Classical Masterpieces in Films, Part 2

Classical music has been an integral part of the medium of film since the very beginning, even during the silent film years. This is partly because most of the individuals in charge of providing music were classically trained musicians. But more so, it is because select compositions, having acquired masterpiece status over the decades and centuries, carry cultural significance for viewers and thus enrich films with added layers of meaning and complexity. In this course, we use short clips and relevant music examples from critically acclaimed films that employ famous classical masterpieces—outside their original context—to create added layers of meaning. We discuss cultural, historical, and aesthetic issues associated with the application of a specific classical piece in a given scene and, along the way, learn about classical Hollywood scoring practices in such significant films as Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech (2010), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shawshank Redemption 1994), and more.