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Posted: |
Jan 26, 2015 - 5:58 PM
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By: |
Jim Doherty
(Member)
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For a long time I've been interested in music for silent films - not so much the new scores being written for old films, but the scores that were actually composed or compiled when the films originally came out. This includes three categories:
1.) New recordings of scores that existed only in the form of a printed score (such as the new recordings of the original scores for THE LAST LAUGH or METROPOLIS).
2.) Vitaphone and Movietone music-only soundtracks in that silent/talkie transition period (1926-1929).
3.) Various recorded music libraries of the silent movie period that recorded many original pieces which an enterprising theatre owner could try and play along on a phonograph during a screening, or that budget-minded producers could dub into their films. Both Victor and Columbia (as well as others), put out these discs, which basically can be considered the first collections of library music.
I would like to know if anyone is aware of any books or websites devoted to this topic. It would be great to see a list of some of the composers who worked in this field. I would also like to know if there are any sources from which to obtain any of those old music library records of that era. Also, are there cue sheets around anywhere that list what musical selections were used on Vitaphone and Movietone soundtracks? For instance, in a book from the 1970s I found a list of the musical cues used in THE JAZZ SINGER. I would love to find similar lists for films like SUNRISE (1927) or KING OF KINGS (1928).
I have found quite a bit of music on YouTube, including vintage recordings of library music by Giuseppe Becce, Gaston Borch, J.S. Zamecnik and others. I recognized quite a few of these as I had heard them used either in silent compilation scores or sometimes in early talkies. Hearing these only made me want more.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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