#1  
Old 02-18-2018, 03:22 PM
Sculpt's Avatar
Sculpt Sculpt is offline
ventricle


 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: USA, IL
Posts: 6,141
Dracula (1931) Philip Glass Score

What's your thoughts on the Dracula (1931) Philip Glass Score?

I recently watched about 30 mins of the Dracula (1931) with the Philip Glass Score. The film runtime is 75 mins... so you can do the math.

This is a true story... upon first watching the film, I wondered if someone applied Philip Glass' pieces to the film. That is not a good sign. For the most part, I thought all of the Glass musical "pieces" were generally appropriate for the film -- in regards to the mood and 'time-period feel' -- I just thought it wasn't actually synced to the film, or not always synced. Egg on my face when I read in Wikipedia,

Quote:
In 1998 composer Philip Glass was commissioned to compose a musical score for the classic film. The score was performed by the Kronos Quartet under direction of Michael Reisman, Glass's usual conductor.
I hear someone saying, "Don't you like Philip Glass?" or "you're only twenty years late to the discussion". Nevertheless, quoting The New York Times,
Quote:
The idea of commissioning a new score for an old film is interesting from an interaction-of-the-arts point of view, and it might have been even more interesting if Mr. Glass had provided a score that worked, which he didn't. ... Mr. Glass's score does not allow for the concept of eloquent silence: his music burbles away for 67 minutes of the 75-minute film. http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/28/mo...s-thirsty.html
...And there's plenty more where that came from.

It wasn't just that I thought the music was not synced (and I apologize, as that would certainly be considered insulting, which I do not intend). I also thought the music volume obscured the dialogue in many parts; though this issue could certainly be exacerbated by one's own sound reproduction system. In my past viewings of the non-Glass-scored Dracula (1931), I was certainly aware of it's general sound quality issues regarding "hiss" and low vocal amplitude. I had long wondered if a little background music would help or hinder the issue. But that actually leads to another question: director's intent.

Did the director (Todd Browning) intended the artistic silences and absence of music? There were technical limitations in 1931, and I'm not aware Browning ever addressed this issue, but suffice is to say he made it that way. Until I heard the Glass score with the film, I hadn't noticed the boosted tension of the silence.

I recently read TMC presented the film without the Glass score. I hope that will be the current standard.
__________________
.
.
.
.


Last edited by Sculpt; 04-01-2018 at 12:49 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 02-18-2018, 07:27 PM
sfear's Avatar
sfear sfear is offline
Wanna Join?
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: The Pacific Northwest
Posts: 973
Interesting. Thanks for the info.
__________________
"It is with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being." Mary Shelley, FRANKENSTEIN

"Within the framework of most horror tales we find a moral code so strong it would make a Puritan smile." Stephen King, DANSE MACABRE
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 02-19-2018, 08:39 PM
Sculpt's Avatar
Sculpt Sculpt is offline
ventricle


 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: USA, IL
Posts: 6,141
Quote:
Originally Posted by sfear View Post
Interesting. Thanks for the info.
Thanks, sfear! Have you ever seen Dracula with the Glass score? It would probably have been it if you've ever seen Drac with music going on in the background. I guess it's been prevalent for almost 20 yrs, but I hadn't heard till a few days ago.
__________________
.
.
.
.


Last edited by Sculpt; 02-21-2018 at 06:42 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 02-20-2018, 08:15 PM
sfear's Avatar
sfear sfear is offline
Wanna Join?
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: The Pacific Northwest
Posts: 973
No but I've seen it around. Might pick it up sometime. Didn't Dracula already have a score? I seem to remember hearing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake played somewhere in it.
__________________
"It is with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being." Mary Shelley, FRANKENSTEIN

"Within the framework of most horror tales we find a moral code so strong it would make a Puritan smile." Stephen King, DANSE MACABRE
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 02-21-2018, 06:52 PM
Sculpt's Avatar
Sculpt Sculpt is offline
ventricle


 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: USA, IL
Posts: 6,141
Quote:
Originally Posted by sfear View Post
No but I've seen it around. Might pick it up sometime. Didn't Dracula already have a score? I seem to remember hearing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake played somewhere in it.
Yes, the original versions have Swan Lake at the beginning credits. And also, Dracula schemes his way into the balcony box to meet his new neighbors Dr. Seward, Harker, Mina and Lucy, at the theatre where you hear the end of one classic piece and the beginning of another. And then in the very next scene at home, a music box plays a chime tune as Mina and Lucy talk. So basically, there's no musical score.
__________________
.
.
.
.


Last edited by Sculpt; 02-21-2018 at 07:03 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 02-21-2018, 07:01 PM
sfear's Avatar
sfear sfear is offline
Wanna Join?
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: The Pacific Northwest
Posts: 973
Don't know much about Philip Glass but can't help wondering what would have happened if they had commissioned Bernard Herrmann instead.
__________________
"It is with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being." Mary Shelley, FRANKENSTEIN

"Within the framework of most horror tales we find a moral code so strong it would make a Puritan smile." Stephen King, DANSE MACABRE
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 02-21-2018, 07:09 PM
Sculpt's Avatar
Sculpt Sculpt is offline
ventricle


 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: USA, IL
Posts: 6,141
Quote:
Originally Posted by sfear View Post
Don't know much about Philip Glass but can't help wondering what would have happened if they had commissioned Bernard Herrmann instead.
Sounds good to me. His film scores certainly included the full spectrum within a film: appropriate silence, simple quiet mood ambiance, striking crescendos, and theme music.
__________________
.
.
.
.

Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 04:36 AM.