Golden Age of Cinema

With the possible exception of the violin, the piano would seem to have the most demonstrative voice for the film composer faced with the sizzling emotional temperature of high drama, enabling him to convey both romantic flair and subtle character nuance through the broad canvas of the instrument’s sonorities. The solo piano was often the only accompaniment to film in the cinema’s infancy and “silent” days, but with the advent of sound it was not long before the instrument found a more concertante role in soundtrack music. John Huntley, in his book British Film Music, cites the use of the piano in a minor melodrama, The Case of the Frightened Lady (1940), as a milestone in this field. It never really has a concerto role but it started something that has continued through changes in style and fashion right up to modern times, and Michael Nyman’s The Piano (1993).