From Korngold to the Movies: Korngold\u27s Influence on Film Scores

Abstract

During the 1920s, a new cultural movement called Neue Sachlichkeit (or New Objectivity) was developing in Germany and Austria. During the rise of Nazi Germany, the Neue Sachlichkeit movement protested by bringing back elements of the Romantic era in art, literature and music. One of the most recognizable composers of this time was Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897 – 1957). Today’s listeners often hear Korngold’s concert works as being very similar to contemporary film scores; but in reality, Korngold wrote in his very distinctive harmonic and melodic style from the beginning of his career, before film scores came to be, and before he himself turned to film composition. In a word, then: Korngold’s music does not sound like a film score, but rather, film scores sound like Korngold