Sally Bick
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042812
- eISBN:
- 9780252051678
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042812.003.0003
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter provides a detailed musical and cinematic analysis of Of Mice and Men, Copland’s first Hollywood film score. The discussion begins by outlining Copland’s interest in film and Hollywood, ...
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This chapter provides a detailed musical and cinematic analysis of Of Mice and Men, Copland’s first Hollywood film score. The discussion begins by outlining Copland’s interest in film and Hollywood, his desire to engage in mass entertainment, and his eventual first Hollywood commission. Copland’s ideas are compared with the shared values of novelist John Steinbeck, which embrace Popular Front ideals, nationalism, and Americanism. Likewise, Milestone’s cinematic vision, which borrows Dorothea Lange’s photographic depiction of the realities of Depression-era migrant workers, is echoed by the sonic aesthetic of simplicity realized in Copland’s style. Copland’s score is discussed within the larger context of 1930s American music with references to Virgil Thomson and the critique of Arthur Berger.Less
This chapter provides a detailed musical and cinematic analysis of Of Mice and Men, Copland’s first Hollywood film score. The discussion begins by outlining Copland’s interest in film and Hollywood, his desire to engage in mass entertainment, and his eventual first Hollywood commission. Copland’s ideas are compared with the shared values of novelist John Steinbeck, which embrace Popular Front ideals, nationalism, and Americanism. Likewise, Milestone’s cinematic vision, which borrows Dorothea Lange’s photographic depiction of the realities of Depression-era migrant workers, is echoed by the sonic aesthetic of simplicity realized in Copland’s style. Copland’s score is discussed within the larger context of 1930s American music with references to Virgil Thomson and the critique of Arthur Berger.
Harlow Robinson
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813178332
- eISBN:
- 9780813178349
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813178332.003.0007
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The chapter first focuses on The General Died at Dawn, a melodrama set amid the political turmoil of contemporary China, a collaboration with playwright Clifford Odets, a newcomer to Hollywood. ...
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The chapter first focuses on The General Died at Dawn, a melodrama set amid the political turmoil of contemporary China, a collaboration with playwright Clifford Odets, a newcomer to Hollywood. Starring Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll and Akim Tamiroff, it projected a controversial image of China that offended Chinese officials. A discussion Of Mice and Men, adapted from John Steinbeck’s novel, follows. This acclaimed film starred Lon Chaney, Jr., as mentally disabled farmworker Lennie, and received four Oscar nominations, including one for Aaron Copland’s score. It began Milestone’s long collaboration with art director Nicolai Remisoff, another Russian emigre.Less
The chapter first focuses on The General Died at Dawn, a melodrama set amid the political turmoil of contemporary China, a collaboration with playwright Clifford Odets, a newcomer to Hollywood. Starring Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll and Akim Tamiroff, it projected a controversial image of China that offended Chinese officials. A discussion Of Mice and Men, adapted from John Steinbeck’s novel, follows. This acclaimed film starred Lon Chaney, Jr., as mentally disabled farmworker Lennie, and received four Oscar nominations, including one for Aaron Copland’s score. It began Milestone’s long collaboration with art director Nicolai Remisoff, another Russian emigre.
Sally Bick
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042812
- eISBN:
- 9780252051678
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042812.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter provides a critical discussion on Copland’s writings about film music, particularly the lecture he delivered at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) but also in his other publications, such ...
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This chapter provides a critical discussion on Copland’s writings about film music, particularly the lecture he delivered at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) but also in his other publications, such as his book What to Listen for in Music and his articles in the popular press. In the MoMA lecture, a reflection of Copland’s initial experiences in Hollywood composing the score for Lewis Milestone’s film Of Mice and Men, he provides a critical assessment of Hollywood’s industrial enterprise and contemporary film composers such as Max Steiner, George Antheil, Ernst Toch, Warner Jansen, and Alfred Newman. Copland’s later writings present a synthesized and theoretic approach to the varied functions of music in film that became influential in subsequent film music scholarship.Less
This chapter provides a critical discussion on Copland’s writings about film music, particularly the lecture he delivered at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) but also in his other publications, such as his book What to Listen for in Music and his articles in the popular press. In the MoMA lecture, a reflection of Copland’s initial experiences in Hollywood composing the score for Lewis Milestone’s film Of Mice and Men, he provides a critical assessment of Hollywood’s industrial enterprise and contemporary film composers such as Max Steiner, George Antheil, Ernst Toch, Warner Jansen, and Alfred Newman. Copland’s later writings present a synthesized and theoretic approach to the varied functions of music in film that became influential in subsequent film music scholarship.
