The Sounds of the Silents in Britain

ISBN-13: 9780199797615 / Angielski / Twarda / 2019 / 352 str.

Julie Brown; Annette Davison

Opis

The Sounds of the Silents in Britain explores the sonic dimension of film exhibition in Britain from the emergence of cinema to the introduction of synchronized sound. Written by experts on British silent film and film music, the chapters provide an introduction to diverse aspects of early film sound: vocal performance, from lecturing and reciting to voicing the drama; music, from developments in accompanying techniques to the impact of legislation on musical practice overall; and performance in cinemas more generally, from dancing and singalong films to live stage prologues. The book also debunks some of the myths about the sonic dimension of film exhibition: it reveals that exhibition practices in London were arguably more sophisticated than those in New York before the onset of World War I, for instance, and that venue licensing decisions had a profound effect on whether music could even be performed with film in some theatres. Based on extensive archival research and musicological analysis, The Sounds of the Silents in Britain represents an important addition to early film and film music scholarship.

Recenzje

an important collection on a neglected field; exploring the diverse sonic dimensions of cinema as it developed across the era leading up to synchronised sound, presenting a richly evocative array of ephemeral cultural practices ... The Sounds of the Silents in Britain presents a complex story in an engaging and accessible fashion, with an intelligently light touch taken, in general, with regard to theory. It is sure to become a valuable resource for film and music scholars, students and, indeed, anyone interested in this extraordinarily vibrant period of cinema.

O autorze

Julie Brown is Reader in Music at Royal Holloway, University of London. She has written on early twentieth-century music (especially Schoenberg and Bartók), television music and film music. Her publications include Bartók and the Grotesque: Studies in Modernity, the Body and Contradiction in Music, and Western Music and Race, which was awarded the American Musicological Society's Ruth A. Solie Award. Annette Davison is Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on film music and sound, music for the stage and for television. Publications include Hollywood Theory, Non-Hollywood Practice: Cinema Soundtracks in the 1980s and 1990s (2004), Alex North's A Streetcar Named Desire: A Film Score Guide (2009), and, with Erica Sheen, American Dreams, Nightmare Visions: The Cinema of David Lynch (2004).