>> Paul Sommerfeld:
Good morning.
Welcome to our Declassified
on Korngold.
I'm Paul Alan Sommerfeld.
So I'll be leading you
through talking mostly
about Captain Blood today,
seeing as how that's what we're
going to screen right afterward.
So let's begin.
So who was Erich
Wolfgang Korngold?
His parents thought he would
be successful from the start.
It was intentional that
they gave him the middle
name Wolfgang.
And, that proved prophetic
because he was, essentially,
a genius, or at the very
least a very talented,
from a young age, composer.
He wrote Der Schneemann
which is the Ballet-Pantomime
in the 1910s and when
he was about 12, 13.
And, it was wildly successful.
And, that jumpstarted
his career as a composer
in Vienna throughout
the teens and 20s.
So several photos of him with
his parents, him by himself,
and then at the end of
his life at the piano.
But, hew as wildly successful in
the 20s and 30s, mostly opera,
as you might be familiar
with his Die tote Stadt
from the early 20s.
That's probably his
most well known opera.
It's been performed by the Met
and other American
opera companies.
It has more of a presence here.
But, then why do we know him
as a film composer in the U.S.?
And, part of that,
we'll get to some
of these images here
in a second.
But, part of that has
to do with what happened
in the 1930s politically.
So in 1934, his dear, his
good friend Max Reinhardt,
asked him if wanted to, asked
Korngold if he wanted to go
with him to Hollywood
because they had,
Reinhardt had recently done
a successful adaptation
of A Midsummer Night's Dream
using Mendelssohn's Incidental
Music, and asked Korngold
if he wanted to go with him
to Hollywood to make
it into a film.
And, Korngold said sure.
So he came along.
It was a successful
adaptation and he was able
to have a lot more
control over the music,
partly because he
had this prestige
as this famous European
composer.
So he did a Midsummer Night's
Dream and went back to Vienna.
The following year,
in 1935, he was asked
if he wanted to come back.
And, he was enticed by saying,
by the offer of being able
to do more opera, operetta films
like a Midsummer Night's Dream.
So he came back to do, oh we'll
come back to this, he came back
to do Give Us This Night, which
eventually came out in 36.
And, that was working with
Oscar Hammerstein, the Lyricist,
who I'm sure many of you
know from later on his fame
with Richard Rogers
for all of Oklahoma,
the Carousel, the
Sound of Music.
That project didn't
turn out so well.
I'm sure, very few people even
know that, that film exists.
But, while he was working on
Give Us This Night, he was asked
if he wanted to score the
film for Captain Blood,
which was this new vehicle that
the studio had been working
on with Errol Flynn and
Olivia de Havilland who were,
at that point, completely
unknown.
This was their, this would
become their big break.
He screened the film,
gave it some thought,
and was finally talked into it.
There's a longer story
there, but we don't have time
to really get into
that right now.
But, he got talked into it.
But, he only had three
weeks to complete the score.
So he was working on
Give Us This Night
and Captain Blood
at the same time.
And, the consequences
of that we'll get
into with the opening credits.
So that was his start
into film composition.
He went back to Holly, or
went back to Vienna after that
and came back in 38
eventually doing The Adventures
of Robin Hood, another now
famous Errol Flynn Olivia de
Havilland film, and stayed
in Hollywood thereafter
because Kristallnacht happened.
And, his father and
mother had the foresight
to already secure
visas in advanced.
And, so the rest of the
family joined him in LA
and they stayed there for
the duration of the war.
He then received a very cushy
contract from Warner Brothers,
which is advantageous and almost
unheard of even to this day.
He was, he only had to
score two films a year, two,
and he retained the rights
to the music that he scored
for these films, also an unheard
of stipulation in his contract.
This is, by contrast, Max
Steiner, who I'm sure many,
sure many of you are aware
of scored Gone With the Wind
and many other films
of the 30s and 40s,
worked doggedly scoring
dozens of films a year
and had no rights to the
actual music once the film
was completed.
And Korngold was making, doing
two films a year, the equivalent
in 2019 of about a half
a million dollars a year.
So a very cushy life for
him by way of contrast.
Now, that didn't stop him
from asserting his opinions.
One of my favorite things
in the collections we have
out there is a letter
from a Warner Brothers
exec saying I understand
that there are parts of
our picture, Devotion,
which is in 43, which
you do not like.
