Alex North, Film Composer: A Biography, with Musical Analyses of A Streetcar Named Desire, Spartacus, The Misfits, Under the Volcano, and Prizzi’s HonorAlex North (1910–1991) was one of America’s most renowned film composers. His musical scores enhanced more than 60 major motion pictures—A Streetcar Named Desire, Cleopatra and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf among them. He had 15 Oscar nominations, and received the Lifetime Achievement Oscar. This book begins with his early life in Pennsylvania, and moves through his studies at Juilliard and in Russia and Mexico, his early experiences in modern dance, documentaries, and theater, and his major work in film. The book also offers analyses of North’s musical scores for Streetcar, Spartacus, The Misfits, Under the Volcano, and Prizzi’s Honor. Appendices include a bibliography, a filmography, a listing of other North compositions, a discography, and a listing of awards. |
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Contents
Preface | 1 |
Search for Knowledge | 7 |
The Beginning | 20 |
The Forties | 28 |
The Fifties | 41 |
The Sixties | 61 |
The Seventies and the Eighties | 76 |
A Streetcar Named Desire 95 | 93 |
Prizzis Honor 985 | 189 |
Epilogue | 213 |
Filmography | 219 |
List of Compositions | 225 |
Discography | 228 |
List of Awards Presented to Alex North | 236 |
Chapter Notes | 239 |
249 | |
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Common terms and phrases
20th Century–Fox Academy Award accompanied adaptation Alex North Alex’s Anna Sokolow Arthur Miller Artists ballet Blanche character Charley clarinet compositional Consul Crassus dance Daniel Mann David Raksin defined developed di›erent dissonant dramatic e›ect Elia Kazan emotional epic field fight figure film composer film music film score film’s final find finished first five flow flute Fred Steiner Gianni Schicchi Glabrus gladiators Hollywood Huston Ibid influenced instruments interview with Alex jazz John Huston Kubrick lyrical Main Title melodic Mexican Misfits Mitch motif movement Movie music cue musical score musical sequence North’s North’s music North’s score novel o›ered opera orchestral original phrase piano picture piece play principal theme Prizzi’s Honor quoted reflect rhythmic Roman scene Script slaves solo song soundtrack source music Spartacus Stanley Stanley’s Stella Steven story Streetcar Named Desire strings style symphonic theater thematic material tune Varese Sarabande Varinia violins Viva Zapata Volcano Williams woodwinds wrote York