The Silver Screen Soundtrack Hour - Oscars: The 1950s

Film music sets the mood and helps elicit the emotional responses that make a good movie a great movie. Each week on CharlottesvilleClassical.org, The Silver Screen Soundtrack Hour takes a listen to music from the wide world of film scores. 

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Film music of the 1950s ran the gamut from cynical to epic. For every Ben Hur (1959), there was a Sunset Boulevard (1950). But whatever the mood, there were composers at the top of their game providing the music.

Oscar-winning composers for original scores in the 1950s included Franz Waxman, Dimitri Tiomkin, Miklos Rosza, Alfred Newman, and more, while notables like Leonard Bernstein, Max Steiner, and Elmer Bernstein were nominated but couldn’t capture the prize.

This week’s edition of The Silver Screen Soundtrack Hour samples winners and losers from the decade, with selections from High Noon, Sunset Boulevard, The Man With the Golden Arm, The Bridge on the River Kwai , and more.

Produced and hosted by Ken Nail, The Silver Screen Soundtrack Hour airs on Charlottesvilleclassical.org every Thursday at 9 AM and 6 PM, plus Saturdays at Noon. Visit our Facebook page, or contact Ken on Twitter at @ken_classical.