Product Description

An updated history of Hollywood film music from the 1930s to the 1990s, this book presents portraits of its foremost practitioners. It discusses the life, work and influence of Alfred Newman, Victor Young, Aaron Copland, Franz Waxman, Miklos Rozsa, Max Steiner, Henry Mancini and others.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #636490 in Books
• Published on: 1997-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 330 pages

About the Author
Tony Thomas

Customer Reviews

Descriptive analysis of works of favorite film composers
A popular and thorough overview of the work of the mainstream scoring composers of both today and yesterday. Author Thomas was a contemporary and colleague of many of the veteran composers, and describes them from his insider perspective as a former producer. Roughly from 1977 (publication date of the first edition) to his death in 1998, Thomas tirelessly promoted performances of the work of his favorite composers in any venue that presented itself. Many of today's scoring composers recommend Thomas as a reference overview to anyone studying the art of film composing. It should be used as an adjunct to the more practical how-to-do-it texts such as ON THE TRACK by Fred Karlin.

Required reading for lovers of film music.
There was a time when film music was more than an all-purpose instrumental theme and a collection of irrelevant pop songs. This book concentrates on the golden age of film music which coincided, not surprisingly, with the golden age of film. Charting the careers of the most famous composers - most of whom were European and classically trained - Tony Thomas mixes both musical knowledge and an obvious affection for both the men and their creations. Thus figures such as Max Steiner, Miklos Rozsa, Alfred Newman and Erich Korngold emerge as real people rather than just names on the screen. There is no gossip but lots of insight. Essential reading for lovers of classic films and the scores that helped make them great. And especially for those films in which the music more memorable than the movie.

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For how cheap this book is, even new, on Amazon, you'd be missing a lot of great information on film scoring. It focuses a lot on older film composers, and is a great historical journey through the masters of the past.