Polish reflections on music in sound film in the 1930s. Major ideas and perspectives of musicological research Cover Image

Polska refleksja o muzyce w kinie dźwiękowym w latach trzydziestych XX wieku. główne idee i perspektywy badawcze w muzykologii
Polish reflections on music in sound film in the 1930s. Major ideas and perspectives of musicological research

Author(s): Iwona Lindstedt
Subject(s): Music, Film / Cinema / Cinematography
Published by: Instytut Sztuki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: film music; Polish film; Polish composers;twentieth century music;

Summary/Abstract: In Poland, the first evidence of reflections concerning music sounding directly from the screen precedes the premiere of the first Polish sound film Moralność pani Dulskiej ([The Morality of Mrs Dulska], 1930). As early as in the late 1920s, researchers such as Kamieński and Dembiński noticed the vast potential of ‘cinematic music’ and the need to synchronize the music setting with the plot of a film. After the presentation of film music at the Music Festival in Baden-Baden (1929), an attempt was made to introduce a systematic categorization of the pioneering sound films (Stromenger). In the 1930s, Mateusz Gliński addressed the subject of sound film several times. The issue of the acoustic layer of a film perceived holistically was also discussed by other journalists (Zahorska, Fryd, Braun), filmmakers (Bohdziewicz) and composers (Rathaus). They usually identified an ideal model for such a synthesis in animated films and René Claire’s movies. In addition, in the reflections on sound film in Poland psychological themes were also present (e.g. Czermiński and Furmanik), and concerned the role of music in the viewer-listener’s experience of the film. The most comprehensive and insightful approaches to film music were expressed by Marian Neuteich and Zofia Lissa in 1937. All the sources quoted above are undoubtedly valuable material for film-related musicological research, focused on such subjects as style, genre and function, ‘film biographies’ of Polish composers, or studies into Polish film music perceived as ‘modern music’.

  • Issue Year: 63/2018
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 3-26
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: Polish