The Sound of Music (and women who compose it)

Right now I'm working with a composer on original music for my short film. In the past, when people would ask me who my favorite composers are, my usual response included Philip Glass, Rogers and Hammerstein, or John Williams. However, I never named any women, or could even recall famous women composers.

According to this article on Women in Film Music "only 2.4% of the 500 top-grossing films in the USA in the past five years have been scored by female composers." There is a common misconception that women composers can not write "masculine" scores, and "that women composers tend to be meek, less bold or daring. And if they try to do so, the prejudice against them is that their efforts are seen as contrived or forced; in other words, trying to imitate boldness and not doing it naturally."

It is fascinating that even in the world of music composition for films, there is still an unspoken bias that assertiveness in music comes from one's gender, not their talent. One woman who broke out of this stereotype is Shirley Walker who wrote actions films including Turbulence and Final Destination. As far as her experience writing film scores, "Walker noted that assignments dealing with female subjects are not necessarily easier for female composers to obtain."

Determined to find a contemporary female composer I could name, I did some research and did not have to look far. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs recently composed original music for Where the Wild Things Are.



Writing about the experience, Karen O states in the article Wild Thang that she wanted the soundtrack to be "immediately familiar - like you've known the songs your entire life.I will sacrifice any formality for just the right spirit and feeling."

The composition for Where the Wild Things Are is not about Karen O's gender, but about the emotions it needs to convey in order to enhance the story of the film.



I'll keep this in mind as I work with my composer to finish the score.