Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0023
S. Smith
This chapter dissects the demise of the Hollywood studio system, caused by several factors including the incursion of television. Warner Bros.’ legendary music department became, to quote Steiner, “a ghost town”; Max was among the few composers remaining on staff. Amid constant pressure to economize, Steiner continued to do fine work. He earned Ayn Rand’s praise for his musical depiction of nonconformity in The Fountainhead, created incendiary accompaniment for James Cagney’s valedictory gangster film White Heat; and devised an evocative “glass effect in music” for The Glass Menagerie. “Steiner has written a beautiful score,” Tennessee Williams wrote Jack Warner, “one that blends perfectly with the moods of the play.” Steiner also innovated as musical supervisor of the stereo-surround blockbuster This Is Cinerama, whose panoramic image foreshadowed IMAX. But most of his assignments were cheap, forgettable programmers, and his battles with Louise over Ronald grew increasingly bitter.
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Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0010
S. Smith
As musical director of RKO, Steiner oversaw music in all of the studio’s productions. At the same time, he was writing full scores for RKO’s most important releases. Workaholic by nature, Max loved the creative challenges dictated by such future film classics as Of Human Bondage and John Ford’s The Lost Patrol (a failure when previewed, until Steiner’s music added the missing element of tension). But his round-the-clock schedule was pushing the 46-year-old toward collapse. Finally, during the exhausting production of The Gay Divorcee, starring Astaire and Rogers, Steiner snapped, writing a sarcastic memo to RKO president B. B. Kahane. The twist-filled story of Steiner’s firing and rehiring is told here for the first time. Work was not Max’s only source of anxiety: Adolf Hitler was now chancellor of Germany, and Steiner feared for the safety of his parents in nearby Austria.
作为RKO的音乐总监，斯坦纳监督了工作室所有作品的音乐。与此同时，他还在为RKO最重要的发行版编写满分。马克斯天生是个工作狂，他喜欢未来的经典电影《人类的束缚》和约翰·福特的《迷失的巡逻队》所带来的创造性挑战(预告时失败了，直到施泰纳的音乐添加了缺失的紧张元素)。但他24小时的日程安排让这位46岁的老人濒临崩溃。最后，在阿斯泰尔和罗杰斯主演的《离婚的同性恋者》令人筋疲力尽的制作过程中，斯坦纳崩溃了，给RKO总裁B. B. Kahane写了一份讽刺的备忘录。这里第一次讲述了斯坦纳被解雇和重新聘用的曲折故事。工作并不是马克斯唯一的焦虑来源:阿道夫·希特勒当时是德国总理，施泰纳担心住在附近奥地利的父母的安全。
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Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0011
S. Smith
By 1935, all major Hollywood studios were emulating Steiner’s approach to film music, while recognizing Max as the industry’s foremost composer. His reputation soared even higher with the release of John Ford’s The Informer. A low-budget drama disdained by RKO executives, the movie received critical hosannas and earned Steiner his first Academy Award. But despite that success and other rewarding projects like the musical Top Hat, Steiner was frustrated. Heavy gambling, two alimonies, and weekly checks to family in Austria reduced his salary to a pittance. He also was angered to learn that ASCAP, the organization that collected royalties for songwriters, did not consider film music to be under its purview. For the next 25years, Steiner would fight to convince the group otherwise. He also felt underappreciated at RKO—which made news that David O. Selznick was forming his own independent studio all the more intriguing.
