Karlin, Fred. Listening to Movies: The Film Lover’s Guide to Film Music. Schirmer Books, 1994.

Kislan, Richard. The Musical: A Look at the American Musical Theater. Applause Books, 1995.

Trimborn, Thomas. Course Packet. 2007.

This course focuses on outstanding genres of music composed for Hollywood films and the Broadway stage. It is designed to fulfill the Aesthetic, and Intercultural Mode components of the Liberal Studies Program at Truman State University. Students will study the work of legendary symphonic film composers spanning from Eric Wolfgang Korngold to John Williams, including the impact of cinema’s most famous cymbal crash in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, and the craftsmanship and ingenious use of leitmotifs in Star Wars. The evolution of musical theater will be traced by examining landmark works – Show Boat, Oklahoma! and West Side Story amongst others. The goal of the course will be the development of perceptive listening, and the recognition and understanding of music as a potent dramatic element in both films and the theater. This course requires no previous musical experience.

1. To develop in the student active listening techniques which will increase musical perception and heighten interest and understanding of film and stage music.
2. To provide the student with a working knowledge of fundamental elements of music.
3. To provide a core knowledge of major composers with emphasis on symphonic film scores (e.g. Korngold, Steiner, Williams), and Broadway musicals (e.g. Kern, Rodgers, Bernstein).
4. To develop in the student an ability to effectively speak and write about music as well as to analyze it – all within a dramatic context.
5. To provide a historical and developmental context for the musical and film score as artistic mediums.
6. To foster in the student, concepts of intellectual curiosity and critical thinking.