Welcome to this new episode of the podcast - the 40th! Beginning with this episode, my plan is to present a multi-part analysis into a specific cinematic genre, that being the music of science fiction through the years. The 1950's is often considered the initial Golden Age of Science Fiction, when the genre showcased its own distinctiveness onscreen and gained notoriety in part due to films such as THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951), CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955) and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956). Music from this decade's theatrical entries is where my listening journey will start, including selections composed by Bernard Herrmann, Leith Stevens, Herman Stein and Nathan Van Cleave.
Of course, this isn’t meant to be an exhaustive or definitive overview in any sense of the word, consisting instead of my own observations of how music for science fiction movies, those involving outer space, invading aliens and time travel, developed its own personality and evolved over time. With luck, my reach won't exceed my grasp and I will endeavor to produce an episode for each decade at least up until the 1990's. As a teaser, I've created a special suite of musical selections from various Sci-Fi film scores from the 50's to the 90's.
I hope that everyone who listens will enjoy the episode and kindly forgive any technical or factual gaffes. Below is the embedded player from which you can listen or simply click on the website link to head directly to where the podcast is hosted on Podbean.
