Product Description

Mervyn Cooke provides a comprehensive and lively introduction to the major trends in film scoring from the silent era to the present day, focussing not only on dominant Hollywood practices but also offering an international perspective by including case studies of the national cinemas of the UK, France, India, Italy, Japan and the early Soviet Union. The book balances wide-ranging overviews of film genres, modes of production and critical reception with detailed non-technical descriptions of the interaction between image track and soundtrack in representative individual films. In addition to the central focus on narrative cinema, separate sections are also devoted to music in documentary and animated films, film musicals and the uses of popular and classical music in the cinema. The author analyses the varying technological and aesthetic issues that have shaped the history of film music, and concludes with an account of the modern film composer's working practices.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #250302 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 584 pages

Review
"As cinema's second century gathers place and the film soundtrack acquires ever greater critical respectability, the need for a good, compact, one-volume survey of its evolution from solo piano afterthought to a meticulously planned, fully integrated element as crucial to the success of a film as cinematography,lighting or direction, has become increasingly necessary. Mervyn Cooke's A History of Film Music gets magnificently close to being just such a book. ...Written in a clean, clear prose shot through with a lightly-worn, concisely-argued scholarship, this is a considerable achievement and an essential read for anyone interested in this vital and still developing genre." --Classical Music Magazine

"'Cooke hasn't written merely "a" history of film music... this will surely be "the" history of film music. ...An authoritative read, written with the cracking pace of a Bond thriller." --Classic FM Magazine

"Cooke writes accessibly yet with as much intellectual rigor on the propagandistic songs of Shostakovich as on MTV's impact on Flashdance. ....Crammed with source acknowledgement for further reading, this is nothing short of essential reading for anyone with an interest in film." --BBC Music Magazine

"Cooke has written a book useful to readers with or without musical background...they [readers] will appreciate a historical study that incorporates music and film studies and keeps the film music, not the films, its focus." --Choice

About the Author
Mervyn Cooke is Professor of Music at the University of Nottingham.

Customer Reviews

Great book!
Great book and a very good seller! Hope we meet again.

Lázaro Silva
Terceira - Açores