到1935年，所有主要的好莱坞电影公司都在模仿斯坦纳的电影音乐方法，同时承认马克斯是这个行业最重要的作曲家。随着约翰·福特的《告密者》的出版，他的名声更加高涨。这部低成本的电影被RKO的高管们所鄙视，这部电影获得了评论界的赞扬，并为斯坦纳赢得了他的第一个奥斯卡奖。但是，尽管取得了成功，还有音乐剧《礼帽》(Top Hat)等其他有回报的项目，施泰纳还是感到沮丧。沉重的赌博，两笔赡养费，以及每周给奥地利家人的支票，使他的工资降至微薄的水平。他还愤怒地得知，为词曲作者收取版税的美国作曲家协会(ASCAP)并不认为电影音乐属于自己的管辖范围。在接下来的25年里，斯坦纳一直在努力说服他们。他也觉得自己在rko没有受到重视——这让David O. Selznick正在组建自己的独立工作室的消息变得更加有趣。
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Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0002
S. Smith
This chapter focuses on Max Steiner’s musical education, both formal (at the Imperial Academy) and informal (through acquaintanceships with Johann Strauss Jr., Richard Strauss, and Gustav Mahler). Apprenticed by his father, who by now managed multiple theaters in Vienna, Steiner scored his first success while in his late teens, writing short operettas. In addition to describing the style of Steiner’s early compositions, the chapter chronicles the wide variety of influences to which he was exposed. Among the most indelible: concerts by Claude Debussy and John Philip Sousa, and the premiere of Richard Strauss’s cause célèbre opera Salomé. Drawn to both modernistic dissonance and the elegant light music of Vienna, Max Steiner matured from an initially indifferent music student to a composer highly motivated to achieve artistic and commercial success.
{"title":"Heir Apparent","authors":"S. Smith","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter focuses on Max Steiner’s musical education, both formal (at the Imperial Academy) and informal (through acquaintanceships with Johann Strauss Jr., Richard Strauss, and Gustav Mahler). Apprenticed by his father, who by now managed multiple theaters in Vienna, Steiner scored his first success while in his late teens, writing short operettas. In addition to describing the style of Steiner’s early compositions, the chapter chronicles the wide variety of influences to which he was exposed. Among the most indelible: concerts by Claude Debussy and John Philip Sousa, and the premiere of Richard Strauss’s cause célèbre opera Salomé. Drawn to both modernistic dissonance and the elegant light music of Vienna, Max Steiner matured from an initially indifferent music student to a composer highly motivated to achieve artistic and commercial success.","PeriodicalId":158266,"journal":{"name":"Music by Max Steiner","volume":"157 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122271269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0016
S. Smith
No Steiner project would be more difficult or emotionally draining than Gone with the Wind. This chapter explores how the composer wrote and/or supervised more than three hours of orchestral music in less than two and a half months (while concurrently writing three other film scores), amid constant and often contradictory direction from Selznick. The producer was more combatant than collaborator: “the whole thing had a nightmare quality,” recalled one participant. Due to a near-impossible deadline, Steiner was forced to have members of his team compose several GWTW music cues. These collaborators always worked under Max’s direction, using Steiner-composed leitmotivs. The chapter uses multiple examples of these cues to draw the distinction between the kind of “ghost writing” by uncredited composers that was common in Hollywood, and GWTW, a case in which Steiner remained the primary creative force behind this, his best-loved score.
{"title":"The South Is Dead","authors":"S. Smith","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0016","url":null,"abstract":"No Steiner project would be more difficult or emotionally draining than Gone with the Wind. This chapter explores how the composer wrote and/or supervised more than three hours of orchestral music in less than two and a half months (while concurrently writing three other film scores), amid constant and often contradictory direction from Selznick. The producer was more combatant than collaborator: “the whole thing had a nightmare quality,” recalled one participant. Due to a near-impossible deadline, Steiner was forced to have members of his team compose several GWTW music cues. These collaborators always worked under Max’s direction, using Steiner-composed leitmotivs. The chapter uses multiple examples of these cues to draw the distinction between the kind of “ghost writing” by uncredited composers that was common in Hollywood, and GWTW, a case in which Steiner remained the primary creative force behind this, his best-loved score.","PeriodicalId":158266,"journal":{"name":"Music by Max Steiner","volume":"20 4 Suppl 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132507843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0003
S. Smith
Steiner’s promising career in Vienna was dealt a major blow when his father, Gabor, declared bankruptcy in 1908. With the family now hounded by creditors, 20-year-old Max embarked on a new life in London. This chapter follows Steiner from 1908 to 1914, charting another swift professional rise—his time as an orchestrator and musical director—that was again marred by events beyond his control. In 1912, Steiner’s return to Vienna to manage the Ronacher Theater, a failing venture of Gabor’s, ended in Max’s brief imprisonment. (Financial mismanagement would be a recurring motif in his life.) And in 1914, World War I changed the Austro-Hungarian composer’s status in Britain to that of “enemy alien.” But before he moved to yet another country, Steiner’s work in British theater would refine his ability to write supportive “underscore” for stage performers, which would serve him well years later in Hollywood.