And, while you are, of
course, fully entitled
to your private opinions, I
would greatly appreciate it,
as a personal favor, if you not
make your criticisms too public,
since I have had certain
reactions from them
which are detrimental to the
best interest of the picture.
So he was a very
opinionated filmmaker in all
of his collaborations.
And, you can see,
right next to that,
his Warner Brothers ID card
which is outside as well.
So here we are in 1935
Korngold is working on Give It,
or Captain Blood, what
would become his first,
quote unquote, original
film score.
When I say the words
classical Hollywood style,
this refers to this time
period of the 1930s and 40s
in particular where these
aesthetic practices,
these style characteristics
that became sort of codified,
that they became standard.
And they live with us today
with how Hollywood films look,
how they sound, how
they're constructed.
And, some of those
characteristics are this
attention to realism, that it
has to feel real, that we have
to relate to the characters.
And, it doesn't mean
that it is real.
But, it feels real,
so hence realism.
The internal logic of
the film has to work.
Now, this still rings
true even today.
Think about films
like Lord of the Rings
or Fantasy Epics,
or the Marvel films.
In the internal world,
the diegetic world
of the film itself, there
is still this realism.
And, when it doesn't quote,
when it doesn't work maybe,
it's partly because oh that
didn't feel realistic to me.
I mean I think everybody
has gone to a movie
or watched a movie and said
well the characters just didn't
feel realistic.
So it has to have
this realism to it.
Part of that and too is this
idea of narrative continuity.
So the film has to make
sense as it progresses.
We have to understand the plot.
Now, this is characteristic
of Hollywood film.
If you think of French New Wave,
later on in the 20th century
or compose, or directors like
Godard, narrative continuity not
as much as an important factor.
But, in Hollywood film, we have
to understand how the
film is unfolding.
Then that leads us to the
psychological association
where we have to relate to
the characters in some way.
We have to feel what
they're feeling
or understand what
their motivations are.
But, it's centered in
that psychological aspect.
And, then through all of this,
the music's role is this sonic
suture, it welds the image
to that realism where.
Because what is a film?
It's a series of shots
that are spliced together
to create narrative continuity.
It's not, very rarely do you
see one long continuous take.
Especially in the 1930s,
you could only make
a take last maximum,
a couple of minutes, maximum.
Films don't last
just two minutes.
So you have to splice together
those shots, those scenes
in a way that makes sense.
And, music helps create
that ere of realism.
It's that sonic suture.
It sews the film together for
us to consume, to experience.
And, then that leads us to this
idea of the fantastical gap.
That, there's this gap between
us the viewers, in theater,
the film that we're watching
onscreen, and the music is that,
is what helps us bridge that
fantastical gap, that we dive
into the film, that
sense of realism,
that sense of associating
with the characters,
understanding their motivations,
being moved by what they do
and what happens to them.
What you see on the side
here are cutting notes
to the film Juarez,
which is another film the
Korngold scored.
And, these are notes
from a studio exec listing
minute changes to be made
to the cut of the film.
And, they are incredibly minute.
They can be as minute
as cut this shot here,
substitute this one shot
here, cut out the music
or lower the music on
these couple of seconds.
For example, where
one here in Juarez
where it says hold the
music down under the dialog
in the bunkhouse as soon as.
Oh I'm sorry.
This is not Juarez,
this is Captain Blood.
What I have outside is Juarez.
Hold the music down under the
dialogue in the bunkhouse.
As soon as Blood begins to talk,
hold the dialogue way down.
Hold the music way down
under the dialogue.
You'll have to drop the
dialogue way down too.
So he's saying repeatedly
drop the dialogue.
But, it's these minute
attentions
to how the film sounds and
making sure, especially,
that we here the dialogue.
Because dialogue gets us
back to narrative continuity.
We have to understand
what's going on in the film.
And, the music helps shape
that, shapes that understanding
but it can't drown
out the dialogue.
Or when it does take
over the dialogue,
it's for a key reason,
like a fight scene.
Because, then the motivations,
the needs are different.
But, these are the
kind of details
that they'd have to work with.
And, these kind of cuts
effect Korngold as well,
especially if they're happening
after he started writing music
or if it's in different stages
of post production, again,
demonstrating how film music
composition is a collaborative
art from its inception.
