Authors:
- Explores how British films from the 1930s to the 1950s draw upon the heritage of British music by employing a range of historically significant musical styles and types in their scores
- Uncovers the connection between British film music and the Victorian campaign to raise the quality and appreciation of British art music that resulted in what has been dubbed the English Musical Renaissance
- Builds upon and extends earlier scholarship to bring to light previously unexplored aspects of film music practice in the British industry
Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Audio-Visual Culture (PSAVC)
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
This book offers a fresh approach to British film music by tracing the influence of Britain’s musical heritage on the film scores of this era. From the celebration of landscape and community encompassed by pastoral music and folk song, and the connection of both with the English Musical Renaissance, to the mystical strains of choral sonorities and the stirring effects of the march, this study explores the significance of music in British film culture. With detailed analyses of the work of such key filmmakers as Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, Laurence Olivier and Carol Reed, and composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton and Brian Easdale, this systematic and in-depth study explores the connotations these musical styles impart to the films and considers how each marks them with a particularly British inflection.
Reviews
“Paul Mazey’s eloquent analysis of the idiosyncratic nature of British film score will be of great value to those interested in the role of various forms of traditional English music within film. Via detailed analysisof an array of pertinent examples, mainly taken from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, Mazey elegantly reveals a unique relationship between the score and what is seen, particularly in terms of representations of landscape and community. In doing so, Mazey’s book will appeal to scholars of both film and music.” (Anthony Hogg, Independent Scholar)
Authors and Affiliations
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Department of Film and Television, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Paul Mazey
About the author
Paul Mazey is an Associate Teacher of Film and Television at the University of Bristol, UK. He has published articles on British film music in the Journal of British Cinema & Television and Revenant journal.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: British Film Music
Book Subtitle: Musical Traditions in British Cinema, 1930s–1950s
Authors: Paul Mazey
Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Audio-Visual Culture
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33550-2
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-33549-6Published: 30 January 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-33552-6Published: 30 January 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-33550-2Published: 03 January 2020
Series ISSN: 2634-6354
Series E-ISSN: 2634-6362
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XII, 213
Number of Illustrations: 31 b/w illustrations
Topics: Audio-Visual Culture, Music, British Cinema and TV