King Kong

An In Depth Analysis

of Max Steiner's score in context of the film

by Julie Olson

Maximillan Raoul Walter Steiner was born in Vienna on May 10, 1888 to an extremely musical family. His grandfather was the famous impresario of the Theater an der Wien, the city's leading exhibitor for operetta productions. His father later sustained this tradition and at one time operated five of the most famous theaters in Vienna.

Max Steiner was trained in Vienna as a classical composer. He attended the Vienna School of Technology and received his formal music education at the Imperial Academy of Music. He finished the comprehensive course in only one year, winning a gold medal for his accomplishment. Throughout this time, he studied with Robert Fuchs, Felix Weingartner and Gustav Mahler. By the age of 14 he had written the music and lyrics for an opera "The Beautiful Greek Girl," which he conducted for a year as it played in Vienna. It was to be a twist of fate that took him into films. He was already an acclaimed composer at such a young age and came to work in London as a conductor just prior to the outbreak of World War I. He was branded an enemy foreigner there, but succeeded in getting exit papers, not for Austria, but for the United States where he arrived with hardly any money in 1914.

Steiner took whatever jobs he could find; as a concert pianist, conducting, arranging, but mainly orchestrating the music of other very popular composers. Many depended on immigrant, classically-trained, European composers to assume this task, a fact the general public never understood. Steiner was one of those wonderful musicians who, through his own talents, made others all the more famous. Among the composers for whom he worked were Florenz Ziegfeld, Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern and George Gershwin.

After the beginning of sound in motion pictures, Hollywood turned to musicals and immediately lured many top people working in that field from New York. Steiner had orchestrated the stage presentation of Rio Rita, and when this Harry Tierney score was selected to be an RKO picture, Tierney asked the studio to hire Steiner. However, at that point, background music was not considered to be nearly as important as the film itself. But things were to change, and in 1933 he composed the music for the blockbuster film, King Kong, and it developed into such an important part of the conception of suspense of that film, that Steiner at last became recognized within the industry.

He was able to compose scores at an amazing rate, and in 1936 went "on loan" to Warner Brothers where he stayed for almost 30 years, writing over 150 scores including Dodge City, Casablanca, The Glass Menagerie, and The Searchers. Throughout this time, he became so busy that he ended up using others to complete the orchestration.

By his own preference, Steiner hardly ever read scripts, choosing to wait until the film was exhaustively edited before he was exposed to it. Following two screenings, while his music editor was breaking down the sequences into timed footage, minutes and seconds; Steiner went through a period where he created themes in his mind. After a few days he would sit down and begin to work at the piano in his home - continually committing to a stopwatch. He was a staunch supporter of exact synchronization with the action on screen and had a remarkable knack of "catching things" musically. He also was influenced in his orchestration by the orchestrally colorful late 19th and early 20th century German Romantic (through orchestration and use of dissonance) idioms, and from that tradition, and his own intrinsic characteristics, produced music that was fervid, passionate and richly melodic.

When working on a score, Steiner would write an entire orchestral sketch on four staves. It was not only discreetly explicated, but main melodic lines were marked in different colored pencils. His music was grounded in a thick harmonic background, with the melody and, at times, as many as three auxiliary lines moving through it. His orchestrators would then work from these explicit sketches.

Steiner once told writer Tony Thomas:
"The hardest thing in scoring is to know when to start and when to stop - the location of your music. Music can slow up an action that should not be slowed up and quicken a scene that shouldn't be. Knowing the difference is what makes a film composer. I've always tried to subordinate myself to the picture… Some composers get carried away with their own skill… If you get too decorative, you lose your appeal to the emotions. My theory is that music should be felt rather than heard. They always used to say that a good score was one you didn't notice; and I always asked, 'What good is it if you don't notice it?'"

It was the laborious work of composing scores that evidently destroyed his eyesight which began to fail him in his seventies, yet even with this obstacle and terminal cancer, he was composing almost to the end of his life at the age of 83. Composer David Raskin stated, at Steiner's eulogy at his funeral on December 30, 1971:
"Max was a man who understood and dealt with his metier as few men have… he turned out a body of work which attains a level of lyricism, of beauty, of wit, of grandeur, of versatility that has made his name famous the world over."