Korngold couldn't just, well
he would begin by walking in,
screening the film, and
playing at the piano
and coming up with ideas.
But, that wasn't the end.
That was only the
very beginning.
Because, thereafter,
he has to work
with various other
filmmakers to get everything
to sync just right to make a
film that people can relate to,
that they can understand,
and move them in some way.
So that leads us then
now to Captain Blood.
These are just some
press materials
that the studio created to send
to theaters to market the film.
One of my favorites is to create
a GANGPLANK ENTRANCE A week
in advance of opening set
up a gangplank leading
to ticker chopper.
As patrons file in, your
counts 'em offering a pair
of free tickets to ever
hundredth customer.
So all kinds of talking
points, ways to market the film.
Because this film
became a smash success.
This was Errol Flynn and
Olivia de Havilland's first
role together.
This is what rocketed
both of them to stardom.
And, this was the first of
many swashbuckler films;
the Sea Hawk, the Sea Wolf,
the Adventures of Robin Hood,
they're all in this sort
of same vein of style,
these adventure stories.
So then what does that
kind of film sound like?
How do you create that
sense of genre expectations
when you go in to see a film?
So what we're going
to do now is,
I'm going to play the opening
titles to Captain Blood.
And, what I would like you
to do is to listen first
to any primary themes
that you may hear.
There are two really to listen
for, two different themes.
Think about what they
sound like, what kind of,
what would you expect
listening to this?
And, then I also would like
you to pay close attention
to how Korngold himself
is credited in this,
in the opening, in
the opening sequence.
Because that's very important
for understanding this movie.
[ Music ]
So what how, would
anybody like to share what,
what one of the melodies
was that they heard
or how would you describe it?
Yeah.
[ Inaudible ]
Yeah exactly.
So there's she's saying there's
the go get them, first part,
and then the second part
being this sort of love thing.
What was the difference
in instrumentation
in those two things?
Brass for the first one and
then the sweeping strings
for the second.
So we already have
this contrast set up,
this very brash bombastic
sort of fanfare followed
with lots of leaps and skips.
And, then we have this very
step wise sweeping gesture.
And, she said something
about love.
So you watch these,
this opening sequence,
what do you think this
movie's going to be about?
>> Love story.
>> Paul Sommerfeld:
Maybe a love,
definitely a love
story component.
But, is it solely a love story?
Yeah, we've got some
sort of heroism aspect.
We all know this
just from watching.
It's part of this
genre expectations.
And, part of this is built
up over, for all of us now
in the 21st century, we've
seen a lot of movies probably.
We've gone to lots of movies.
We understand, almost
intuitively,
because we've consumed so much
content, that we have an idea.
It's just like when you
go into, if you're going
to see a romantic comedy,
you have a certain set
of expectations of
what's going to happen.
Music is really important
to establishing what
those expectations are.
So we have the brass bombast
and then the sweeping
string statement.
How was Korngold credited?
Musical arrangements.
Does anybody have any
idea why he was say,
why it says musical arrangements
and not composed by or music by?
Does anybody remember?
I'm sorry?
[ Inaudible ]
Not because of that.
He borrowed, for
one key sequence.
Spoiler alert, if you
haven't see the movie.
But, even if you
haven't seen the movie,
you can probably guess
what happens by the end,
especially in this classical
Hollywood style sort of film.
He, in, halfway, about halfway
in the movie, he has this duel
with another pirate,
played by Basil Rathbone,
who I'm sure many of
you are familiar with.
He used, for that
sequence, some music by Liszt
and had it orchestrated for
that particular sequence.
And, the reason why is he had
three weeks to write the score.
And, this sequence had to get
done and there was no way he,
he did not have the time
to write original music
for that sequence.
So he worked with his
orchestrator, Hugo Friedhofer,
to create an orchestrated
version of this
and they went with that.
So still, over 90%
of the music is his.
He could have said
music by or composed by.
And, the reason he did not
is part of his baggage,
his history where Korngold
didn't want anybody to think
that he was claiming to
have written that music.
And, I think that this
partly goes back to his life
in Vienna, prior to Hollywood.
His father, Julius Korngold,
was a famous powerful
and famous music
critic in Vienna.
And, throughout his life,
in his teens and 20s,
Korngold always heard murmurings
of other people saying
well he's only famous
because of his father or he's
only getting good reviews
because of his father.
