MUSIVISUAL LANGUAGE, Semiotics and Aesthetics of Film Music (2008 )

Does the music a language? If so, is there own unique language of film music ?

In this work, Alejandro Román suggests giving justification content and the presence of this and not so new musical language, which has been aptly termed "Musivisual Language", in a total integration of the sound elements with visual specifically. The book explores the semiotics and significant aspects of this language in relation to the elements always present in the image, to develop later, after the semiotic approach, the existence also own original aesthetics of film music that, with their strengths and weaknesses, must always raise new challenges in creating new forms of aesthetic expression abandoning stereotypes in favor of more musical originality, but never losing the justification in the image itself. To do this, the author includes many charts, summary tables, pictures, scores and examples that make it more attractive and straightforward approach to this complex and difficult subject. Through the analysis of four film music scores (" The Others" by Alejandro Amenábar, "Vertigo" by Alfred Hitchcock, "The Bridges of Madison County", Clint Eastwood, and "The Draughtsman's Contract" by Peter Greenaway) exemplified the issues, approaching the composer, scholar and amateur film music , this exciting topic.

Number of pages: 300

Size: 160x235

Stitched binding with flaps

INDETERMINACY AND MINIMALISM, POP AND AVANT-GARDE (2008 )

Aestheticization is a phenomenon present in much of the art and current thought that can be traced in the writings of philosophers from the Enlightenment to the present day. When artistic experience is such that the aesthetic components are placed with a preponderance or replace the artistic components occurs aestheticization .

  The twentieth century shows a variety of artistic movements that sought new modes of expression, including the avant negative, which found ways hitherto unexplored, bringing the art to a "desarticidad" where artistic ability was crushed by the aesthetics of thought. This also occurred in music, from the Italian Futurists to the works of John Cage and the minimalists, which were referred to many artists in pop music.

   This book discusses the origin of these musical trends and the influence they have had on the aesthetics and thought music from the second half of the twentieth century.

Number of pages: 66

Size: 150x210

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MANUEL DE FALLA AND SPANISH PHILOSOPHY (2008 )

Manuel de Falla, the most international composer in Spanish music, lived an expanding age of the Hispanic culture, the Silver Age. Falla had Adolfo Salazar as intellectual mecenas, that was a friend of the greatest Spanish philosopher of the time, Ortega y Gasset, and despite the circumstances surrounding both, Falla and Ortega never met together.

This book presents two trials that attempt to bring the figure of Falla to Ortega, and to one of his most distinguished disciples, the philosopher Jose Gaos, through their works. The first essay looks for the relation between the “Meditations on Quixote”, Ortega's first book, which presents the basis of his philosophy, and the work of Falla “El Retablo de Maese Pedro”. In the second essay deals about the thought of José Gaos, present in his “Confessions professionals” about the concepts of confession, calling, biography and creation, compared with the experience of a composer, in this case, Manuel de Falla.

In this book, Music and Philosophy are united by the same loop.

Number of pages: 100

Size: 150x210

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Number of pages: 1007

Size: 170x240

Binding paperback

REFLECTIONS ON MUSIC AND THE IMAGE, FROM THE SPANISH MUSICOLOGY (2009 ) (Co -author )

  The work is the second volume of the result of the presentations and papers of the last two editions of the 'International Symposium: Creating and soundtrack music", a biannual meeting held since 2002 at the University of Salamanca .

 "It is not a book of minutes but collects the reflections of all professionals in Spain working in visual music", according to publisher , Matilde Olarte .

  It is divided into five thematic sections :

1. " Classics" films. On the use of concert music in film.

2 . Made in Spain . Music and image in Spanish cinema

3 . From the Musical to the videogame. Borders in Soundtrack?

4 . New looks, new approaches to incidental music

Forum younger. New Reflections on music and film

Alejandro Román is the author of one of the items that make up the first block :

"Aesthetics of film music , differentiating aspects."

Number of pages: 604

Size: 150x215

Binding paperback

Number of pages: 364

Size: 160x235

Stitched binding with flaps

C.I.N.E.M.A., COMPOSITION AND RESEARCH IN THE AUDIOVISUAL MUSIC (2014)

This book testifies to the investigative work of a group of young composers with a complete theoretical, technical and musical training a learning process that culminated many years of intense study. In preparing each of the articles the authors have selected the most relevant aspects of each of their final thesis work research within the field of study “Composition for Audiovisual Media" made​in the Royal Conservatory of Music Madrid and led by composer and teacher Alejandro Román. The nine essays in this volume have addressed different aspects of music applied to films, from both points of psychological, instrumental and technical perspectives, through different uses depending on film genres, whether the "thriller", the "science fiction" film or "mystical" and even the use of existing cultivated music that bring new meaning becoming part of the movies.

The text, therefore, is a good example of the excellence of the new generations of musicians, which goes beyond the practice of music, both in its role as a compositional interpretation, in which the thinking through research will contribute in this case to the film music theory, as new insights from musical practice itself, and new perspectives to delve into the intricate understanding of the music from the music itself, understood and explained by the musicians themselves.

MUSIVISUAL ANALYSIS, a guide to audition  and study of Film Music (2017)

This text is a didactic and informative "guide" that clearly reviews the main musical and cinematographic theories and systematizes the different methodologies to confront the analysis of cinema music by studying how music and image interact according to the possible musical associations with the plastic, the spatial, the chromatic or the dramatic.

With a precise language and a solid structure, "Musivisual Analysis" is a manual organized in two parts, a theory, where it abounds in the bases on which music-image interaction is based, and another practice, where it analyzes a good number of blocks musical films through a proposal of index cards and scores related to their corresponding frames.

It does not matter if the reader is a student of audiovisual musical composition, a critic or filmmaker who needs to sharpen his analysis tools, or an amateur who wants to understand the instruments that come into play when building this "musical" phenomenon. It is to be hoped that, thanks to works as meticulous as this, composers reflect on how an image or narration works together; that critics can base their arguments on more solid bases; and that anyone who perceives an audiovisual experience has a clearer awareness of why he or she enjoys it.

Number of pages: 396

Size: 170x240

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MUSIVISUAL COMPOSITION, guide for the creation of audiovisual music (2022)

This book is an excellent guide to learn about all the aspects that surround the profession of music composer applied to audiovisuals. It aims to complete and expand the theoretical space of the most important fields of knowledge that are necessary to develop a professional musical activity in the cinema and, likewise, to serve as an aid to initiate the development of facets or aspects not usually mastered by novice composers.

The novelty that can be found in Musivisual Composition is that it has a large amount of new material and documentation that were not available a few decades ago, due to recently implemented technological changes. In addition, it deals with a large part of the most important audiovisual genres, dedicating specific sections to fiction films, documentaries, advertising, animation, television music, theater music, video art, video dance and video games.

To finish completing the range of perspectives from which to study audiovisual music, this latest volume, Musivisual Composition, puts its feet on the ground to bring the composer closer to the world of music applied to cinema from its techniques, technologies, procedures , genres and styles from the legacy left by the composers who are part of the History of Cinema.

It includes 104 figures, 20 explanatory tables, 355 films cited and 377 personalities cited (composers, directors, artists, etc.), making it a reference for composition studies for audiovisual media in conservatories and universities, as well as a manual for self-taught composers, professionals who want to recycle or complete their knowledge, and even for filmmakers who want to know some of the work processes of the musicians they work with on their films.

Number of pages: 494

Size: 170x240

Stitched binding with flaps