鈥淚t鈥檚 a very powerful experience, using a lot of your senses,鈥� says Laurie Shapiro, a longtime New York Philharmonic subscriber, about The Art of the Score, in which films are screened while the Orchestra performs the soundtracks live. Shapiro feels that seeing a great film and hearing a live orchestra at the same time is 鈥渓ike one plus one doesn鈥檛 equal two鈥攊t equals four!鈥� That math makes sense when you think of this month鈥檚 presentation, January 23鈥�26, when the NY Phil performs Bernard Herrmann鈥檚 score for Vertigo while Alfred Hitchcock鈥檚 haunting film is projected on a large screen in David Geffen Hall鈥檚 Wu Tsai Theater.
Conductor Norman Huynh, in his NY Phil debut, promises the experience will be completely different from seeing the film in a movie theatre. Speaking this November, he was practically giddy about the great level of detail you鈥檒l hear, saying: 鈥淚t鈥檚 just going to completely overwhelm you, and probably give you a true sense of vertigo when you experience it in the hall.鈥�
Another aspect, adds Huynh, is the emphasis on the music. 鈥淲hen you go see a film in the theatre, the dialogue, special effects, and sound effects are the forefront.鈥� You can hear the music, of course, but it鈥檚 not front and center as it will be in the NY Phil鈥檚 performances. He believes that part of the reason is actually visual: you can look away from the screen to see the conductor or the strings, which brings a fourth dimension to the film experience.
Huynh has a great admiration for the skill of the composer. Herrmann captures the unsettling feeling and mood all the way through. The conductor is not alone: classical music critic Alex Ross wrote in The New York Times that 鈥淗errmann was an absolute master of the strange art of film scoring,鈥� and that in the realm of movie scores, 鈥渢here is none greater than Vertigo.鈥�
As it turns out, the film鈥檚 soundtrack is not an ideal representation of Vertigo鈥檚 score. According to Ross, on the original 鈥渢he playing
sometimes sounds ragged and murky.鈥� That鈥檚 yet another reason to hear the New York Philharmonic play this full score live while watching the film.
Huynh explains that the biggest challenge in conducting these film scores is accurately syncing the orchestra鈥檚 performance with the action on the screen. With more recent films there are digital tools to help keep the conductor on track, but in the case of Vertigo and other older films, the technology to sync is somewhat primitive. On the version of the film that the conductor watches during performance, a clock displays a timecode that corresponds to notations on the score. Huynh has to practically memorize the entire film in order to properly keep the score aligned with the visuals.
That kind of analog cuing system鈥攁nd the fact that the film鈥檚 essence is about atmosphere, drama, and dialogue rather than singing
and dancing鈥攍eaves more room for artistic discretion. Huynh says that he can 鈥渟tretch and move the music, and not have to be exactly with what happens on the screen,鈥� and so can create even more drama.
For those new to hearing the New York Philharmonic, Huynh says: 鈥淲hat I hope is that they fall in love with the orchestra as a live musical instrument and that it plants the seed for a lifelong love for orchestral music. That鈥檚 what happened to me when I was in college. It鈥檚 the perfect entry point to experience the orchestra.鈥�
Laurie Shapiro agrees. She said the experience of using your eyes and your ears 鈥渋s a great combination. It sets a film to life when it has a score that is, in and of itself, fabulous.鈥�
Check out the remaining memorable movie-music events in this season鈥檚 The Art of the Score series
- January 28: The Movie Music of Terence Blanchard (Presented by Lincoln Center in Collaboration with the NY Phil, part of the campus-wide celebration of the acclaimed composer. Thomas Wilkins conducts; Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective join Members of the New York Philharmonic.)
- February 6: Fritz Lang鈥檚 Metropolis in Concert (Organist Cameron Carpenter performs his own original score.)
- May 17鈥�19: Steven Spielberg鈥檚 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in Concert (Constantine Kitsopoulos conducts the NY Phil in John Williams鈥檚 score.)
Learn more at .
Music journalist and media consultant Gail Wein has contributed to NPR and Voice of America and written for The Washington Post, Musical America, and Symphony Magazine.