The animation of the mammoth gorilla, which terrorizes New York, may now look unsophisticated, but in 1933 it was a revelation. To have as its star the gorgeous Fay Wray was the additional charm. The scene where she is clasped in his huge hand as he ascends the Empire State Building terrified its audience. Yet it was through Steiner's music that the audience feels pity for this miserable animal. Sound recording was still in its early days and Steiner worked with an orchestra comprised of around forty musicians. The confined dynamic range of the sound would have been no larger had a much larger orchestra been engaged. They were packed into a very small studio, and to defeat the imperfections, John Morgan, who has recreated the score for the recording put out by the Moscow Symphony, believes that Steiner had an orchestration - for example the involvement of saxophones - to produce the woodwind sound he wanted as without them the woodwinds would have sounded too weak in the completed soundtrack.

Turning our attention to Steiner's compositional skills used in King Kong, we first look to his use of leitmotive. Steiner does not rely on this tactic as much as fellow countryman, Erich Korngold, however, whenever Kong makes an appearance on the screen, there is a motive present - a theme of three descending chords. The mood is grim and dangerous, just as the vicious beast himself is portrayed. Beyond this single theme, there is no other motive that is strictly associated with any other character. The three chords, however, in Kong's theme give way to other compositional devices that will be discussed later. As for analyzing the motive itself, it is large and grotesque, just like the beast it portrays. As Kong makes his initial appearance in the film while still on his island home, his motive rides angrily over a furry of woodwind runs. Dashed with suspended cymbal that heightens the tension, the low brass shout this motive, which is in itself, rather dissonant. The three notes are highly chromatic, not belonging to any particular key center. The motive appears throughout the score very effectively at Kong's entrance in each scene he is in.

The island natives also have a theme that accompanies them and their action on screen. It is difficult to call this theme a leitmotif, however, because of its length and variability. The first time the audience hears the theme, it explodes out of the drums as the party first arrives on the island. When the camera moves to the ceremony in progress, Steiner's music explodes into action from the underlying drums to a frenzy of activity. The trumpets take on a new character as the upper woodwinds trill high above them and the low brass echoes the descending line of the trumpets. The descending line invokes a feeling of primitive chaos mixed with the frantic trills of the upper woodwinds. This chaotic sweep grows in intensity the second time the theme is heard - when the islanders are sacrificing Ann to Kong. The tempo is livelier and more dissonance is present in the music. This theme dictates how we as the audience are supposed to view the islanders. Words such as savage, wild, and barbaric come to mind the instant the theme begins, even though the camera is still a good distance away from the action on the screen.

Steiner knew how to work harsh dissonances throughout the score. The most prominent periods of dissonance come during action sequences in the film. For example, when Kong first appears to take Ann, under the three-note motive, we hear harsh woodwind and percussion sounds that collide with each other. The woodwind line moves so rapidly that it becomes a color blending into the tapestry rather than a separate being, however the sharp dissonances and extremely high range draw attention to it amidst the fury. We also hear a sort of rhythmic dissonance from the percussion section. No longer is the beat steady and throbbing as when the natives where chanting, but rather cymbals and hard drums create a feeling of panic seen on young Ann's face as the hideous beast approaches. Another spot in the score where dissonance overrules the musical picture is in the scene on the island where the sea monster attacks Jack and his men as they cross the river. Again, this discord gives the audience a panic and makes the monster seem all the more terrifying.

Coming from Vienna and being classically trained, Steiner knew how to orchestrate, as he had already proven in New York. His work on this film only further displays his mastery of this craft. He used his orchestrations to create a mood and define characters. For example, Kong's three-note motive is most often heard in the low brass with stinging articulation. The percussion used throughout the score is also quite ingenious. Steiner sets up a chant that incessantly prevails under all musical thoughts while the island natives are present. Near the beginning of the film, when the fog begins to roll in on the ship, we begin to hear this rhythm from the percussion. This, along with its mysteriously sounding accompaniment, not only sets the mood of the cryptic island, but also hints that the island is near. When Jack and Ann are talking on the ship after the group's encounter with the natives, the percussion is still present under the love theme. This, perhaps foreshadows Ann's kidnapping, or most definitely reminds the audience that danger is still near.

