Henry Mancini [electronic resource] : reinventing film music / John Caps.

ISBN:

9780252093845

Title:

Author:

Caps, John.

Personal Author:

Caps, John.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

1 online resource (278 pages).

Series:

Music in American life

Contents:

Introduction. Here was something fresh -- Allegheny River launch -- Not quite jazz -- The music factory -- Big screen, little screen -- Blake Edwards and the high times -- Career crescendos -- First cadence -- The break with Blake -- Off to see the world -- Back to television? -- The curse of the Pink Panther -- Maturity, the second cadence -- Frustration -- Stolen moments -- A closing door that wasn't there before -- Almost to Broadway -- Lookin back, looking on.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Personal Subject:

Mancini, Henry-Criticism and interpretation.

Subject Term:

Motion picture music -- United States -- History and criticism.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

2012

Publication Information:

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
781.542092 23	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Through film composer Henry Mancini, mere background music in movies became part of pop culture--an expression of sophistication and wit with a modern sense of cool and a lasting lyricism that has not dated. The first comprehensive study of Mancini's music, Henry Mancini: Reinventing Film Music describes how the composer served as a bridge between the Big Band period of World War II and the impatient eclecticism of the Baby Boomer generation, between the grand formal orchestral film scores of the past and a modern American minimalist approach. Mancini's sound seemed to capture the bright, confident, welcoming voice of the middle class's new efficient life: interested in pop songs and jazz, in movie and television, in outreach politics but also conventional stay-at-home comforts. As John Caps shows, Mancini easily combined it all in his music. Mancini wielded influence in Hollywood and around the world with his iconic scores: dynamic jazz for the noirish detective TV show Peter Gunn, the sly theme from The Pink Panther, and his wistful folk song "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's . Through insightful close readings of key films, Caps traces Mancini's collaborations with important directors and shows how he homed in on specific dramatic or comic aspects of the film to create musical effects through clever instrumentation, eloquent musical gestures, and meaningful resonances and continuities in his scores. Accessible and engaging, this fresh view of Mancini's oeuvre and influence will delight and inform fans of film and popular music. John Caps is an award-winning writer and producer of documentaries. He served as producer, writer, and host for four seasons of the National Public Radio syndicated series The Cinema Soundtrack, featuring interviews with and music of film composers. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

A volume in the series Music in American Life

Author Notes

John Caps is an award-winning writer and producer of documentaries. He served as producer, writer, and host for four seasons of the National Public Radio syndicated series The Cinema Soundtrack, featuring interviews with and music of film composers. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

As producer-host for NPR's The Cinema Soundtrack, Caps interviewed film composers. Now, in this lively, syncopated survey of Mancini's movie music, Caps offers a comprehensive critique of the composer's film/TV scores and hit albums. Although Mancini died in 1994 at age 70, the book benefits from in-depth interviews Caps conducted with him in 1976 and 1992. Playing piano and flute as a youth, Mancini briefly attended Juilliard in 1942 before joining the army. After WWII, he was an arranger with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, wrote music for radio dramas and then landed at Universal Studios, where he learned "the cliches of Hollywood storytelling music." Scoring dozens of Universal movies, he received his first Oscar nomination for The Glenn Miller Story. An independent composer by 1958, TV's Peter Gunn launched his long association with director Blake Edwards, resulting in such classic tunes as "Days of Wine and Roses," "Moon River," and "Dreamsville." Tracing Mancini's evolution and melodic growth, Caps believes his early success happened because he captured common yearnings with themes "so directly personal, so honest... it was as though he were speaking to you." (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Less a celebrity biography and more a well-researched study of a musical career, this chronological examination of Henry Mancini's development as an artist concentrates on how he honed his style and skill to match his talent. Film by film, the book reveals how Mancini negotiated and compromised to become the composer of many a moviemaker's dreams. His collaborations with great directors from Orson Welles to Blake Edwards, coupled with his disciplined and methodical approach to composing for film, led to some of the most memorable scores of the twentieth century, among them those of Breakfast at Tiffany's, with its signature song Moon River, and the memorable music from films such as Days of Wine and Roses and The Pink Panther. Sometimes less well known is Mancini's work in television, with one of his greatest successes being the theme from Peter Gunn, which the book calls the most aggressive and pounding theme music TV had ever heard. Rather than any lurid details about Mancini's private life of which there appear to be few what is exposed here is the business of filmmaking.--Kniffel, Leonard Copyright 2010 Booklist

Choice Review

In this first thorough biographical account of film and television composer Henry Mancini (1924-94), Caps examines Mancini's musical background and compositional techniques, and the creative impetuses behind his film scoring. In particular, the author devotes substantial coverage to Mancini's early musical years: the composer began with playing piano and soon thereafter took up flute. Radio and big-band songs influenced his interest in popular standards and jazz, a passion that lasted throughout his musical career--from his earliest years and time at Julliard until the end of this life. After his service in WW II, when he was still in his formative years, Mancini worked with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, then led by Tex Beneke. Caps discusses all this and more. Several photographs of Mancini's family, Mancini at work, and Mancini with celebrities are featured in the book; however, the author includes no musical examples and no excerpts of autographed scores. This book complements and goes beyond Mancini's autobiography (written with Gene Lees), Did They Mention the Music? (1989). Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. M. Goldsmith Nicholls State University

Library Journal Review

Henry Mancini (1924-94) brought film music from the background of the cinema to the foreground of popular culture. The music from the television series Peter Gunn and films including The Pink Panther and Hatari! became popular hits and permanent fixtures in the cultural Zeitgeist. Here, Caps, who hosted NPR's The Cinema Soundtrack, tells the story of Mancini's artistic development from big band arranger to Hollywood film score hit maker and beyond. Caps presents in-depth analysis of virtually each one of his scores. His detailed analysis of Mancini's later work on films such as Mommie Dearest and Lifeforce paints a picture of a composer who, even after attaining financial success and public renown, never stopped seeking to grow as an artist. VERDICT This critical biography will satisfy musically experienced readers as well as laypeople. It deserves a place in every film and popular music collection.-John Frank, Los Angeles P.L. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.