Sally Bick
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042812
- eISBN:
- 9780252051678
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042812.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
Unsettled Scores treats the Hollywood activities of Aaron Copland and Hanns Eisler, who were among the earliest modernist composers to negotiate the collision of the high/low dichotomy within these ...
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Unsettled Scores treats the Hollywood activities of Aaron Copland and Hanns Eisler, who were among the earliest modernist composers to negotiate the collision of the high/low dichotomy within these two cultural realms. The social and political crises provoked by capitalism and war profoundly affected these ideals and, in turn, the men’s cultural and aesthetic thinking. Confronting and living through social crisis (Eisler during the instability of Weimar Germany and Copland through America’s Depression years), both composers experimented with new artistic forms and values, shaping their musical perspectives. Eventually, they turned to Hollywood, where they found possibilities to negotiate their distinct modernist aesthetics and political beliefs. The book approaches Copland’s and Eisler’s Hollywood activities through a dual study, pairing interpretations of their writings on the subject with close examination of their first film scores: Copland’s music for Lewis Milestone’s 1939 film Of Mice and Men and Eisler’s 1943 score for Hangmen Also Die!, directed by Fritz Lang. This study examines how the highly politicized and topical nature of these films appealed to each composer’s political ideologies concerning society and the human condition. Their scores became agents for political expression as they transformed their individual styles into the commercial sphere.Less
Unsettled Scores treats the Hollywood activities of Aaron Copland and Hanns Eisler, who were among the earliest modernist composers to negotiate the collision of the high/low dichotomy within these two cultural realms. The social and political crises provoked by capitalism and war profoundly affected these ideals and, in turn, the men’s cultural and aesthetic thinking. Confronting and living through social crisis (Eisler during the instability of Weimar Germany and Copland through America’s Depression years), both composers experimented with new artistic forms and values, shaping their musical perspectives. Eventually, they turned to Hollywood, where they found possibilities to negotiate their distinct modernist aesthetics and political beliefs. The book approaches Copland’s and Eisler’s Hollywood activities through a dual study, pairing interpretations of their writings on the subject with close examination of their first film scores: Copland’s music for Lewis Milestone’s 1939 film Of Mice and Men and Eisler’s 1943 score for Hangmen Also Die!, directed by Fritz Lang. This study examines how the highly politicized and topical nature of these films appealed to each composer’s political ideologies concerning society and the human condition. Their scores became agents for political expression as they transformed their individual styles into the commercial sphere.
Elizabeth B. Crist and Wayne Shirley (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300111217
- eISBN:
- 9780300133479
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300111217.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This chapter chronicles the events in Aaron Copeland's life throughout World War II up until its aftermath. Copeland returned to Hollywood in 1943, after the success of his film scores for Of Mice ...
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This chapter chronicles the events in Aaron Copeland's life throughout World War II up until its aftermath. Copeland returned to Hollywood in 1943, after the success of his film scores for Of Mice and Men and Our Town, where he then composed music for yet another film with Lewis Milestone, The North Star. A work of wartime propaganda that fostered pro-Soviet and anti-Nazi sentiment, the movie did not find success either in terms of film or music. The two worked a third time, however, on The Red Pony, a work based on the novel of John Steinbeck. During that same year, Copeland also worked with William Wyler on The Heiress, for which he was awarded an Academy Award in 1950 for best film score.Less
This chapter chronicles the events in Aaron Copeland's life throughout World War II up until its aftermath. Copeland returned to Hollywood in 1943, after the success of his film scores for Of Mice and Men and Our Town, where he then composed music for yet another film with Lewis Milestone, The North Star. A work of wartime propaganda that fostered pro-Soviet and anti-Nazi sentiment, the movie did not find success either in terms of film or music. The two worked a third time, however, on The Red Pony, a work based on the novel of John Steinbeck. During that same year, Copeland also worked with William Wyler on The Heiress, for which he was awarded an Academy Award in 1950 for best film score.