{"title":"Come Over Here","authors":"S. Smith","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"Steiner’s promising career in Vienna was dealt a major blow when his father, Gabor, declared bankruptcy in 1908. With the family now hounded by creditors, 20-year-old Max embarked on a new life in London. This chapter follows Steiner from 1908 to 1914, charting another swift professional rise—his time as an orchestrator and musical director—that was again marred by events beyond his control. In 1912, Steiner’s return to Vienna to manage the Ronacher Theater, a failing venture of Gabor’s, ended in Max’s brief imprisonment. (Financial mismanagement would be a recurring motif in his life.) And in 1914, World War I changed the Austro-Hungarian composer’s status in Britain to that of “enemy alien.” But before he moved to yet another country, Steiner’s work in British theater would refine his ability to write supportive “underscore” for stage performers, which would serve him well years later in Hollywood.","PeriodicalId":158266,"journal":{"name":"Music by Max Steiner","volume":"75 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127390468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0019
S. Smith
Amid Casablanca’s many justly celebrated aspects is its soundtrack—the subject of much of this chapter. Surprisingly, Steiner hated the 1931 song “As Time Goes By,” which producer Hal Wallis insisted be featured in the underscoring (Max wanted to pen an original tune for Bogart and Bergman). But Steiner’s consummate professionalism is demonstrated by the ingenious ways he adapted Herman Hupfeld’s melody into one of the movies’ greatest love themes, in a score with many other musical highlights. This chapter also examines the ways in which Steiner’s music became part of Hollywood’s propaganda efforts during World War II, from the controversial, pro-Russia Mission to Moscow (which required the personal approval of Josef Stalin), to the sublime Americana of The Adventures of Mark Twain, one of Steiner’s most underappreciated scores.
《卡萨布兰卡》有许多值得称赞的方面，其中之一就是它的配乐——这也是本章大部分内容的主题。令人惊讶的是，斯坦纳讨厌1931年的歌曲《时光流逝》(As Time Goes By)，制作人哈尔·沃利斯(Hal Wallis)坚持要在配乐中加入这首歌(马克斯想为鲍嘉和伯格曼写一首原创曲)。但斯坦纳精湛的专业精神体现在他巧妙地将赫尔曼·赫普菲尔德的旋律改编成电影中最伟大的爱情主题之一，并在配乐中加入了许多其他音乐亮点。本章还考察了施泰纳的音乐在二战期间成为好莱坞宣传努力的一部分的方式，从有争议的亲俄派往莫斯科(这需要约瑟夫·斯大林的个人批准)，到《马克·吐温历险记》中崇高的美国风格，这是施泰纳最不受重视的乐谱之一。
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Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0014
S. Smith
Days after leaving Selznick, Steiner became the highest-paid staff composer at Warner Bros. It was a deal he was quietly arranging before leaving Selznick, detailed here for the first time. Steiner would spend most of the next three decades at Warners. This chapter provides a detailed examination of the studio’s music department, and explains why its infrastructure, staff, and varied creative content were ideally suited to Steiner’s talents. The chapter describes his friendly if competitive relationship with Warner Bros.’ favorite freelance composer, Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Steiner works discussed include the Best Picture–winning Life of Emile Zola, the start of his long collaboration with Bette Davis, and his iconic Warner Bros. fanfare. The chapter also chronicles the unexpected death of Steiner’s mother in Vienna, and Max’s frantic—and ultimately successful—efforts to bring his father to America, after Hitler’s annexation of Austria.
