Miklós Rózsa's Ben-Hur : a film score guide
Roger Hickman (Author)
In 1925, MGM produced a screen version of Lew Wallace's best-selling novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, which became a classic of silent cinema. Nearly 25 years later, the biblical epic was remade by William Wyler and received an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards, including one for Miklós Rózsa's music. Indeed, the score for Ben-Hur is one of the greatest achievements in Hollywood film music. In this book, Roger Hickman focuses on the confluence of traditions, trends, and innovations that shaped Rózsa's score. Hickman provides an overview of Rózsa's music into the 1960s, looks at the composer's musical influences and the development of his distinctive style, and examines how Rózsa applied these compositional techniques to film scoring. The author then explores the Ben-Hur phenomenon and traces the development of the story and its musical traditions from the original novel into the 21st century. Hickman also examines the conventions of epic films and ties these influences together with a detailed analysis of the score. Miklós Rózsa's Ben-Hur pays tribute to not only one of the great film scores but also to one of Hollywood's most influential composers [Publisher description]
Print Book, English, 2011
The Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham, Maryland, 2011
Scarecrow film score guides, no. 10
xvi, 158 pages : illustrations, music ; 22 cm.
9780810881006, 0810881004
693207855
Miklós Rózsa's musical background
Rózsa's technique of film scoring
The historical and critical context of Ben-Hur
The music and its context
An analysis of the score