Cinema (Hollywood) (1947)

■is Igor Stravinsky is eminently a "contemporary" composer ami decidedly a "modernist" it is sometimes difficult to remember that this Russian innovator in tone, born in 1882. uas already IS years old when Brahms died. It is almost as hard to realize today that the "Firebird." "Petrouchka" and "Rite of Spring" ballets nere composed prior to the outbreak of World War I, while, 'ffistoire du Soldat" was created before that war ended. Even thr much later "Symphony of Psalms" which had been composed for the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony, dates as far back as 1930. Such biographical details are worths mention, not only for the record but as, collateral tribute to the vitality and verve of the composer and his creations. As for the man himself, his opinions on the relation of music to moving pictures set forth in this article acquire additional weight and momentum, of course, because Stravinsky's "Sacrc du Printemps" ("Rite of Spring"} reached the. celluloid in Walt Disney's "Fantasia." Some of the Russian's i>iews may .startle some readers; hardly one reader will be shocked into anything less profitable than a fresh examination of his own opinions. > Drawing of Stravinsky by Picasso FILM MUSIC as told to INGOHF DAHL What is the function of music in moving pictures? What, you ask, are the particular problems involved in music for the screen? I can answer both questions briefly. And I must answer them bluntly. There are no musical problems in the film. And there is only one real function of film music — namely, to feed the composer! In all frankness I find it impossible to talk to film people about music because we have no common meeting ground ; their primitive and childish concept of music is not my concept. They have the mistaken notion that music, in "helping" and "explain' the cinematic shadowplay, could be regarded under artistic considerations. It cannot be. Do not misunderstand me. I realize that music is an indespensable adjunct to the sound film. It has got to bridge holes ; it has got to fill the emptiness of the screen and supply the loudspeakers with more or less pleasant sounds. The film could not get along without it. Just as I myself could not get along without having the empty spaces of my living room walls covered with wall paper. But you would not ask me, would you . to regard my wall paper as I would regard JUNE 1947' painting, or apply aesthetic standards to it? Misconceptions arise at the very outset of such a discussion when it is asserted that music will help the drama by underlining and describing the characters and the action. Well, that is precisely the same fallacy which has so disastrously affected the true opera through the " Musikdrama." Music explains nothing; music underlines nothing. When it attempts to explain, to narrate, or to underline something, the effect is both embarrassing and harmful. What, for example, is "sad" music? There is no sad music, there are only conventions to which part of the western world has unthinkingly become accustomed through repeated associations. These conventions tell us that Allegro stands for rushing action. Adagio for tragedy, suspension harmonies for sentimental feeling, etc. I do not like to base premises on wrong deductions, and these conventions are far removed from the essential core of music. And — to ask a question myself — why take film music seriously? The film people admit themselves t at its most satisfactory it should not be hear