Arnold Schoenberg: Historical Context, Musical Analysis, Performance Practice
18–19 October 2024 — Rimini, Italy
Arnold Schoenberg and Music for Cinema
Paper presented at the GATM Study Days and Research Days, organised by the Società Italiana di Analisi e Teoria Musicale (GATM) at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Maderna-Lettimi", Rimini.
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between Schoenberg and cinema — an aspect of his output that remains largely unexplored. Through analysis of his works for the moving image, the study seeks to illuminate his musical language and his conception of the relationship between sound and the new medium, and to clarify the role of twelve-tone music in cinema more broadly.
The analysis focuses on two key works: Die glückliche Hand Op. 18 and Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielscene Op. 34. Combining score analysis with film history and music criticism, the study situates these works within the landscape of contemporary film music, comparing them with composers from the early musical libraries of the silent film era — Giuseppe Becce, Hans Erdmann, and Ludwig Brav — and assessing their originality and impact. The study also explores the possibility of pairing Op. 34 with silent film sequences of the period, testing its effectiveness in evoking atmosphere and psychological states. The paper concludes by tracing the legacy of twelve-tone writing in the history of film music.
Conference Details
Event - GATM Study Days and Research Days: Arnold Schoenberg
Organised by - Società Italiana di Analisi e Teoria Musicale (GATM)
Dates - 18–19 October 2024
Venue - Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Maderna-Lettimi", Rimini, Italy
Format - Paper presentation
Bibliography
F. Finocchiaro, Modernismo musicale e cinema tedesco nel Primo Novecento, LIM, 2017
O. Hilewicz, "Schoenberg's Cinematographic Blueprint: A Programmatic Analysis of Begleitungsmusik zu einer Lichtspielscene (1929–1930)", Music Theory Online, 27/1, 2021
D. P. Neumeyer, "Schoenberg at the Movies: Dodecaphony and Film", Music Theory Online, 0/1, 1993
E. Simeon, "La musica di Giuseppe Becce tra cinema muto e sonoro", Music in Film Fest, Vicenza, 1987
G. Becce, Kinothek, Schlesingersche Buch- und Musikhandlung, Berlin, 1920
A. Schoenberg, Style and Idea, ed. A. M. Morazzoni, Il Saggiatore, 2008