Film Music at the Piano

"Film Music at the Piano fills a long-standing lacuna in music reference sources....This index provides a window into a world of music that is not readily accessible to the average library user and will be an excellent addition to any music library whose patrons have any interest in film music scores." — MUSIC REFERENCE SERVICES QUARTERLY

Film Music at the Piano is an index to film and television music that has been arranged for solo piano. It covers music from 655 film scores—from Captain Blood (1935) to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)—published in 240 anthologies and collections of music from 1940 to 2002. Printed versions of instrumental film scores can be quite difficult to find, and in many cases the arrangements cited are the only available printed manifestations of their respective scores. Virtually every major film composer is represented, including Max Steiner, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Bernard Hermann, Jerry Goldsmith, and John Williams.

The work is arranged by title (film or television program title); a list of available score excerpts follows each title, with full bibliographic citations provided. Composer names and film release dates (or dates of broadcast for television programs) are also provided. Film Music at the Piano also includes a composer index and an index by excerpt title, so that people seeking "Yoda's Theme," for example, are quickly directed to the entry for The Empire Strikes Back.

This is an invaluable aid for library patrons seeking piano arrangements of film scores and television themes for performance, scholarly purposes, or personal enjoyment. The work is designed to be of immediate practical use; every anthology and collection cited is available in a public or academic library.