So I think there's this
idea of wanting to make sure
that everybody thought that
he was an honest individual
and that he wasn't claiming
to have written Liszt's music.
So that's why it says
musical arrangements.
So but then to pivot back,
we've got those two main themes.
Now those two themes govern
almost the entire film score.
They help articulate
what's happening to Blood,
Captain Blood, how he's
feeling about things.
And, they all, and the
second theme in particular,
which is what we're
going to focus on today,
articulates his relationship
with Arabella played
by Olivia de Havilland.
So what I all just said
establishes two primary themes,
our expectations
are established,
and it helps us understand
the narrative development
of the film.
And, you can see these
are from his sketches,
[singing musical notes] and then
here [singing musical notes] the
two different themes.
Very contrasting in style.
So he creates some dramatic
changes off the get go
in this film.
From this sketch, you can
kind of see it in the top,
I'll blow it up here, where
it's just labeled boat.
Why is it labeled boat?
And, you can see it's the
same, it's the main theme.
At this point in the film,
this is about 13 minutes in,
he's been sold into
slavery in the Caribbean.
And, so he's being transported
on the ship across
the Caribbean.
And this is what
we see and hear.
[ Music ]
>> Give us water there
are men dying down here.
>> Paul Sommerfeld: Did that
sound a little familiar?
It's still that same theme.
But, what's different?
It's in a minor mode.
He's not so successful
right now.
He's not the hero.
That's, an in fact, we don't
hear the major mode fanfare
version until he's once again,
when he's escaped slavery
and when he's become a
pirate, much later in the film.
So it's articulating for us now,
oh that things are not
great for Peter Blood.
[ Music ]
So there are other functions
that music can fulfill.
And, I just want to touch on
those briefly before we continue
with Blood and Arabella's
relationship.
Music can articulate
a sense of place.
I don't have time to
play the clip right now.
But, notice, when you
watch the film today,
the music that you hear
when we arrive in Port Royal
and then later when
we arrive in Tortuga.
It's this sense of othering
and exoticism where,
that's not really the music
that those peoples
would have playing.
I mean, in fact, we're in 1685,
they didn't have a modern day
symphonic orchestra either.
But, he uses the cimbalom and
the celeste to create this sense
of other, this sense
of exoticism.
And, this is a very
problematic coding
in classical Hollywood style,
which is another topic
in and of itself.
But, it's creating
the sense of othering,
that we're in this other place.
So music also can
fulfill that role.
Another thing that music can do,
is what we use this
term Mickey Mousing?
Does anybody have an idea of
what Mickey Mousing might mean?
Go.
[ Inaudible ]
Yeah. Exactly.
Like the person's
climbing up the stairs
and he music is ascending
or they're falling
and the music is descending.
So it's often used as
this derogatory term
and often associated with Max
Steiner, as him being the sort
of king of Mickey Mousing.
You can look at his score of
King Kong and you can see many,
many examples of that.
But, it can also be
an effective technique
for articulating what's
happening onscreen.
And, this is a great
example of that.
>> [Inaudible] aside
with him men.
[ Crowd shouting ]
[ Music ]
[ Crowd shouting ]
>> Paul Sommerfeld: So
what happened there?
We hear everybody laughed,
so you caught the joke.
The music, we hear this
tied with the swinging
as he's being thrown overboard.
And, it's effective, it
helps articulate the action.
We understand what's happening
or draws our attention.
But let's go back to
Peter Blood and Arabella.
So if you don't know the film,
this is not their first
conversation but their second.
Earlier, she has bought him as
a slave at the slave market.
And, he's worked his way
up already in this time
where he's made himself
indispensable
as a doctor the island's
governor.
So he has a lot more
freedom at this point.
He meets, runs into Arabella
and they have this conversation.
And, this is a little
bit longer scene.
But, I'd like you to pay
attention to how the music
and dialogue are
balanced, number one,
and then also what
music you're hearing
and how you would describe it.
What's the instrumentation?
How would you, how
does it make you feel?
What kind of melody
are you hearing?
Just think a little
bit more about that
as we play this scene.
[ Music ]
>> Well?
>> Seems that you're
continually doing me favors.
Faith, I don't know why.
>> Neither do I.
Yes I do. It's because
you're so very grateful
and always thank me so quickly.
>> So now, you don't blame me
for resenting you
and your favors.
