Film music has evolved dramatically since the silent era, when live pianists or organists accompanied screenings. The advent of synchronised sound in 1926 with Don Juan used Warner Bros' Vitaphone system, but it was unreliable. Soon, music could be printed directly onto film, giving birth to the true soundtrack.
European émigré composers in the early 1930s brought operatic and symphonic styles to Hollywood. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) by F.W. Murnau used Fox's Movietone system to optically print sound onto film, featuring Chopin and Gounod. King Kong (1933) with music by Max Steiner established the symphonic film score framework still used today.
Bernard Herrmann's score for Citizen Kane (1941) rejected syrupy Hollywood sounds, creating a bespoke atmospheric world. Blackboard Jungle (1955) used Bill Haley's 'Rock Around the Clock', making pop music a marketing tool. Forbidden Planet (1956) featured the first completely electronic score by Louis and Bebe Barron, inspiring future composers.
Henry Mancini's work on Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) blended pop and jazz, influencing countless soundtracks. These scores, among others, changed how we listen to films, moving the artform forward.
