Polish reflections on music in sound film in the 1930s. Major ideas and perspectives of musicological research

Iwona Lindstedt

Abstract

In Poland, the first evidence of reflections concerning music sounding directly from the screen precedes the premiere of the first Polish sound film Moralność pani Dulskiej ([The Morality of Mrs Dulska], 1930). The subject was discussed in various types of periodicals, the discussion assumed different forms, and the participants included both columnists and active members of the artistic circles associated with cinema and music.

As early as in the late 1920s, researchers such as Kamieński and Dembiński noticed the vast potential of 'cinematic music' and the need to synchronize the music setting with the plot of a film. After the presentation of film music at the Music Festival in Baden-Baden (1929), an attempt was made to introduce a systematic categorization of the pioneering sound films (Stromenger).

In the 1930s, Mateusz Gliński addressed the subject of sound film several times, giving an overview of its then-current condition, and envisioning possible paths for its development, leading to the emergence of a new, synthetic form of art that would combine sound and movement. The issue of the acoustic layer of a film perceived wholistically was also discussed by other journalists (Zahorska, Fryd, Braun), filmmakers (Bohdziewicz) and composers (Rathaus). They usually identified an ideal model for such a synthesis in animated films and René Claire’s movies. According to Rathaus, the artistic vision combining image, sound and music into a visual-acoustic whole was linked to the ideal of a 'sound film from the spirit of music'.

In addition, in the reflections on sound film in Poland psychological themes were also present (e.g. Czermiński and Furmanik), and concerned the role of music in the viewer-listener's experience of the film. The most comprehensive and insightful approaches to film music were expressed by Marian Neuteich and Zofia Lissa in 1937. Both authors regarded the sound film as a synthetic form of art appealing to the visual and aural senses, and paid special attention to the functions of music with respect to image, and its relationship to other acoustic elements in a film. Lissa proposed an exhaustive systematization of the functions of the acoustic layer of a film and discussed a number of detailed issues, including the functioning of modern music in cinema. On the other hand, composers who provided music settings to Polish films (including Maklakiewicz and Laks) usually focused on the specific demands of their task and proposed that the composer take part in the film-making process from the early stages such as writing the script, a demand also supported by journalists.

 All the sources quoted above are undoubtedly valuable material for film-related musicological research, focused on such subjects as style, genre and function, 'film biographies' of Polish composers, or studies into Polish film music perceived as 'modern music'.