>> This is interesting.
I've had men tell me they've
had reasons for admiring me,
and some few came to
reasons for loving me.
But, for a man to
store up reasons
for resenting me,
how refreshing.
You must tell me a few of them.
>> First is reason
enough, you bought me.
I've had no lack of experiences
in my time, but to be bought
and sold was a new one.
I was in no mood to
thank my purchaser.
>> That I can understand.
Go on.
>> I've resented you
because your name's Bishop.
My thoughts have lumped
you with your uncle.
How was I to know the debt
of the devil could have,
that the devil could have
an angel for a niece?
>> From a resentful man, that
is a pretty fair complement.
Have you anymore reasons for
resenting me like that one?
>> Deed I have, the
strongest of all.
I've resented you because you're
beautiful and I'm a slave.
You understand that?
>> I, I don't know.
Perhaps if you would
explain further I.
>> I've already talked too much.
>> I'll open your mouth.
[ Music ]
You'll stay here without
food or water until you talk.
[ Music ]
>> Why did you lie
to your uncle?
>> Because Dr. Blood, you're
a physician and should know,
is it not considered unhealthy
for a slave to be
seen at a boat?
>> Why should it be?
>> Boats float out to
sea, slaves may not.
>> You're jumping
to conclusions.
Aren't you?
>> Am I? The governor
will be waiting for you.
>> Yes. Miss Bishop,
it's difficult
for an Irishman to apologize.
But, I know if you
can forgive me
for having thought badly of you?
>> I will if you tell me
how you think of me now?
>> How I think of you now?
I think of you, I think of you
as a woman who owns me, a slave.
But, I think a man is lucky
who can count you his friend.
>> I think you know you can.
[ Music ]
>> Your slave is grateful
for all marks of favor.
>> When you forget your
slavery and go so far.
>> Now, there you're mistaken.
However far this slave
may go, he won't forget.
It's a characteristic
we Irishmen have
in common with the elephants.
[ Music ]
>> Paul Sommerfeld: So there's
a lot to unpack in that scene,
especially their first
real needy conversation.
So aside from his
terrible Irish accent,
that he claims he's an Irishman,
how would you describe the music
that we heard through most
of their conversation?
Or what instrumentation
did we hear?
Lots of strings.
And, where were those strings?
Were they down here
in a lower range?
No they were high
soaring strings.
So part of that is a technical
reason where we have a different
in range that the dialogue is
more here in terms of register,
the strings are up here.
The flute, at the beginning, so
we have that range separation,
makes it a little
bit easier to hear
because the dialogue
is really important
for understanding
what's happening.
But, it's again mostly
these soaring strings that's
that same instrumentation as
that second theme that we heard
in the main titles, and
not all that dissimilar.
It's more variations
or extensions of that.
So in this way, we start
to hear oh maybe that theme
at the beginning is sort of
linked to this relationship.
Because also, what happens
when he tries to kiss her?
Does it sound successful
in the score?
No. We have this chromatic
clash almost as she slaps him.
And, did anybody
notice what motive
or what music we heard
immediately after?
It was the minor
version of the theme.
Let's
>> When you forget your
slavery and go so far.
>> Now, there you're mistaken.
However far this slave
may go, he won't forget.
It's a characteristic
we Irishmen have
in common with the elephants.
>> Paul Sommerfeld:
A little bit more.
[ Music ]
We hear that same minor version.
He has not been successful.
So and here's, here's
that moment where he,
in Korngold's sketches, where
she spurns his advances.
We have this build,
this bigger chord
and then this chromatic
clash and down.
And, it dissipates.
So they don't really
converse again
until Captain Blood has
been successful in escaping
with his fellow slaves,
commandeering a pirate,
or commandeering a ship of some
invading forces and they're
about to go live a life
as pirates on the sea.
So again, in this scene,
notice what direction he looks,
but how he's framed
in the camera
versus how Arabella is framed
and where their eyes match.
So look for that.
And then also again, think
about what music we
hear in this sequence.
This is, again, the next
time that they actually talk
or that we have some
sort of relationship
between them depicted.
[ Music ]
So what direction was
Captain Blood looking?
He was looking down
out this way.
And, then when we
cut to Arabella,
is she also looking this way?
No. She's looking this way.
So that's part of
creating that realism,
that narrative continuity.
