Abstract
Film and music are key concerns in human geography. But rarely has film music been considered. Here, the scores of James Horner (1953–2015), one of the most successful Hollywood composers of recent decades, are used to explore future directions in the geographies of music. Through engagement with the fields of musicology and film music studies, the paper calls for greater engagement with instrumental, in addition to lyrical, music. Hitherto, the latter has encountered the overwhelming majority of attention in human geography. But instrumental music’s style, form, and structure convey distinctly spatial knowledge and thought. As such, instrumental music represents a crucial addition to the topics considered by musical geographies. Through attention to such music, the conceptualisation of music in musical geographies is expanded.
Highlights
Philip KirbyFilm and music are key concerns in human geography. But rarely has film music been considered
THE GEOGRAPHIES OF FILM, MUSIC, AND FILM MUSICFilm is of interest across human geography
This paper shows how instrumental music communicates geographical knowledge, and how better appreciating this brings a new and substantial area of popular culture under the purview of critical geography
Summary
Film and music are key concerns in human geography. But rarely has film music been considered. This paper first offers a detailed review of geographical and musicological work, showing how, through the example of instrumental film scores, new light can be cast on how geographical meaning is made through non‐lyrical music It introduces the late 20th century “hyperclassical” resurgence in contemporary Hollywood film scores This output is frequently predicated on a style of music that, in style and form, draws on classical tenets laid down during a historical period when gender roles were starkly circumscribed Even when this style is not employed in modern productions, the advent of film streaming services and the repetitive broadcast of a select group of “classic” Hollywood films means that audiences continue to be widely exposed to this stylistic approach. An analysis of the mechanics of such music offers one avenue through which instrumental music might be approached by geographers of music
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