MUSIC 2F03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Max Steiner, Theodor W. Adorno, Gesamtkunstwerk

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Music
• Course: MUSIC 2F03
• Professor: Simon Wood

Document Summary

Part 1: exploring film and music: chapter 1: wagner"s prelude. Max steiner is generally considered the father of american film music. Richard wagner was a 19th century german opera composer, died before official birth of cinema: respected to be one of the most influential of western classical music and an inspiration for many composers. Gesamtkunstwerk: revolutionary concept of the total artwork. He argued that individual arts couldn"t achieve their highest level of perfection by themselves and drama would unify them. Challenges are that the arts do not naturally mix. Two basic types of art: visual (spatial) Occupy space and can be seen in their entirety. Painting, photography, sculpture and architecture: temporal. Occupies time and perceived as they unfold. Western culture has been able to combine divergent types of art: music + poetry = song, music + drama = operas/musicals, dance + music = ballet.