Motion Picture News (Jan-Feb 1922)

b r u ar y i i , 1922 iusic and the Picture New Plan on Synchronized Music Merit Film Corp. Will Distribute Scores in Metropolitan District ow to Sing and Pronounce “ Snegourotchka” ' ow is the name of the Russian opera, t egourotchka” lately introduced to the pais of the Metropolitan! pronounced? J offers, undoubtedly, some difficulty to the ii ccustomed Anglo-Saxon. One of the per* cities in pronouncing Russian words is the " :ing of the accent. Fortunately, the vocal 8 e of the opera will set right on this point i who have no more immediate sources of E irmation available. Open the score, for inice, at page 93 and read this: Sne . gou-rotchka , Sne~gou.roch.ka, 4: says that the accent is put on the second able, the “ gou.” It is also to be noted that ! Russian “ n,” has the sound of the Spanish 1 ” that is , “ n ” with a slight “ y ” sound foli ing. So the pronounciation of the new ira’s name might be represented thus: ay egourotchka.” HE musical programs being presented in the better class motion picture theatres are beginning to merit comment from n the editorial writers. Following is a reht of the leading editorial in the Jan. 5th isof the Philadelphia Ledger: The moving-picture fan is well aware that music he hears with his pictures makes a :erence. In the primeval era of the motion ture, anything that would keep the piano gosufficed. Now audiences expect either ;an-playing as good as that which is heard in ireh or the performance of a full-fledged nphony orchestra. Music follows the per;tations and combinations of the screen. The nired executant at the instrument is the one o most nimbly fits the musical accompanint to the action; and the swift change of :ne from episode to episode makes the pos>ilities almost limitless. Since the place of music played concuritly with the picture is firmly established, it of interest to ask how far it is desirable introduce music between photoplays. In at 1st one of the finest of our Philadelphia uses devoted to the silent drama, it is the liberate and the commendable policy to give liladelphia musicians of merit a chance to be ard. It is not charity, it is good business, te standard maintained is uniformly high, le audiences are well pleased with what they ar and manifest a most cordial disposition vard the performers. They do not regard : piano or the voice or the violin as an annoyerruption. Io the aspiring and struggling artists these portunities mean everything. The musicians 5 a more arduous road to travel than most, e note the fortune of the few, and we do MJ. MINTZ, Director of Sales of the Synchronized Scenario Music Com* pany, announces that negotiations have just been concluded whereby the Merit Film Corporation, New York City, has acquired the exclusive distribution rights of Synchronized Scenario Music Service in the territory comprising New York State up to and including the City of Albany, also the northern part of New Jersey. The exhibitor who has come to understand that Music is a moral law, and that when it is properly synchronized with the action on the screen it will develop into a source of great entertainment for his patrons, is beginning to reap the reward in the box office. While there can be no denying the fact that the high standard of artistic achievements of film plays is based on the great development of photography, due credit should also be given Music for the part it has played in making the motion picture the popular institution it is to-day. Unless an exhibitor offers properly synchronized music he might better offer none at all. Many not mark how many, after heart-breaking attempts, sink by the wayside to rise no more. It is success that glitters and is applauded. Those motion-picture artists are not stooping to conquer popular favor. They are appearing before a public whose level of critical appreciation constantly rises and is very much higher than it was even a decade ago. If the best in pictures is not too good for the people, neither is the best in music. potential patrons of the films are kept out of the smaller houses because of the inferior brand of music played. Million dollar productions are screened to the accompaniment of a crudely played, old piano. Exhibitors permitting this condition to exist in their houses are demoralizing their own business. In many instances, however, this condition prevailed or does still prevail because the exhibitor was without the proper means of supply. With that idea in mind Synchronized Music Scores were conceived. “Synchronized Music” is music written by expert musicians long connected with the Picture Business. States Mr. Mintz, “Each score individually written and timed to the actual picture for which it was composed. The music is correctly cued to each and every action appearing upon the screen. Whatever rate the film may be run at, compensation is arranged for in the score, so that music and picture blend together. Instead of having tediously to work out from a cue sheet a more or less rough idea of the part he will play in the coming presentation, the musician has merely to read off the score.” With the Merit Film Corporation now handling the distribution, the exhibitors and musician throughout the territory are assured of the most efficient service, and courteous treatment. _ . . . 1 Honegger Publishes Score of Dramatic Psalm Arthur Honegger has just published in Paris the score of a dramatic psalm, “King David,” comprising twenty-eight numbers for chorus, solos and orchestra without strings. Emile Vuillermoz, in reviewing the score for the Temps of Paris, finds that there is sometimes a comforting abyss between the words of a reformer and his music. Bendix male quartette appearing recently as a musical feature of the program presented at the Capitol theatre, St. Patil iovie Music Praised by Editor Philadelphia Ledger Boosts Quaker City Picture House Musical Programs