***** (5 stars)
“Utterly fascinating!”
Mark Kermode and Jenny Nelson have worked together for a number of years on a movie music radio show for Scala station [alas, no more] and it’s obvious from the way this hour goes that they know each other well, and complement each other superbly. Mark is the consummate presenter, able to talk easily, fluently, and simply about things that interest [or engross] him: Jenny is the gentle reminder-er, the ever-present context person who’ll say ‘I know you’re wildly enthusiastic about this particular film or piece of music, but tell us why it’s so important/ good / adjective of your choice”.
Together they’ve co-authored a book. Although its title is Mark Kermode’s Surround Sound: The Stories of Movie Music, Mark is very clear that it’s a joint production which grew out of a book on movie music that he was commissioned to write a fair number of years ago. He kept getting very enthusiastic about his subject, finding many people to interview, but realising that the material he amassed was impossible to put into a coherent shape. It wasn’t till, some years into his radio collaboration with Jenny, that he realised that she was the person he’d been looking for for years, the one with whom he could create the book he’d always had in mind.
It really is a book for people who know nothing about music or the processes involved in creating a film score. Mark read us a very early passage in the book, where his firm belief that recordings of movie music included the whole of the dialogue as well is shattered by an assistant in a record store. It’s well-written, and doesn’t need a music degree – or indeed any prior musical knowledge – to understand and enjoy.
Mark and Jenny’s conversation is fascinating and very wide-ranging, and the questions at the end of the session add to our enjoyment. They referenced many films, directors and composers, virtually none known to me – but that didn’t matter in the slightest. Directors and composers probably have as many ways of working, separately and together, as there are stars in the sky…
It’s very interesting to ex-musician me that with modern technology you don’t have to have a recording studio with a one-hundred piece orchestra to create movie music – though this still happens. You can do in any number of ways, some extremely low-tech. And silent movies were never actually silent: there was always some sort of music being played, even if only one instrument was involved. Equally importantly, silence can, at the right point in a film, speak louder than a thousand notes, however well-played.
There are chapters on the history of film music; on influential [though not necessarily famous] composers who’ve made significant contributions to film music; on the different genres of film and music; and so much more…
A fascinating hour, from which many people set off intently for the book-shop and book-signing tent, taking with them all the other questions they were dying to ask Mark and Jenny. I’m looking forward to laying my hands on a copy of their book just as soon as I’ve finished rushing round Edinburgh like a mad thing reviewing all manner of fascinating things!
EIBF, The sound of movie music, Courtyard theatre, Edinburgh Futures Institute, RUN ENDED for more information go to: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/mark-kermode-jenny-nelson-the-sound-of-movie-music
ScotsGay Arts 