David Shire's The Conversation

A Film Score Guide

Juan Chattah

Nominated for three Academy Awards in 1974, including Best Picture and Best Sound, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation is regarded as the archetypal achievement in weaving together a balanced blend of dialogue, cinematography, sound effects, and music. For the film, composer David Shire created a score that challenged preconceptions of the music’s function within film. Featuring a jazz-infused piano score with pioneering excursions into electroacoustic techniques, Shire’s music provides depth and meaning to the soundtrack by establishing a musical/narrative metaphorical correlation that traces the main character’s psychological journey.

In David Shire’s The Conversation: A Film Score Guide, Juan Chattah draws on extensive interviews with the composer and includes numerous examples from his manuscripts to provide aesthetic and critical insights into the compositional process. The book fleshes out a multifaceted framework that reveals layers of meaning that permeate the score, delving into David Shire’s life and musical upbringing to trace the development of his compositional techniques. The author also investigates the film’s critical and historical contexts and ultimately presents a detailed analysis of the complete soundtrack to the film.

Proposing an innovative analytical methodology that intersects semiotics and cognitive psychology, this volume offers a unique insight into the film and its music. As such, David Shire’s The Conversation: A Film ScoreGuide will be of interest to film scholars, music scholars, and fans of the composer’s work.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 228 • Trim: 5½ x 8½

978-1-4422-5163-2 • Paperback • October 2015 • $69.00 • (£53.00)

978-1-4422-5164-9 • eBook • October 2015 • $65.50 • (£50.00)

Series: Film Score Guides

Subjects: Music / Individual Composer & Musician

David Shire's The Conversation

A Film Score Guide

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Nominated for three Academy Awards in 1974, including Best Picture and Best Sound, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation is regarded as the archetypal achievement in weaving together a balanced blend of dialogue, cinematography, sound effects, and music. For the film, composer David Shire created a score that challenged preconceptions of the music’s function within film. Featuring a jazz-infused piano score with pioneering excursions into electroacoustic techniques, Shire’s music provides depth and meaning to the soundtrack by establishing a musical/narrative metaphorical correlation that traces the main character’s psychological journey.

In David Shire’s The Conversation: A Film Score Guide, Juan Chattah draws on extensive interviews with the composer and includes numerous examples from his manuscripts to provide aesthetic and critical insights into the compositional process. The book fleshes out a multifaceted framework that reveals layers of meaning that permeate the score, delving into David Shire’s life and musical upbringing to trace the development of his compositional techniques. The author also investigates the film’s critical and historical contexts and ultimately presents a detailed analysis of the complete soundtrack to the film.

Proposing an innovative analytical methodology that intersects semiotics and cognitive psychology, this volume offers a unique insight into the film and its music. As such, David Shire’s The Conversation: A Film ScoreGuide will be of interest to film scholars, music scholars, and fans of the composer’s work.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 228 • Trim: 5½ x 8½

978-1-4422-5163-2 • Paperback • October 2015 • $69.00 • (£53.00)

978-1-4422-5164-9 • eBook • October 2015 • $65.50 • (£50.00)

Series: Film Score Guides

Subjects: Music / Individual Composer & Musician

Author

Juan Chattah is assistant professor at University of Miami – Frost School of Music. His research interest concerns the application of models drawn from cognitive psychology and critical theory to the analysis of film music.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
Editor’s Foreword—Kate Daubney
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1: David Shire’s Life and Musical Background
2: David Shire’s Approach to Film Scoring
3: Historical and Critical Context of The Conversation
4: Analytical Approach to Meaning in Film Music
5: Background and Analysis of the Score for The Conversation
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

David Shire's The Conversation

A Film Score Guide

Juan Chattah

David Shire's The Conversation

A Film Score Guide

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