We don't actually see them in
one frame looking at each other.
But, the way that those shots
are put together, makes us think
that oh yes he's looking off in
the distance thinking of her.
And, sure enough, we cut to her
and she's looking
the opposite way.
So we interpret, ah,
she's thinking about him.
And, this is doubled down by
the fact of what are we hearing?
That's soaring strings, that
same music we heard at the end
of their last interaction.
And, then and just as an aside,
at the beginning of this clip,
we hear the main theme.
Right? In that full
bombastic brass.
And, he's in, he's bedecked in
his full pirate cap or outfit.
Moving on.
At this point, at this
point in the sequence,
he has just dueled
Basil Rathbone and won.
And, now Arabella is his slave
because she had been
crossing back
and forth during the Atlantic
and she got captured by pirates.
And, so now, he,
she is his slave.
So we see this role reversal.
So there's a parallel
in the language
that they use with one another.
But, also again, think
about what you're
hearing in this scene.
[ Music ]
>> But I thought you understood.
>> You thought you'd bought me.
I supposed I should've
regarded that as a complement.
You pirates are used
to taking what you want
without the formality
of purchase.
I advise you to go back
to your ladies at Tortuga
who are thrilled by
your bone lawless ways.
I only hate and despise you.
>> I might have expected
your thanks
for what I've done this day.
But, very well, let it be so.
I'm a thief and a pirate and
I'll show you how a thief
and a pirate can deal.
Once you bought me for
ten miserable pounds.
Now I've bought you
for considerably more.
The amounts are no matter.
What matters is that now I
own you as you once owned me.
You're mine.
Do you understand?
Mine to do with as I please.
[ Music ]
>> Paul Sommerfeld: But
what music do we hear
as they tell each other how
much they hate each other?
It's that same soaring strings.
And, then we have that
harmonized third there.
This varies, to me, it
sounds almost Viennese,
like something very
Straussian, like something
out of Der Rosenkavalier.
So it's hinting to us.
So they might say that
they hate each other,
but the best is yet to come.
And, then this is just,
if you see the timestamp,
this is just a minute after
where Captain Blood has left.
Arabella is talking to
this other man on the ship
who we're not quite sure who
his identity is at this point.
So again, thinking
about what we hear.
[ Music ]
>> Are you so much
in love with him?
>> In love with him?
>> That you care so
much what he does?
>> Oh I don't care in
the least what he does.
>> Well someone should.
>> Paul Sommerfeld: So
what do we hear again?
The strings, that soaring
strings, and especially
when we get to sort of the
climax of it about love,
it's that same climatic moment
from when he kissed her.
And, back then, we hear
this more chromatic clash,
it just sounds harsh
and then it dissipates,
it wafts out of the texture.
But, here it has
more resolution,
a little more unexpected,
harmonically, but, yes.
We've got the harp as well.
So I'll play just from there.
>> That you care so
much what he does.
>> Oh I don't care in
the least what he does.
>> Well someone should.
>> Paul Sommerfeld: So
we're building to something.
But, it's not quite this
large orchestral climax
that maybe we're expecting
because it shifts a little bit.
But, we're moving toward there.
We understand, even if we
don't consciously understand,
we know what's going
to happen at the end
of this movie at this point.
Or we expect, we expect a
certain, a certain ending.
And, indeed if we
cut to the end.
>> Isn't it true
that you hate me?
>> Hate you?
>> Or is it that you love me?
>> I'll hide you and tonight
after dark, I'll find some way.
>> You love me.
Don't you?
Don't you?
>> Whom else would I love?
Now will you?
>> You love me.
Lord Willabe, she loves me.
[ Laughter ]
>> Paul Sommerfeld: So
again, we hear that strings.
And, also, what's
interesting to point out is
that string melody
we here, there's more
of this step wise motion, this
ascending step wise motion
that is even more similar
to that very first,
that theme in the opening title.
So since it's so short, I'll
play the scene one more time.
>> Isn't it true
that you hate me?
>> Hate you?
>> Or is it that you love me?
>> I'll hide you and tonight
after dark, I'll find some way.
>> You love me.
Don't you?
Don't you?
>> Whom else would I love?
Now will you?
>> You love me.
Lord Willabe, she loves me.
>> Paul Sommerfeld: And these
are some of the sketches
from right there at the end.
We see that ascending
motion and then down.
