteristic quality quickly acquires associations. Those it had before it was brought into the cinema can often bo ignored. For instance, apart from a few old-established favourites, such as “Faust” or “Carmen,” the public is not familiar with the repertory of opera. ’ Even in the case of a work as well known as “The Ring,” all but the most familiar concert excerpts can be used for the first time with impunity.

At a recent trade show- we had a. fragment, from tho first act of “The Valkyries” accompanying a murder trial. Any frequenter of Covent Garden must have shuddered at such “vandalism,” but probably not a dozen of (hose present realised its enormity. It is after the first use of such music in the cinema that the troub£ begins, not in respect of its original associations, but because of those it acquires in its new functions. If its new audience has once heard it. as accompaniment to a murder trial, it will feel subconsciously that something has gone wrong the next time it hears it associated with an idyllic garden scene—to which, incidentally, it is somewhat better suited. It is not easy to see how, until special music is composed for at least the more important films, this defect of too frequent, repetition is to be reremedied. There are, of course, enormous quantities of excellent music by composers ranking not far behind the masters which would be well suited to enrich the cinema repertory. But they are not available in the form in which cinema musicians can use them. They would require re-scoring.

The musical directors have no time for this work. It is as much as they can do to get their programme fitted with music from their existing librar-