DOI
10.17077/etd.87jntusp
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Degree
Spring 2017
Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Degree In
Music
First Advisor
Platte, Nathan
First Committee Member
Cook, Robert C
Second Committee Member
Harvey, Trevor
Abstract
The 1961 Hammer horror film, The Curse of the Werewolf, paired innovative make-up and set design with the avant-garde music of Benjamin Frankel (1906-1973). Frankel’s concert works had by this time embraced serialism, but The Curse of the Werewolf was his sole attempt at composing an almost entirely serial film score. This music more fully bridged the divide between the continental modernist practices found in his concert works with more conventional film music techniques. Thus, The Curse of the Werewolf’s score represents a crucial point in Frankel’s broader creative development as a composer who increasingly embraced twelve-tone methods in his concert works.
Drawing from historical surveys, analytical scholarship, journal articles, and Frankel’s own writings, this thesis provides historical context surrounding Frankel’s life and involvement with the film. Most importantly, this study examines Frankel’s implementation of serialism in The Curse of the Werewolf’s score and its relation to the film’s visual and narrative components. I examine three pivotal scenes through traditional film music analysis combined with twelve-tone analysis. These analyses show how Frankel pairs motives with onscreen characters and situations while still embracing serial methods. This study sheds light on serialism’s application in film through the work of an overlooked British composer.
Public Abstract
The 1961 Hammer horror film, The Curse of the Werewolf, paired innovative make-up and set design with the unnerving music of composer Benjamin Frankel (1906-1973). Frankel’s concert works had by this time embraced relatively complicated techniques of composition known as twelve-tone methods. The Curse of the Werewolf was his sole attempt at composing an almost entirely twelve-tone film score. This music more fully bridged the divide between modernist compositional practices such as the twelve-tone methods found in Frankel’s concert works with more conventional film music techniques. Thus, The Curse of the Werewolf’s soundtrack exists as a crucial point in Frankel’s broader creative development as a composer who increasingly embraced twelve-tone methods in his concert works.
Drawing from historical surveys, analytical scholarship, journal articles, and Frankel’s own writings, this thesis provides historical context surrounding Frankel’s life and involvement with the film. Most importantly, this study examines Frankel’s application of twelve-tone methods in The Curse of the Werewolf’s score and its relation to the film’s visual and narrative components. I examine three pivotal scenes through traditional film music analysis, combined with twelve-tone analysis. These analyses show how Frankel pairs motives with onscreen characters and situations while still embracing the twelve-tone methods. This study sheds light on the implementation of twelve-tone compositional techniques in film through the work of an overlooked British composer.
Keywords
Film Music, Film Score, Frankel, Serial, Twelve-Tone, Werewolf
Pages
ix, 101 pages
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 97-101).
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 Gregory Scott Newbold
Recommended Citation
Newbold, Gregory Scott. "Benjamin Frankel's serial film score for The curse of the werewolf: an historical context and analysis." MA (Master of Arts) thesis, University of Iowa, 2017.
https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.87jntusp