It's very much related to that
first soaring string melody
in the opening titles.
So the bones of the score are
there at the very beginning.
We don't know necessarily
what they're going to mean
in the context of the film.
But, that is built over
repetition of where
and how it is paired with
what is going on onscreen.
And, that helps us
read or understand
or interpret a very
specific meaning.
And, this film, this' film's
1935, we're going on what, 90th,
83 years later, these tropes,
these interpreted meanings
have not disappeared.
We still expect certain
gestures to mean certain things
in the films that we watch, in
any of the media that we watch,
be it commercials, television,
anything with this
audiovisual pairing.
So Korngold's legacy, and
part of that is not just
in the bombast or the
suite of his music.
There's one moment I want to
point out quickly here is,
I'm sure everybody is familiar
with the Marvel films or a lot
of the big blockbuster
quasi-comedic action films
that have been popular for
the last couple of decades.
And, a popular, or a
common thread in a lot
of these films is, in the action
sequence, people will be dueling
and fighting and then will cut
to a closeup of an individual
and then they'll make some
sort of funny clip, quip,
they'll say something
entertaining.
My best example of that
is if you've seen Lord of,
the Lord of the Rings
trilogy, when Gimli
and Legolas are having
a competition
over who can kill more bad
guys, and Legolas shoots one
of the big mammoths and comes
up in front of Gimli and he goes
that still only counts as one.
So that kind of comedic
quip is a common thread
in swashbuckling
films like this.
So we do have a moment
like that in Captain Blood.
[ Music ]
>> Love thy neighbor as thyself,
Leviticus 19th chapter
18th verse.
[ Music ]
>> Paul Sommerfeld: So and
Korngold's score mimics that.
We have the brass music
beforehand articulating the
action sequence, music
cuts out, we have the quip,
and then we have the
main theme right there.
This is a common sequence
we hear in present day film,
especially big bombastic.
I've used that word a lot today.
But, I think it's fitting for
this film and this style of film
that we have that sequence.
But, even more readily
apparent is,
if we think about the opening
of Kings Row, which is,
we just screened it on
Thursday night, but,
it's a Korngold film from 42.
And, the opening titles to that
film might sound very similar
to you if you don't
know the movie.
[ Music ]
What film does that, does
that remind anybody of a film?
Star Wars, [singing
musical notes].
And then, well Korngold
wrote it first.
So that's what Korngold did.
But, John Williams takes
it in his own direction.
And, he's talked about this.
He's written about this a little
bit how this helped inspire him
to write what he, what
he did for Star Wars.
But, the bones of
that are in the pass.
And, that pass is
classical Hollywood style.
This sound, this style of
music is still with us today
and incredibly important
to how we watch films,
how we interpret the
meaning behind them,
and how we enjoy them.
So and, Korngold coming at
the right time in the 30s
when that sound film
was a really new medium.
Like King Kong had
only came out in 33.
Sound technology
wasn't even a decade old
for a synchronized
underscore and dialogue.
It was not a de facto
or it was not inevitable
that film would sound and
look the way that it did.
And Korngold comes along at
this time and helps establish,
along with other
composers, like Max Steiner,
David Raksin how films sound.
And, that lives with
us to this day.
So that's what I have for
today before we watch the film
at noon.
We have some time for questions
or comments or anything.
But, we would like to screen
the film starting right at noon.
So if you need to water,
unwater, get any food,
anything before the film starts.
But, I'm happy to take questions
or talk more about Korngold.
[ Applause ]
[ Inaudible ]
So the question was
does Korngold take time
to create themes for
individual characters?
And, yes he does.
I mean, both of the themes
from the opening
titles are pretty much
like they're associated
with Captain Blood.
But, none of the
other characters
in this film really have
a theme of their own.
Arabella, we sort of
see through the lens
of a Captain Blood adjacent
theme, which leads us
down this whole other
track of the male gaze
and Arabella is not
this own individual
with her own motivation
for seeing her
through Captain Blood.
But, there are other film
scores, like Kings Row,
where he weaves so
many different themes
for each character together
in one, it's almost a tone,
an audiovisual tone bomb.
In Kings Row he has a theme for
Paris, he has a theme for Drake,
AKA Ronald Reagan, for
those of you who don't,
played by Ronald Reagan
if you don't know.
He has a theme for Randy.
He has a theme for the doctor.
