Unsettled Scores: Politics, Hollywood, and the Film Music of Aaron Copland and Hanns Eisler (Music in American Life)

Unsettled Scores treats the Hollywood activities of Aaron Copland and Hanns Eisler, who were among the earliest modernist composers to negotiate the collision of the high/low dichotomy within these two cultural realms. The social and political crises provoked by capitalism and war profoundly affected these ideals and, in turn, the men’s cultural and aesthetic thinking. Confronting and living through social crisis (Eisler during the instability of Weimar Germany and Copland through America’s Depression years), both composers experimented with new artistic forms and values, shaping their musical perspectives. Eventually, they turned to Hollywood, where they found possibilities to negotiate their distinct modernist aesthetics and political beliefs. The book approaches Copland’s and Eisler’s Hollywood activities through a dual study, pairing interpretations of their writings on the subject with close examination of their first film scores: Copland’s music for Lewis Milestone’s 1939 film Of Mice and Men and Eisler’s 1943 score for Hangmen Also Die!, directed by Fritz Lang. This study examines how the highly politicized and topical nature of these films appealed to each composer’s political ideologies concerning society and the human condition. Their scores became agents for political expression as they transformed their individual styles into the commercial sphere. The Hollywood careers of Aaron Copland and Hanns Eisler brought the composers and their high art sensibility into direct conflict with the premier producer of America's potent mass culture. Drawn by Hollywood's potential to reach—and edify—the public, Copland and Eisler expertly wove sophisticated musical ideas into Hollywood and, each in their own distinctive way, left an indelible mark on movie history. Sally Bick's dual study of Copland and Eisler pairs interpretations of their writings on film composing with a close examination of their first Hollywood projects: Copland's music for Of Mice and Men and Eisler's score for Hangmen Also Die! Bick illuminates the different ways the composers treated a film score as means of expressing their political ideas on society, capitalism, and the human condition. She also delves into Copland's and Eisler's often conflicted attempts to adapt their music to fit Hollywood's commercial demands, an enterprise that took place even as they wrote hostile critiques of the film industry.| Cover Title Copyright Contents Preface Acknowledgments 1. Background Stories 2. Copland on Hollywood 3. Copland, Hollywood, and American Musical Modernism: Of Mice and Men 4. Eisler in America: The Film Music Project and Composing for the Films 5. Eisler in Hollywood: Hangmen Also Die! Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index Back cover | "Engaging and informative study of film scores by Aaron Copland and Hanns Eisler within the larger artistic, intellectual, musical, and political climate of midcentury America. Bick's work offers a significant contribution to the new wave of film music studies, which place equal emphasis on insightful and detailed music discussion."—Gayle Sherwood Magee, author of Robert Altman's Soundtracks: Film, Music, and Sound from M*A*S*H to A Prairie Home Companion | Sally Bick is an associate professor of music at the University of Windsor. The Hollywood careers of Aaron Copland and Hanns Eisler brought the composers and their high art sensibility into direct conflict with the premier producer of America's potent mass culture. Drawn by Hollywood's potential to reach - and edify - the public, Copland and Eisler expertly wove sophisticated musical ideas into Hollywood and, each in their own distinctive way, left an indelible mark on movie history. Sally Bick's dual study of Copland and Eisler pairs interpretations of their writings on film composing with a close examination of their first Hollywood projects: Copland's music for Of Mice and Men and Eisler's score for Hangmen Also Die! Bick illuminates the different ways the composers treated a film score as means of expressing their political ideas on society, capitalism, and the human condition "The Hollywood careers of Aaron Copland and Hanns Eisler brought the composers and their high art sensibility into direct conflict with the premier producer of America's potent mass culture. Drawn by Hollywood's potential to reach--and edify--the public, Copland and Eisler expertly wove sophisticated musical ideas into Hollywood and, each in his own distinctive way, left an indelible mark on movie history. Sally Bick's dual study of Copland and Eisler pairs interpretations of their writings on film composing with a close examination of their first Hollywood projects: Eisler's score for 'Hangmen Also Die!' and Copland's music for 'Of Mice and Men." -- Page 4 de la couverture "The Hollywood careers of Aaron Copland and Hanns Eisler brought the composers and their high art sensibility into direct conflict with the premier producer of America's potent mass culture. Drawn by Hollywood's potential to reach--and edify--the public, Copland and Eisler expertly wove sophisticated musical ideas into Hollywood and, each in his own distinctive way, left an indelible mark on movie history. Sally Bick's dual study of Copland and Eisler pairs interpretations of their writings on film composing with a close examination of their first Hollywood projects: Eisler's score for 'Hangmen Also Die!' and Copland's music for 'Of Mice and Men." -- From back cover