[Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen]

Which one of these would you recommend the most?

As Sigbjørn says, what is your favourite of those, Nils?

Probably a tie between Tony Thomas’ books MUSIC FOR THE MOVIES and FILM SCORE, and Charles Bernstein’s FILM MUSIC – AND EVERYTHING ELSE.

There are probably partly nostalgic reasons for Thomas’ books being among my favorites, as these were (as far as I can remember) the first film music books I owned – and the first time I could read anything of any length about John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. And Thomas knows his stuff, of course.

Not sure if Bernstein’s book is very well known? It’s a collection of essays, mostly about the creative process, that he wrote for The Score, which was the quarterly newsletter of the Society of Composers and Lyricists. He’s a great writer, and the book is very entertaining, sometimes downright humorous.

I wonder if my bookshelf will ever contain Jeff Bond’s THE JERRY GOLDSMITH COMPANION, which I Kickstarter-supported with a fair sum of money? I’m not holding my breath… 🙁

[Malte Müller]

I wonder if my bookshelf will ever contain Jeff Bond’s THE JERRY GOLDSMITH COMPANION, which I Kickstarter-supported with a fair sum of money? I’m not holding my breath… 🙁

Only if you print out the PDF 😉

[Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen]

Only if you print out the PDF 😉

Ha ha, yes, it’s definitely starting to look that way.

[Sigbjørn]

Better get the upcoming John Williams biography. 😉

[Sigbjørn]

Probably a tie between Tony Thomas’ books MUSIC FOR THE MOVIES and FILM SCORE, and Charles Bernstein’s FILM MUSIC – AND EVERYTHING ELSE.

Thanks for the recommendations. Are these focused on music theory?

[Graham Watt]

Thor, don’t you have all the John Williams family tree background to have started on an exhaustive biography? Has Tim Grieving nipped that venture in the bud?

Let me think… Books on the shelf beside me –

MÚSICA PARA LA IMÁGEN by composer Jose Nieto
JAMES BERNARD: COMPOSER TO COUNT DRACULA by David Huckvale (he’s a great writer)
JAZZ IN THE MOVIES by David Meeker (invaluable before the days of online clickery)
EL LEGADO MUSICAL DE LA HAMMER by Antonio Piñeira
ALEX NORTH: EL VIAJERO IMPENITENTE by Frederic Torres
KNOWING THE SCORE by Irwin Bazelon (I stole this from the library when I was a kid, and they haven’t caught me yet)
THE ART OF FILM MUSIC by George Burt (excellent)
ENCICLOPEDIA DE LAS BANDAS SONORAS by Conrado Xalabarder
LA MÚSICA EN EL CINE by Russell Lack (I have the Spanish translation – it’s actually “Twenty Four Frames Under” I think)
U.S. SOUNDTRACKS ON CD by Robert L. Smith (these things go out of date immediately, but it’s interesting to look at in retrospect)
THE MUSIC OF STAR TREK by Jeff Bond (great, and there’s a new one due)
MUSIC FOR PRIME TIME by John Burlingame
FILM SCORE by Tony Thomas (looking quaint and square nowadays)
GRAMOPHONE: FILM MUSIC: GOOD CD GUIDE (just seen the spine of this. What on Earth is it?)
LA MÚSICA EN EL CINE by Michel Chion (translated from the original French)
HAMMER FILM SCORES AND THE MUSICAL AVANT-GARDE by David Huckvale (superb)
MUSIC FROM THE HOUSE OF HAMMER by Randall Larson
INTRODUCCIÓN A LA HISTORIA DE LA MÚSICA EN EL CINE by Carlos Colón Perales
SOUNDTRACK: THE MUSIC OF THE MOVIES by Mark Evans (another one which now seems old, quaint and square)
TV COMPOSER GUIDE by John Williams (not THE John Williams, and not even the guitarist)
CIEN BANDAS SONORAS EN LA HISTORIA DEL CINE by Roberto Cueto
PENTAGRAMAS DE PELICULA by Juan Padrol
NOMBRES DE LA BANDA SONORA by Jose Maria Benitez and Luis Miguel Carmona)

I had no idea I had so many.

[Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen]

Better get the upcoming John Williams biography. 😉

Yes, looking forward to that, of course! 🙂

Thanks for the recommendations. Are these focused on music theory?

Not really. Thomas’ books are mostly about the life and work of a selection of composers, as well as the studios and music departments they worked for. FILM SCORE has 25 chapters, 10-20 pages each, devoted to a specific composer, while MUSIC FROM THE MOVIES is a more general history of film music (from the 30s to the 70s), but still with a focus on the most important composers of each period.

I would say most of the books I have are aimed at the general film music enthusiast (and collector :)), and only ON THE TRACK has some music theory in it, being, as Thor mentioned earlier, intended for the composers themselves. It has chapters on things like harmony, rhythm and orchestration, but it’s really mostly focused on the more practical and technical issues a composer has to deal with. Since it was written in the 90s it’s probably a bit outdated, with all the digital tools available now that has changed the way many composers work.

[Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen]

THE MUSIC OF STAR TREK by Jeff Bond (great, and there’s a new one due)

Oh yeah – this Trekkie is definitely looking forward to that one, too!

[Thor Joachim Haga]

Thor, don’t you have all the John Williams family tree background to have started on an exhaustive biography? Has Tim Grieving nipped that venture in the bud?

Yes!

But great collection of books! How is the Nieto? An overlooked Spanish composer.

[Graham Watt]

Thor, the Nieto book seemed VERY heavy-going back in the day. Full of diagrams and the philosophy of colours. I was initally against the idea of reading the book, because there are actually NO film composers mentioned throughout. Now, skimming through it, it seems absolutely fascinating.

[Nick Zwar]

I do have some music film music related books, such as Steven Smith’s biographies “The Epic Life of Max Steiner” and “A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann”.

Also, Jeff Bond’s book on STAR TREK music, and Doug Adams “The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films”. The latter is probably the most in depth analysis I have ever read about any film score ever, as it examines all the motifs, themes and developments in the Lord of the Rings music, many of which are highly illuminating if you are particularly interested in the aesthetics and underlying concepts of music (not just film music) in relation to drama and narrative. Just fascinating explorations how Howard Shore developed ideas and concepts for the music for the Lord of the Rings to cover the vast landscape and inhabitants of Middle Earth. (To give just a couple of memorable examples, such things as the aleatoric music within the music for the “Watcher in the Water”, as that is a creature that is always only partially visible and flexible and therefore had to fight without getting a handle on it, so the music reflects that in containing random elements, or the eight-note motif for the spider Shelob, which gets then developed, fitting for a spider that has eight legs, eight eyes, etc. Or how the different music for various tribes of Elbes both differ but share some things in common, just like the culture/race has a common “root”.)

I also have a few “full scores” from the likes of Omni Publishing and Chris Siddall. I am not really a musician or even an expert score reader, but these are a dream come true because I always wanted to see how certain things are notated. I was especially always interested in how some Goldsmith scores were written, as some of his music is highly complex and features unususal instruments, such as synthesizers, yet when he comes to the recording studio, the musicians have to perform all that stuff basically from sight reading, so the scores have to be very clear… and they are. It was a real revelation for me to have the chance to take a look at some of these scores in full (years ago, in the 90s, I had the opportunity to see some actual Goldsmith sketches for some scores (like THE RIVER WILD and BASIC INSTINCT) and notes from which the orchestrator worked… so I had a good idea how detailed these sketches were.)
So these full scores, some of them with annotations, allow an in depth look at the blueprint of these works.

Ah, yes, of course, there are also two books by Tony Thomas, and the book “Screencraft: Film Music” — this one I have in a German issue called “Filmkünste: Filmmusik”. An interesting book for anyone who is looking for a “introductory work”, it features introductions to about a dozen or so then current — the original book is 25 years old or so — film composers, and mostly each film composer then explains in more detail their thoughts on about three of their film scores, how they came to compose it the way they composed it.

And lest I forget: Fred Karlin’s giant “On The Track”; that one features lots of examples and discussed the various approaches from different film composers, but also how they navigate the Hollywood landscape and talk to directors, producers etc. That book is somewhat targeted at aspiring Hollywood film composers who want an insight look. (As it was then… I mean, I have the book for over thirty years now.)

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