Before the sea monster attacks the small group on their raft, a harp is heard. Just as the "fog" music did before, this really sets the stage for ensuing danger and mystery. After Kong battles man and beast for Ann and only Jack is left alive, Jack begins to follow Ann and Kong at a close distance. When the camera is on Kong, the low brass plays. When the camera is on Jack, a solo clarinet plays. This further displays the contrast between the two characters, here focusing on their size. Big Kong is accompanied by slow, bombastic, low brass, and a small, quaint clarinet accompanies Jack.

Trumpets and low brass shout Kong's return as he enters the village to "rescue" Ann. A panic grows from the remaining members of the party and from the terrified islanders. When Carl Denham shoots Kong with gas, the music turns to a mood of desperation. Kong struggles to stay upright through the gas to return to Ann and as he gropes his way through the trees, the music slows and becomes more dramatic. At this point, one begins to feel sympathy towards the great beast who has simply been overcome by Ann's beauty.

When the remaining members of the party return to New York City with their captured prize, a rush of 1920's Broadway style is heard. Hundreds flock to see the Eighth Wonder of the World, and the music displays the hustle and bustle of the town perfectly. The audience has this in their ears, and when Kong escapes, the New York music is clashed against the low brass and percussion that was present on the island.

When Kong escapes he takes Ann to the Empire State Building. The music depicts a sick, triumphant tone, and some of the sympathy once felt for Kong is put to rest. After being shot several times by the air raid sent to destroy him, he lovingly places Ann in a safe place atop the skyscraper. Where there was no music during the air attack, it now begins to blossom as a love theme. The sympathy returns for Kong, and one can see the love in his eyes for Ann as he looks at her one last time before plummeting to his death. The idea of "Beauty and the Beast" is completed in this last warm cue as beauty is what finally killed the great beast.

Perhaps Steiner's greatest skill was using music to capture or enhance a particular moment in the film. Throughout King Kong, the musical accompaniment can become so specific to the action in the film that it almost becomes the film, drawing on one aspect of what is going on on the screen. The leitmotif techniques already discussed as well as the mood-setting orchestration are amplified by small musical nuances caught on film. For example, when the island chief walks down the stairs off his throne to talk to the party, his footsteps are synchronized perfectly with the basses that play a heavy note with each step. This, besides exactly linking the music to the film, subconsciously shows the weight that the chief has with his people. He is a large man, and his heavy footsteps with the music show that he holds a great deal of power. (This power is significantly diminished, however, when Kong's theme enters, much larger than his).

There is also a sequence when, after the fight with the Tyrannosaurs Rex, Jack is running after Kong and Ann. His light, fast music accompanies him as he runs, and when he stops to turn around, the music also stops. Then, when he begins running again, the music also begins. When I observed this, it reminded me of a silly cartoon. Jack, small as he is, running after this gigantic beast is, itself, rather silly. This musical pause augments the fact even more. Steiner even draws on characteristics of the monsters on the island. When Kong and Ann enter the large cavern and encounter the giant snake, we hear a chromatic line that repeats. The slithering snake is personified perfectly through this line.

Other specific cues that Steiner augmented through his music occurred in New York. When Kong sees the approaching train on his way to take Ann to the Empire State Building, Steiner turns on the train sound effects in his score. An underlying "ch-ch-ch-ch" is heard with occasional train whistles from the various instruments.

When Kong ascends up the Empire State Building, an ascending chromatic line is heard. This use of chromatics is different than the snake's small cue from the island cavern. The feeling this time around is not of a slithering creature sneaking up on Kong, but rather Kong himself in desperation trying to keep Ann all to himself. He reverts to his old tactics of climbing to the tallest height to protect his love. Steiner, therefore, reverts back to the chromatic scale, which ironically was heard just before Kong climbed the mountain with Ann back on the island. I don't believe that Steiner had this in mind, however, and used the ascending line to further enhance Kong's long climb to the top of the Empire State Building.

As stated earlier, Steiner had a great way of capturing things, musically, in the film. Through all of these devices that enhanced and accompanied the action in the film, Steiner allows the audience to be drawn into the panic on the island, the action sequences where Kong fights for his love, and the savage love story itself between Kong and Ann. He accomplished this so well by knowing how to orchestrate effectively, how to use dissonances without the score becoming unfriendly and distracting, and how to synchronize, with the help of the always-present stopwatch, the action and music. Because of all this, Steiner remains to this day, one of the great film composers of all time.
Julie Olson is a Bachelor of Music Composition and Music Education Double Major at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire.