SOUNDTRACKS: MUSICAL JOURNEYS IN CINEMA
November 2002 - May 2003
Room With A View

The new exhibition that will adorn the walls of Room With a View for the next seven months will take viewers on a journey through the history of cinema as recorded by musical scores and sound tracks. The exhibition Soundtracks: Musical Journeys in Cinema has been made possible by the impressive and expansive collection of Nikos Grosdani, which contains many rare and historical pieces that reach back as far as the genesis of the soundtrack and music in film.

As the collector himself has stated:

"In the beginning there were only pictures. Black & white pictures which filled the screen. These pictures however needed the requisite atmosphere to make the action on screen more engaging, more interesting. This is how the solution of music was arrived at and was heard traditionally from a piano, in the middle of the screen, or at the side of the screen. Music did not only compliment the action but it also masked the annoying noise of the projector. These were the early heroic years of cinema. In the late 20s, cinema breaks the silence and is filled with sounds. As one of the greatest producers of Hollywood, Jack Warner, aptly said: "films are imagination and imagination needs music".

The first film bearing the title "The Jazz Singer" did not just have sound, it was flooded with music. Picture and sound were from this point on intricately and indelibly entwined. Sometimes as a simple background accompaniment, and sometimes as a separate dramatic element, but of equal importance with the picture, the art of musical scores has made huge advances in recent years. In fact, certain soundtracks outshone the films for which they were written. There are many celebrated instances where the melody or song from a scene in a film becomes so firmly planted in our consciousness and memory, that it surpasses the very film. There are many film scores that have become classic pieces of music and which we are able to listen to many times and derive great pleasure. The examples abound. This said, much music would have been lost had it not recorded on vinyl, and thereby captured for eternity. This is how the soundtrack was born...".
Nikos Grosdanis

Over 300 soundtracks will be exhibited from the opening of the 43rd International Thessaloniki Film Festival. The exhibition will run for the length of the winter film season to May 2003.