CfP: SCHERMI vol. 4, n. 7, 2020: The compilation soundtrack in Italian sound cinema

The compilation soundtrack in Italian sound cinema
guest-edited by Maurizio Corbella

Constructing a soundtrack by compiling tendentially pre-existing music pieces is a practice that dates back to the origins of cinema. Throughout the silent era, it marked «the internationally consolidated standard for creating a film score» (Targa, 2009: 679); with the transition to technically synchronized sound, the compilation score only apparently faded, without completely disappearing, until it was revived in the 60’s and 70’s and going strong to this day (Hubbert, 2013).

Pre-existing music in cinema has been covered considerably as a scholarly subject (for general approaches, see Powrie – Stillwell, 2006; Godsall, 2018), and yet a shift of emphasis towards the compilation soundtrack enables one to frame such literature within a different methodological angle: besides focusing on the semantic chains and dramatic strategies triggered by the uses of preexisting music in film, one can address “compiling” as an aesthetic-procedural act, which is deeply intertwined with the changing historical, economic, production and cultural conditions of film and music making, in tight correlation with the record industry.

Plenty of studies on silent cinema have shed light on the centrality of compiling practices both internationally (Altman, 2001; Brown – Davison, 2013; Goldmark, 2013; Marks, 1997; Spring, 2013) and in Italy (Facci – Mosconi, 2016; Sala, 2014; 2017; Targa, 2009). With respect to sound cinema, a wealth of scholarly approaches variously re-qualifying the compilation soundtrack in the Anglo-American milieu (Ashby, 2013; Davison, 2004; Denisoff, 1998; Dickinson, 2001; Dyer, 2012; Hubbert, 2003; 2013; James, 2016; Joe, 2016; Kalinak, 1992; 2010; Rodman, 2006; Smith, 2013; Tompkins, 2009) has been complemented by a more fragmented, yet undoubtedly growing interest in Italy for subjects that presuppose the notion of the compilation soundtrack, without directly addressing it. This includes: the analysis of compiling practices in auteur cinema, e.g. in Fellini (Sala, 2010; 2018), Pasolini (Calabretto, 1999), Visconti (Calabretto, 2001), or Moretti (Cecchi, 2018); approaches to musical genres in film, e.g. song (Buzzi, 2013; Dyer, 2013; Mosconi, 2017) and opera (Giuggioli, 2015); or to music in film genres, e.g. the film-canzone (Di Chiara, 2014), neorealist film (Pitassio, 2014), melodrama (Bayman, 2013; Romani, 2015), the musicarello (Arcagni, 2006, Bisoni, 2005; Bratus, 2015; Gianneri, 2011) and the cinepanettone (O’Leary, 2013).

In keeping with the essential differences between the compilation score of the silent era and the compilation soundtrack of the sound era (one thing is to recompose/rearrange music pieces in a flowing musical discourse, another is to assemble recorded tracks within widely variable rationales), it is not difficult to notice analogies between the two, as well as intermediate configurations. For instance, composers (even famous ones) who worked both as music consultants and as arrangers for films are frequent in (Italian) sound cinema. The notion of compilation, broadly intended, can to a certain extent be even intended to subsume the notion of composition. On the whole, both notions underwent remarkable changes throughout the decades, as they touched upon the transformative, technological and pragmatic milieu of cinema, to the point that at times they may be difficult to distinguish: notably, some sound design, collage, editing, sampling and DJing practices further undercut rigid distinctions between composing and compiling. In studying film music history, compilation can hence be understood in a dialectic, yet not ideologically subdued relationship with composition, which has traditionally received «the lion’s share of attention» (Hubbert, 2013: 291) in film music criticism. Composing original music and compiling pre-existing music can ultimately engender respective identification process in the audience, according to Kassabian’s (2001) distinction between assimilating and affiliating identifications.

Applying the category of compilation soundtrack to the Italian context raises some issues, concerning among others: the periodization; the interweaving of economical, cross-promotional, production and fruition patterns between film, record and radio-television industries; and the peculiar connotations of “auteur” and “public” in the Italian cultural context.

This special issue of Schermi invites proposals for original articles (e.g. case studies, historicalcultural investigations, theoretical-methodological approaches) that tackle the framework above and may include other related questions:

• Are there similarities or discrepancies in the periodization of the compilation soundtrack between the Anglo-American (see Hubbert, 2013) and the Italian context?
• Conceding that song is a pervasive presence in Italian cinema (Dyer, 2013), is it possible that compiling practices followed trajectories that differed from widespread international trends?
• How do the compilation soundtrack and its correlate products (singles, soundtrack albums, music videos, etc.) draw on intertwining patterns between media (cinema, television, records, radio) in specific historical phases?
• How do different professional figures (composer, director, editor, sound designer, producer, etc.) collaborate in producing compilation soundtracks in Italy?
• Do compilations soundtracks provide us with useful indications to trace authorial aesthetics, generational approaches, genre logics, and consumptions patterns, especially (but not exclusively) in the lesser studied epochs of Italian cinema (e.g. after the 80’s)?
• Is it possible to identify reciprocal influences between musical and film genres in the Italian scene?
• How has the historical-critical discourse configured a dialectic between musical composition and compilation and which consequences did this entail?

Abstract proposals (max. 300 words, in Italian or English, including essential references) must be submitted by August 15, 2019 to maurizio.corbella@unimi.it (subject: CFP Schermi 4/7 2020). Notifications of acceptance will be communicated by August 31. The finished articles – between 30,000 and 35,000 characters (spaces and notes included, end references excluded), together with a short abstract (100 words) and 5 keywords in English – are due by November 15 and will undergo double-blind peer review.