By Marilyn Lester*** Notable composer-conductor Igor Stravinsky had a pretty low opinion of composers of film scores: he wrote in 1946 in the Musical Digest, the work was “namely to feed the composer:” i.e. his ego. But while “serious” composers may have looked down their noses at film scorers, the rest of us continue to be happily thrilled and chilled—from epic delights to horror classics—and that delight was solidly proven in the last concert of The New York Pops 2024-2025 season, 100 Years of Film Scores.
Music has always gone hand-in-hand with cinema. During the silent era, in-house pianists played live as the film rolled. Underscoring enhanced the drama and interpreted the mood of what was playing on screen; then came the notion that a theme was needed under opening and closing credits. As Steven Reineke, Pops vibrant music director and conductor demonstrated in 16 examples, these scores often entered the cultural consciousness as recognizable hits in their own right. One of those hits, by Richard Whiting, is so iconic that it naturally had to lead off the Pops tour of cinema: “Hooray for Hollywood,” that bouncy, cheerful tune with film-centric lyrics by Johnny Mercer, written for Hollywood Hotel.
One of the first films to have a score was the German horror classic, 1922’s Nosferatu, composed by Hans Erdmann. Most of the original was lost and this version of the score was reconstructed, still retaining the orchestration, phrasing and harmonic elements that created tension and a mood of bone-chilling dread. Later in the program, Bernard Hermann’s work for Physcho demonstrated conceptual horror brilliance in “The Prelude,” “The Murder” and “Finale.” As 
unforgettable as the famous shower segment of the film is visually, so is the scoring that went with it: short, harsh jabs of music emulating and magnifying the knife stabs of a truly terrifying scene.
Max Steiner’s work for 1933’s King Kong set the tone of the film with a strong opening of drum riffs and motifs suggesting the primitive island home of the giant ape and the natives who contain and placate him. Steiner was one of a wave of German and other Jewish European classical composers who fled the Nazi regime and found work in Hollywood. In 1960, The Magnificent Seven, based on the classic Japanese film, The Seven Samurai, swept into theaters, and so did its magnificent score by Elmer Bernstein. It’s one of the most recognizable of film scores, with its sweeping, propelling uptempo theme invoking the majesty of seven gunslingers riding into town on a mission. Similarly invoking grandeur were Ben Hur‘s “Parade of the Charioteers” (Miklos Rozsa), selections from The Gladiator (Hans Zimmer) and the end titles of the Star Trek franchise (Jerry Goldsmith).
What becomes clear in such a concert
featuring a specific genre of music is that the composition of it is formulaic. Strings, brass and percussion move forward and back in prominence within any given piece, helping define emotion and mood. There’s a leitmotif—a theme and variations—advanced in small-scale repetition within large-scale development. John Williams is a particular master of the craft, as demonstrated in Jurassic Park. Monty Norman and John Barry’s theme from Dr. No and Nino Rota’s “Love Theme” from The Godfather were also presented as outstanding examples of memorable motifs.
With Reineke’s engaging and informative setups for the tunes, the superb playing of the 78-member New York Pops orchestra and the terrific choice of scores, this last concert of the 2024-2035 season was a tremendously uplifting wrap at Carnegie Hall.
Photos by Genevieve Rafter Keddy
