Description
Book SynopsisFor nearly twenty years, scholar and critic Royal S. Brown contributed a regular column, Film Musings, to Fanfare magazine. This single volume assembles the material from these columns and presents Brown''s reviews of significant recordings of movie scores. Although many of the reviews are of original soundtrack recordings for films released during the column''s run, a number of the reviews also cover reissues of earlier recordings, as well as newly recorded versions of classic scores. In certain instances, Brown was even able to include in his column interviews with composers such as David Raksin (Laura) and Howard Shore (The Silence of the Lambs) concerning new recordings of their music. An expert on film and film music, Brown frequently offers controversial perspectives not just on the music but also on the film for which the music was composed, and in many cases, he stresses the interactions between the cinematic action and the score, an aspect generally ignored by most film-music
Trade Review...Film Musings is an excellent reference... * Music From The Movies *
Brown's 'musings' are informed and informative... * Film Review *
Brown (European languages and literatures, Queens College), a former music editor of Fanfare magazine, provides a selective collection of many of his columns mostly published as "Film Musings" in the magazine. They consist of reviews of recordings of film music and a few interviews with composers, arranged chronologically from 1983-2001. The films are in boldface for easy browsing and catalog numbers and other information has been omitted. Some articles have been revised and are noted when revisions appear. Indexes are by name and film. * Reference and Research Book News *
Royal Brown has producted the most sustained, lively, and well-informed body of film music criticism in the history of the genre....It's important, and refreshing, that, he considers the music he's reviewing as inseparable from the film....Brown writes in an entertaining, eclectic, personal style that can range from startlingly concise wit to arcane, cryptic prose....His overall voice is that of someone with unbounded enthusiasm and deep knowledge of the field. -- Claudia Gorbman * Cineaste *
Table of ContentsPart 1 Introduction Part 2 1983-1984 Part 3 1985 Part 4 1986 Part 5 1987 Part 6 1988 Part 7 1989 Part 8 1990 Part 9 1991 Part 10 1992 Part 11 1993 Part 12 1994 Part 13 1995 Part 14 1996 Part 15 1997 Part 16 1998 Part 17 1999 Part 18 2000 Part 19 2001 Part 20 Film Index Part 21 Name Index Part 22 About the Author
