Two were talented hacks: Vienna-born Max Steiner specialized in tearjerkers like Gone With the Wind (whose opening theme will be played here) Berlin-educated Franz Waxman excelled at epic sweep (Taras Bulba) and morbid sardonicism (Sunset Boulevard). This Grant Park Symphony Orchestra program examines a handful of the most noteworthy film composers of the 40s and 50s. That period began shortly after the dawn of the sound era, when cut-and-pasted excerpts from the 19th-century repertoire were replaced by original compositions it ended in the late 60s when films like The Graduate and Easy Rider started using pop songs to anchor their sound tracks. The so-called golden age of Hollywood movie music, in fact, was ushered in largely by conservatory-trained European musicians who were drawn to the studios’ money and the refuge they offered from both rigid orthodoxy and the Nazis.
But even in snootier times, many serious composers grudgingly acknowledged the craftsmanship and encyclopedic knowledge of musical styles required to write a good film score, and the most open-minded among them (Copland and Shostakovich, for example) were quite proud of their contributions to the genre. Movie music, long dismissed as a bastard art form, is now a crowd-pleasing component of almost every orchestra’s schedule.
