Music of movies takes
center stage in show

Throughout history, new technologies have spawned new forms of music. The Honolulu Symphony Orchestra devoted its concert on Friday to one such example -- music written for the movies.

Reel to Real When: 4 p.m. today Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall Tickets: $21, $33, $43, $51 and $64 Call: 792-2000

Originally introduced to cover the noise of early projectors, movie music developed into a significant genre with the advent of talking pictures in the late 1920s. Composers of film music, many of whom came from central Europe to Hollywood in the 1930s, used the soundtrack to set moods, intensify emotion, and smooth transitions between scenes.

Most of their work was designed to be unobtrusive, but the best examples are interesting enough to stand on their own. Because the early scores were composed for full orchestra, they work well in the concert hall, even without the visual aid of the film.

The talented Viennese composer Erich Korngold escaped Hitler by emigrating to California to write for films. His "Robin Hood Suite" from the 1938 blockbuster starring Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland is lush, Romantic, and energetic. There were beautiful solos by saxophonist Todd Yukumoto, cellist Mark Votapek, and violinist Ignace Jang in the third section, entitled "Love Song," and the final scene was appropriate for a swashbuckling fight.

Korngold's music is pleasant to hear, but at times it seemed too unobtrusive, as if something were missing from the texture.

The second number on the program was Leonard Bernstein's "Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront."

In contrast to the Romantic Korngold score, Bernstein's was edgy and dissonant. In many ways it is reminiscent of the more familiar score to "West Side Story," featuring syncopated rhythms played by five percussionists, breathtaking orchestral textures, and surprising melodic turns.

Some of the most effective moments occurred when a loud chord for the full orchestra gave way to an improbably soft chord for just a few instruments, a technique known as sonic exuviation. Mark Schubert's trumpet solos were particularly striking, and Samuel Wong conducted a dramatic performance with palpable energy.

After intermission, the audience was treated to a real film, the 1934 Japanese classic "Araki Mataemon, Master Swordsman." This silent film was enthusiastically narrated by Midori Sawato, who also gave some background information before the showing.

The orchestra played movements by Debussy, Shostakovich, Dvorak, and Korngold as accompaniment to the film, a practice that was common before the introduction of soundtracks. The music was interesting and well played, but naturally the focus was on the samurai battling on the big screen. As is often the case with film music, the orchestra was relegated to playing second fiddle for this portion of the concert.