Music by André Previn for the Film by Richard Brooks “Elmer Gantry” (1960) as a Semantic Factor

Abstract

The object of the research in the article is the music of the American composer A. Previn for the film by R. Brooks “Elmer Gantry” (1960) based on the novel by S. Lewis. A special feature of the soundtrack is its stylistic multicomponence. Three stylistic layers — Christian hymn, jazz and author’s (academic) music — contribute to the identification of the semantic subtexts of the film: the struggle between feeling and duty in Sharon Falconer, the struggle between revenge and love in Lulu, and the hypocrisy of Gantry. The duality that characterizes all the key characters of the film is reflected in the stylistic modulations within one soundtrack and in the transformations of the expressive character of the leitmotifs assigned to the female characters. The technique of “meaning generation through genre” also acquires an important role.

Keywords

André Previn, Richard Brooks, Sinclair Lewis, “Elmer Gantry”, film music, soundtrack, meaning generation through genre