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Key Constellations - (California Studies in Music, Sound, and Media) by Táhirih Motazedian (Paperback)
About this item
Highlights
- Key is one of the simplest building blocks of music and is among the foundational properties of a work's musical identity--so why isn't it a standard parameter in discussing film music?
- About the Author: Táhirih Motazedian is Assistant Professor of Music at Vassar College.
- 198 Pages
- Music, Instruction & Study
- Series Name: California Studies in Music, Sound, and Media
Description
Book Synopsis
Key is one of the simplest building blocks of music and is among the foundational properties of a work's musical identity--so why isn't it a standard parameter in discussing film music? Key Constellations: Interpreting Tonality in Film is the first book to investigate film soundtracks--including original scoring, preexisting music, and sound effects--through the lens of large-scale tonality. Exploring compelling analytical examples from numerous popular films, Táhirih Motazedian shows how key and pitch analysis of film music can reveal hidden layers of narrative meaning, giving readers exciting new ways to engage with their favorite films and soundtracks.
From the Back Cover
"A significant and energizing piece of scholarship, brimming with lively prose, engaging diagrams, and thorough (and thoroughly ingenious!) case studies. Táhirih Motazedian's study presents us with a provocative new perspective in the rapidly growing discourse of film music studies, argued with verve. You won't listen to a movie soundtrack the same after reading this."--Frank Lehman, author of Hollywood Harmony: Musical Wonder and the Sound of Cinema
"A groundbreaking achievement in film-music scholarship, rendered in clear, concise, and engaging language that is accessible even to those unfamiliar with the field. Key Constellations makes a convincing argument that tonal plans do exist in films, supported with many examples drawn from popular contemporary films. This will be a definitive work on the topic of tonal coherence in film."--Ron Rodman, author of Tuning In: American Narrative Television Music"A focus on one musical pitch over others pervades soundtracks: from sustained drones in the underscore to pop songs in a key to clear-toned sound effects. With her expert and creative hands, Motazedian has compressed and shaped this raw ubiquitous substrate into an array of sparkling analytical jewels that enlighten our understanding and appreciation of screen media."--Scott Murphy, editor of Brahms and the Shaping of Time
Review Quotes
"Film music scholarship has welcomed an abundance of new methodologies in the last decade, offering researchers fresh tools to study audiovisual media. Táhirih Motazedian is an inspired addition to this mix. Motazedian breaks new ground by demonstrating how keys, pitch centers, and large-scale tonality - long neglected as irrelevant in film music analysis- can reveal and reinforce narrative meaning."
-- "Journal of Musicological Research"About the Author
Táhirih Motazedian is Assistant Professor of Music at Vassar College. Before her career in music theory, she worked for NASA as a planetary scientist and mission operations specialist.