Of all the elements that combine to make movies, Music sometimes seems the forgotten stepchild.
La Fave was a pit musician for the workshop production of Leonard Bernstein\'s last (u. org, Opera News, and Dance magazine.
The Phoenix Symphony, the Chicago String Quartet, and the Kansas City Chorale have commissioned scores from him, and his essays and reviews have appeared in New Music Box.
About the Author: Kenneth La Fave, former Music critic for the Arizona Republic and the Kansas City Star, composes, teaches, and writes about music.
Experiencing Film Music: A Listener\'s Companion opens the ears of film-goers to the nuance behind movie music, laying out in simple, non-technical language how composers and directors map what we hear to what we see--and, not uncommonly, back again.
La Fave also brings readers into the present with looks at the work over the last decade and a half of Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestre, Carter Brey, and Danny Elfman.
Looking back to the Music improvised for early silent movies, La Fave traces the development of the Film score from such early epic masterpieces as Max Steiner\'s work for Gone With the Wind, Bernard Herrmann\'s musical creations for Alfred Hitchcock\'s thrillers, Jerry Goldsmith\'s sonic presentation of Chinatown, and Ennio Morricone\'s distinctive rewrite of the Western genre, to John Williams\' epoch-making Jaws and Star Wars.
In Experiencing Film Music: A Listener\'s Companion, Kenneth La Fave guides the reader through the history, ideas, personalities, and visions that have shaped the Music we hear on the big screen.
Trying to imagine The Godfather or Lawrence of Arabia with a different score is as difficult as imagining them featuring a different cast.
Minimized as mere "background music," Film scores enrich visuals with emotional mood and intensity, underscoring directors\' intentions, enhancing audiences\' reactions, driving the narrative forward, and sometimes even subverting all three.
Yet it is an integral part of the cinematic experience.
Of all the elements that combine to make movies, Music sometimes seems the forgotten stepchild
