Motion Picture Herald (Apr-Jun 1931)

14 MOTION PICTURE HERALD April 11, 19 3 1 MUSIC AS THE NARRATOR A m u s ic ia n V exposition for laymen on the new art indicated by '''Tabu'' by JOSEPH O'SULLIVAN IN the last days of the silent feature productions the coalition of music and motion pictures had reached a point where a new and distinctive art was coming into being. With the advent of sound to the screen and the consequent recording of dialogue, music — in the sense that it interpreted feeling, action or pictorial moods — has been relegated to a subordinate position in talking pictures. This was inevitable. No longer is it the sole voice that expresses in various shades, intensity and tempo the pictorial presentation of drama. Only in special short subjects designed for that purpose is music synchronized in the tone-picture sense. What the future will bring to the talking-singing-sound screen, will be in exact proportion to the ability and vision of those who control its destiny ; but it can safely be predicted that a new art just as distinctive as the fusion of the silent screen and the well synchronized score, will be evolved for the talking screen play ; not the hybrid art of the old-fashioned conventional opera, nor the abstruse compromise of the music-drama, l)ut a talkingphotoplay-music art that will derive from within its own integral being and ultimately find its own niche in the realm of things that endure. In whatever form it is molded (if it be a definite form), it is indubitably true that the welding of pictures that are inarticulate to music that is eloquent — when done by a master — has an enchantment all its own, quickening the emotions while stimulating the imagination of the observer. A truly remarkable example of musical interpretation of photographic screen material is to be seen — and heard — at the Central Park theatre in Fifty-ninth street. The picture is "Tabu," described as "a dramatic romance of the South Seas by F. W. Murnau and Robert J. Flaherty — musical setting by Hugo Riesenfeld." The music is made an integral part of the narration, to a degree beyond previous screen treatment. To the musical cognoscenti the score which Mr. Riesenfeld has given to this production will reveal a rich tapestry of tonal texture and open up new vistas of picture tone possibilities ; while to the philistine who takes his music on the screen Themes from "Tabu" LOVE THEME W. FRANKE MARLING as he finds it. there will be a multitude of sensory impressions that cannot but stamp indelibly on his consciousness the luscious beauty and lyric drama of this saga of elemental emotions. Of the witchery of the pictorial matter, there is no question ; but it is doubtful if even the loveliness of the scenes and the emotional appeal of the naive story would linger in the mind if it were not for the entrancing musical This melodious theme, announced usually in the naive love of Matahi, the boy, and Reri, the girl, of romance and in reminiscent episodes. strings, typifies the It is used in scenes TABU" THEME HUGO RIESENFELD BRASS A strong, emphatic sequence of chords, scored for the brass, was written by Mr. Riesenfeld, as the 'Tabu" theme. It is reiterated many times throughout the picture, interpreting the superstitious motif that predominates. FATE THEME HUGO RIESENFELD MUTED BRASS P. 1,1 J |, 1 1 \ K g Similar in character to the "Tabu Theme" is the "Fate Theme," scored for muted brass. The sinister character and tone color of this theme synchronizes with the inexorable destiny that pursues the lovers. SAMOAN LOVE SONG CORYNN KIEHL WOODWIND This haunting melody is based on a traditional folk song of Samoa. It is first heard when sung by the chorus of natives, and recurs frequently. It adds tonal authenticity to the setting and an exotic atmosphere that is convincing. conception synchronized by Dr. Riesenfeld. Emerging from the theatre into the gas-impregnated atmosphere of Fifty-Ninth Street, above the roar, the rattle and raucous riot of traffic, there came to this reviewer again and again fragments of the lilting melodies of the South Sea Island maidens, the haunting love theme, the fateful motif of the old chieftain, and that insistent iiiarche fiincbre ending with a dramatic cymbal crash on the word "'Tabu" which concludes the score — and the picture. One cannot disassociate the music from the picture. Not a word is spoken throughout the entire production and the titles are but very few, confined to written script, and yet the drama is told as forcefully, as definitely, and more effectively than if the actors spoke in perfect dramatic cadence. Mr. Riesenfeld has accomplished something here that impresses through its sensitiveness an appreciation of the psychological as well as emotional contents of the story ; psychological in that it translates into musical terms the motivation of these elementary characters — the superstition — the dread of the unknown — the utter simplicity of their natures. This is evidenced as much in the coloring of the orchestration as in the melodic character of the music itself. For the melodic line is at all times evident — melody that never degenerates into the cheap, interspersed with descriptive and dramatic moments that shift in kaleidoscopic synchrony with the picture. If the score itself were played unaccompanied by the picture, there would be revealed a tone poem that would stimulate mental picture of shifting fantasy. A first audition of this masterly score inevitably suggests much of the manner in which Puccini created "Madame Butterfly." Perhaps it is the exotic {Continued on page 58)