He has, he creates all of
these individual themes.
So it can depend.
And, some composers
will do that to this day
where they'll have
a host of themes
for individual characters.
John Williams does
this in Star Wars.
There's a whole thematic
catalog listing all
of the different
themes that he uses.
But, other composers
like Micheal Giacchino,
who scored Up, he won
his Oscar for Up about,
that is a decade ago now.
He has a more mono-thematic
approach where it's one theme
and he develops it
in various ways.
In Captain Blood, I think
Korngold is more towards
that where he's really
got two main themes
that govern the entire score.
And, there's other
musical material there.
When they raise the
British flag,
we hear music that's
fragments of God Save the King
or God Save the Queen,
if we're talking
in 20, in the 21st century.
But, it's not really
used as this theme
to articulate relationships
and ideas and identities.
So it depends on the film.
[ Inaudible ]
Well, silent film
was so interesting
because it has a
completely different set
of aesthetic practices.
So when you think
about a sound film,
like the sound films
we see today,
you're not necessarily meant to
hear the music, like you hear it
but you don't hear it.
It's sort of this
unheard melody.
But, silent film, because
the performers were there
performing, and it's
continuous throughout the film,
it's more meant to
be heard in a way.
So it's a completely different,
a completely different paradigm,
a completely different set
of stylistic practices.
I think one way to think about
it more is, Korngold has talked
about this in some of
his past interviews,
when he was living
obviously, of he thought
of films as quasi-operas.
And, that rings true,
but especially something
like Kings Row where
you've got themes
for every single character
and there's all of the drama
that happens, that there
is that element to it.
And, that opera itself is this
collaborative art not like film
where there's no one
person behind the creation
of the entire theme
that we consume.
Yeah.
>> This is sort of a big
question, but I, I'm interested
in hear your take on why
this blossoming of interest
in Korngold say the last 40
years, I think when he died
in 57 he was kind of forgotten?
I remember [inaudible],
sometime in the late 60s.
So it was never played in
concert that much and not even
on the video that much.
But, it seems like in the
last 40 years there's been a
blossoming of interest both
in the film music
and the [inaudible].
>> Paul Sommerfeld:
So the question was why this
blossoming interest in Korngold
in the last several decades?
Where, he died in 57 he sort
of disappeared for a couple
of decades, really
until the 70s.
And, I think in part but
not solely is what happened
in the late 70s?
We have the premiere of Jaws, we
have Star Wars, Close Encounters
of the Third Kind, these
big sweeping Hollywood films
with big scores.
And, so there is this element
there of that's popular.
But, I don't think
that's the whole story
and I honestly don't
know why either.
I think part of this is
things, things can happen.
Why do some composers, why are,
why don't we remember
David Raksin in the way
that we remember Korngold?
Or why don't we remember
Michel Rossi in the way
that we remember
Korngold or Max Steiner?
So I don't really know
the answer to that either.
I think there's part of this,
zeitgeist, the time of the 70s.
But I don't think that's
the complete answer.
I think we have time
for one more question.
I want to make sure we have time
to switch everything
over for the film.
[ Inaudible ]
Oh yeah. So Korngold wrote
a lot of concert music.
He wrote several operas
like Die tote Stadt,
Das Wunder der Heliane,
Die Kathrin, he wrote a lot
of chamber music,
songs, some phonic works.
And he, while he was composing
for films in the 30s and 40s
and living in the U.S.,
he was still trying
to get his concert
music performed.
There's a couple items I
have out there from 40,
at the display from 43 where
he was getting the Philadelphia
Orchestra, under Eugene Ormandy,
to perform a Much Ado
About Nothing suite.
And, so and that was
a successful premiere.
But some of the items
are interesting
because they say all speak to,
his handwriting was terrible
and they had to spend
considerable expense
in making readable
parts for the orchestra.
And, then the performance
went off very well
and was received well.
But, so during this whole time
he was composing concert music.
>> Where was he born?
>> Paul Sommerfeld:
He was born in Vienna.
What?
>> We're out of time.
>> Paul Sommerfeld: All right.
So we're being told
we're out of time.
So I'm happy to speak after the,
out at the display afterward
about anything Korngold.
And, please stay and enjoy
watching Captain Blood
in its entirety.
Even though you know the ending,
it's still a great
film to watch.
[ Applause ]