Film Music

Just hearing a few notes from certain songs can bring a movie back to life—whether the Doors’ “The End” from Apocalypse Now, Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” in The Graduate, or John Williams’ scores to such blockbusters as Jaws, Star Wars, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. But what is the relationship between film and music—where does the film begin and the music end?

Taking off from a variation of that question—whether music accompanies a film or a film illustrates the music—Peter Larsen ...