13.2: Early Hollywood Scoring- Max Steiner and the Leitmotivic Score
- Page ID
- 171138
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Max Steiner: The "Father" of the Modern Hollywood Sound.
"Every character needs a theme," proclaimed Austrian composer Max Steiner (1888-1971). After fleeing Germany during World War I, he eventually found himself in America in 1914. Considered a child prodigy, it is no wonder that he became quickly sought after as a composer for theater (including Broadway) and film. He composed over 300 film scores including King Kong (1933), Casablanca (1942), and Gone with the Wind (1939) -- among many others, of course.
Much of early film scoring resembled 19th century Romantic music like that of Brahms. When Steiner was hired in 1929 by RKO films, his main job was to create the music that accompanied the title scene and ending credits --- only rarely did they use him for the "on-screen" type of incidental background music that we're used to today. According to Steiner himself, the opinion of the fillmmakers during the 20s was that the music essentially bogged down the film; it was seen as almost a necessary evil.
1933's King Kong changed all of this. Because the film was essentially a mix of the fantasy/horror genre, the studio allowed Steiner to enhance the movie with his music because they didn't like the cinematography -- the special effects in those days were pretty contrived, and the studio executives felt that the music could somehow "save" the film! The film's producer asked him to write orchestral music for the film, and Steiner (at the producer's own expense!) hired an 80-person orchestra for his music. Steiner recalls that the film's fantasy/horror blend allowed for him to experiment, saying that, "it was the kind of film that allowed you to do anything and everything, from weird chords and dissonances to pretty melodies." The film's scoring had everything from lyrical melodies for the heroine, tribal music for the scene where she was almost sacrificed, to loud dissonant chords to create a sense of urgency and suspense. The film also used leitmotifs in a more generic way: characters had their own themes and were used to manipulate human emotions throughout the entire film.
Listen to King Kong's own leitmotif: the opening 3 notes that descend are Kong's leitmotif. The bombastic, almost violent presentation of the melody perfectly depicts the fantasy/horror element of the film.
At 1:25 in the timestamp, you'll hear the same 3-note leitmotif, but you'll notice that the entire aesthetic has changed from a violent and suspenseful sentiment to something more lyrical, and quasi-romantic. This is to represent the sentimental feelings that Kong had for the heroine, Ann Darrow (played by Fay Wray).
In the famous scene King Kong is killed by the airplanes, we see Carl Denham (the character who captured Kong in the first place) tell the police officer that "planes didn't kill him...it was Beauty that killed the beast." As he utters these lines, you'll hear Kong's leitmotif in the "sentimental" presentation; even though Kong's not alive, his musical presence stays with us, a very common leitmotivic technique.
This is just a single example of Steiner's leitmotivic techniques, drawing inspiration from Wagner's operas. We can also see how Edith Lang and George West's ideas of thematic transformation and development discussed in the previous page are implemented here: Kong's aggressive and dissonant theme is transformed to a sentimental setting by the end of the film, helping to create an emotional sympathy between the audience and Kong.
By the 1950s, this type of orchestral scoring began to fall out of favor in Hollywood, being replaced with popular songs and electronic music. John Williams' score to the first Star Wars ("Episode IV: A New Hope") in 1977 helped to revive the leitmotivic techniques that Steiner had helped usher into film. The next pages will explore more modern leitmotivic scoring techniques in film music.
(above): Photograph of Max Steiner comopsing at the piano. By Filmmusicnotes.com, Fair use, https://en.Wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40771800
Leitmotifs in Film.
Before moving on to the next page, view these short videos that discuss in more detail the world of film music. The first video discusses film sound in more detail, while the second and third videos discuss film leitmotifs in more detail.