The film scores of Alois Melichar

Due to his provocative writings against Arnold Schoenberg and other proponents of 20th century’s musical avant-garde, Alois Melichar (1896–1976) has gained a reputation as one of the most controversial film composers of his time, which overshadowed the efforts in his primary calling: movie music. This concise monography encompasses Melichar’s prolific career as a composer for Austro-German cinema for the first time, tracing the chronology and the particularities of his work for film. Considering their peculiar ingraining in the media of the Third Reich and the Wirtschaftswunder, Melichar’s scores offer valuable insights into the musical techniques of emotional persuasion in cinema.