From Chaplin's brilliant use of Wagner in The Gold Rush to the Bach
chorale closing Scorsese's Casino, classical music has played a
fascinating role in movies.
Dean Duncan provides a fresh critical survey of the aesthetics of
classical music in film. Exploring tensions between high art and
commercial culture, Duncan examines how directors quote themes and
classical passages in genres ranging from the Soviet avant garde to
Hollywood romances. Drawing on film theory, musicology, and cultural
criticism, he clarifies the connections between two very different art
forms.