Film Week at the N.Y. Philharmonic

Even before the advent of talkies, music has played as essential a role in film as the actors. The magic of movie music transports us through such forms as the romantic trills of a string section in a love story or the terrifying beats of unexpected percussion in a horror flick.

Fans of movies and the music in them will want to attend the New York Philharmonic's special celebration, "The Art of the Score: Film Week at the Philharmonic," from Sept. 17-21.

This special week will feature legendary music scores performed live as classic films are projected on a giant screen. Films will include those of Alfred Hitchcock and the music of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.

Another film-related program in the celebration, "A Conversation: The Mind, Music and Moving Images" with multi-Academy Award filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, will be presented by the World Science Festival. Film composer Carter Burwell and neuroscientist Aniruddh D. Patel will also participate in the conversation. Alec Baldwin will moderate. The discussion will explore the relationships between film, music, human emotion and the brain, touching on the creative process behind composition and choice of film music and how it affects the mind.

The Sept. 17 and 18 presentation, "Hitchcock!" examines the work of the master of the thriller. Among the films to be screened are VERTIGO, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, TO CATCH A THIEF and DIAL M FOR MURDER. Baldwin hosts on Sept. 17, and actor Sam Waterston takes his place the following evening.

"The Art of the Score was inspired by conversations with Alec Baldwin," said the Philharmonic's music director, Alan Gilbert. "We wanted to present film in a thoughtful, in-depth way that particularly highlighted the role of music. We hope the Philharmonic's new Film Week will help people discover more about the creative process that lies behind the choice and composition of music for film."

Baldwin noted that music has "such a powerful place in film. Sometimes the music is the best thing in the film; sometimes the music is telling you how to feel more than the visual images. We have two wonderful programs, one featuring music specifically written for film by brilliant composers like Bernard Hermann, and the other featuring classical repertoire Kubrick selected for 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. To have the full heft of the Philharmonic behind such cinematic artistry is going to be thrilling."

The Hitchcock presentation will also feature Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette," the familiar theme music from the acclaimed television series, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."

Gilbert will lead the Philharmonic on Sept. 20-21, with the Musica Sacre chorus led by its director, Kent Tritle, and Kubrick's 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY score. The film will be accompanied live in its entirety, for the first time in the United States.

The ground-breaking film is celebrated for its technological realism, Oscar-winning special effects and striking use of music including Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Strauss.

The co-presentation of the New York Philharmonic and the World Science Festival with the Coen brothers, will be held on Sept. 21, at John Jay College's Gerald W. Lynch Theater. All other presentations will take place at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center.

Tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 1 to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The box office opens at 10 a.m. Monday to Saturday, and noon on Sunday.

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