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John W Waxman – Sohn des FIlmkomponisten Franz Waxman & Insider im Interview

John W. Waxmans Vater Franz Waxman (Wachsmann) war einer der bedeutendsten Hollywood-Komponisten der “Golden Era” (The Bride of Frankenstein, Rebecca, Sunset Boulevard). Im Interview betont er die Bedeutung von Max Steiner, Erich Wolfgang Korngold und Bernard Herman für die Entwicklung der Filmmusik in den USA.

„Korngold, Waxman, Rozsa, Herman formed a nucleus of composers whose musical horizons were beyond the film industry. They were interested in what else was being written in all parts of the world [...] and I think they missed very much the musical life in Europe.“
„Max Steiner virtually invented the art of film scoring [...], he could do everything. There wasn’t a film genre that he wasn’t comfortable in and you just have to look at his 300 scores to see that.“
“When asked if Max Steiner influences film composers today: Yes, but they won’t admit it.“


Question: Steiner worked all day long, all night long. He needed his orchestrators, like Hugo Friedhofer,
and his notes to him were very funny. What kind of person do you think he was?

Question: Korngold, Steiner, and Waxman – they all shared similar backgrounds, because they had to leave
their home country. They had to adapt to a totally different world. Did they help each other, did they stick to each other
so they could feel a little bit home again? How did they feel about their new home in Los Angeles,
and how did they feel about Austria or Germany or coming back?
Details from an interview with the total length of 61 min.

John W. Waxman, son of film composer Franz Waxman, talks about the composers and music of film during the Golden Era of Hollywood. He discusses the many great contributions Max Steiner made to the field of film music, the working conditions of Hollywood, and his opinions on the merits of film music. Waxman also shares his view that the twelve tone system was inaccessible and therefore film music became more important in the musical lives of Americans. In addition, Waxman, as an insider, is able to share stories about the lives and personalities of composers like Steiner, Waxman, Korngold, and Herman.

Die Fragen stellte Sandra Tomek.