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Many moviegoers-evenprofessional musicianscome out of the theatre praising the leading lady, the lavish costuming, the color photography, and the plot but are totally unaware of the music in the film. Some musicians even look down on film music as unworthy of their time and attention, just as filmmakers seldom consider the composer an essential member of the film team, bringing him or her in after the film has been completed.Music is, however, a major component of film.The author is currently working with the New York-based group Sounds out of Silent Spaces, under the sponsorship of the New York State Council for the Arts, on a project in group-improvised composition. She has taught and written about film music.This has been so ever since the so-called "silent era." There was an early realization that film, in itself a "cold" medium, needed the warmth that music alone can provide. With few exceptions, every style or technique of concert music has been used in film-including nineteenth-century romanticism, Debussyesque impressionism, jazz, electronic sound, computer music, and rock. This fact and the place of film in American culture are reasons that music educators should be familiar with the music of film. Functions of film musicHere are some of the tasks that music can accomplish in a film.(1) It can set a mood. This is probably its most obvious function. In romantic dramas, such as Now, Voyager (1942), lush melodies on the violin accompany

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