[78-L] OT Musical genres^

[Steven C. Barr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julian Vein" <julianvein at blueyonder.co.uk>
> Steven C. Barr wrote:
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Malcolm Rockwell" <malcolm at 78data.com>
>>> Wow! That covers a lot of ground. BUT...
>>> Back in the early 60s when I was learning to read music I came across a
>>> published book of silent movie themes arranged by emotion and genre.
>>> Almost all of the pieces were of classical origin
>> Classical music was often used to accompany films for one simple reason!
>> Virtually all of it carried no "performance rights royalties," since it 
>> pre-dated
>> ASCAP, BMI, usw...!
>> Steven C. Barr 
> What I'm interested in is what musical devices are used to evoke 
> particular cinematic themes. For instance, we all recognise what music 
> is used to accompany an Indian pow-wow, but what particular devices are 
> used, and from where do they derive?
> 
Well, the "musical device" in most pre-talkie movie houses was a piano!
A very few high-class establishments had a pipe organ (Jesse Crawford
was the official Paramount (film, NOT record label!) organist; the labels
of his first recordings proudly promoted that fact. AFAIK, NO theatres
had "house bands" to provide the musical accompaniment to their film
offerings...?!

Steven C. Barr