离开塞尔兹尼克几天后，斯坦纳成为华纳兄弟收入最高的员工作曲家。这是他在离开塞尔兹尼克之前悄悄安排的一笔交易，这里首次详细介绍。斯坦纳在华纳度过了接下来30年的大部分时间。本章详细介绍了工作室的音乐部门，并解释了为什么它的基础设施、员工和各种创意内容非常适合斯坦纳的才能。这一章描述了他与华纳兄弟最喜欢的自由作曲家埃里希·沃尔夫冈·科恩戈尔德(Erich Wolfgang Korngold)友好而又竞争的关系。讨论的斯坦纳作品包括获得最佳影片奖的《埃米尔左拉的一生》，他与贝蒂戴维斯长期合作的开始，以及他标志性的华纳兄弟宣传。这一章还记载了施泰纳的母亲在维也纳的意外死亡，以及希特勒吞并奥地利后，马克斯疯狂地(最终成功地)把父亲带到美国的努力。
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Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0004
S. Smith
In November 1914, Max Steiner arrived in New York City, with little money and few prospects. This chapter details another formative time in Steiner’s life: his ascent from a struggling Tin Pan Alley music copyist to successful Broadway conductor. It also details his first professional experience with cinema (then silent), as musical supervisor and composer for a chain of New York theaters owned by William Fox. Steiner’s gregariousness and his gift for quick problem-solving led to work with celebrated composer Victor Herbert. Steiner also formed friendships with rising talents like Jerome Kern, Oscar Levant, and George Gershwin. Stage hits like the Gershwin-scored George White’s Scandals expanded Steiner’s musical language, which was fundamentally European, to include American jazz. However, his own attempt to write a Broadway show—1923’s Peaches—was a failure, discouraging him for a time from further composition.
{"title":"Stairway to Paradise","authors":"S. Smith","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"In November 1914, Max Steiner arrived in New York City, with little money and few prospects. This chapter details another formative time in Steiner’s life: his ascent from a struggling Tin Pan Alley music copyist to successful Broadway conductor. It also details his first professional experience with cinema (then silent), as musical supervisor and composer for a chain of New York theaters owned by William Fox. Steiner’s gregariousness and his gift for quick problem-solving led to work with celebrated composer Victor Herbert. Steiner also formed friendships with rising talents like Jerome Kern, Oscar Levant, and George Gershwin. Stage hits like the Gershwin-scored George White’s Scandals expanded Steiner’s musical language, which was fundamentally European, to include American jazz. However, his own attempt to write a Broadway show—1923’s Peaches—was a failure, discouraging him for a time from further composition.","PeriodicalId":158266,"journal":{"name":"Music by Max Steiner","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126648936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-06-18DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0006
S. Smith
The dawn of sound film has been mythologized and misreported (for example, The Jazz Singer was not the first movie with sound). This chapter offers an extensively researched look at Hollywood’s approach to sound and music between 1929 and 1931. During this period, most filmmakers were reluctant to include any music in movies, unless it was clearly motivated by an onscreen performance (by a singer, jazz band, etc.). Contrary to this approach, Max Steiner believed that underscoring would not only be accepted by audiences but could improve a film’s emotion and pacing. Using much previously unpublished material, this chapter follows Steiner’s swift rise from RKO staff orchestrator to studio musical director, and his first attempts to include music that was not always tied to onscreen action—including his work on 1931’s Best Picture winner, Cimarron.
{"title":"Where Does the Music Come From?","authors":"S. Smith","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190623272.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"The dawn of sound film has been mythologized and misreported (for example, The Jazz Singer was not the first movie with sound). This chapter offers an extensively researched look at Hollywood’s approach to sound and music between 1929 and 1931. During this period, most filmmakers were reluctant to include any music in movies, unless it was clearly motivated by an onscreen performance (by a singer, jazz band, etc.). Contrary to this approach, Max Steiner believed that underscoring would not only be accepted by audiences but could improve a film’s emotion and pacing. Using much previously unpublished material, this chapter follows Steiner’s swift rise from RKO staff orchestrator to studio musical director, and his first attempts to include music that was not always tied to onscreen action—including his work on 1931’s Best Picture winner, Cimarron.","PeriodicalId":158266,"journal":{"name":"Music by Max Steiner","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126745586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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