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Film Musings: A Selected Anthology from Fanfare Magazine.

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Film Musings: A Selected Anthology from Fanfare Magazine. By Royal S. Brown. Lanham: MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007. [viii, 414 p. ISBN-10: 0-8108-5856-8; ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5856-5. $45.] References, indexes.

As a long-time reader of Fanfare, I was saddened when Royal S. Brown announced that he would cease contributing to the bimonthly magazine in 2001. Brown's column "Film Musings" was always the first to which I faithfully turned when each new issue arrived in the mail. Here was a perceptive writer of not just concert music (for which he provided many reviews over the years) but also music used in film; a writer whose style was accessible and yet at the same time brimmed with intellectual substance. What I particularly appreciated in Brown's columns was his no-nonsense, call-them-as-I-hear-'em approach to his reviews. For instance, like many reviewers, he had his likes (Erich Korngold and Bernard Herrmann, to name two) and dislikes (James Horner frequented his columns). However, what set Brown apart from most other writers was a profound understanding of the subject, which provided him with the acumen to go on (at times) at length about why he had the opinions he did. As we all know, it is...

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