Film Music

Who knew that Camille Saint-Saens of 'Carnival of the Animals' fame wrote the world's first film score? Or that the Pulitzer Prize for music has been given to only one work for the screen. Or that five composers, including the American music theatre legend Richard Rodgers, were approached for 'Lawrence of Arabia' before the job fell to an unknown Frenchman who was given six weeks to get the job done. Or that one of the great 20th century symphonies started out as music for a movie. Well I certainly didn't… until I started working on the 'Film Music' episode of 'Classical For Everyone'.

[Episode image: The Embassy Cinema; Wellington, New Zealand.]