Oct 4, 2026 · 1 hr 25 min · 15 segments
Who knew that Camille Saint-Saens of 'Carnival of the Animals' fame wrote the world's first film score? Or that the Pulitzer Prize for music has been given to only one work for the screen. Or that…
In the early 1900s, some stage productions were starting to blend live performers with magic lantern slides and projected film, all accompanied by live music.
Ordinary films, too, usually had a pianist playing along, though with music borrowed from somewhere else.
The first time music was written specifically for a standalone film was in 1908 for a 15-minute French production, The Assassination of the Duke de Guise.
It was made by a new company called Film d'Art, set up to bring the prestige of the theater to the cinema, and the film was directed by Charles Le Bargy and André Calmettes of the Comédie-Française.
And not surprisingly for a venture determined to bring some class to the fledgling medium of film, they sought the assistance of France's most celebrated living composer, Camille Saint-Saëns.
Now, considering the subject matter of the film is a grisly episode of French history when King Henry III murdered his rival, the Duke de Guise, in 1588, about a third of the way in, the music becomes a little jaunty, which I think might be the entrance of the unsuspecting duke.
The Assassination of the Duke de Guise by Camille Saint-Saëns, performed by Ensemble Musique Oblique.
That was the opening section of the first film score ever written, composed for the 1908 film The Assassination of the Duke de Guise and composed by Camille Saint-Saëns.
In the early 1900s, some stage productions were starting to blend live performers with magic lantern slides and projected film, all accompanied by live music.
Ordinary films, too, usually had a pianist playing along, though with music borrowed from somewhere else.
The first time music was written specifically for a standalone film was in 1908 for a 15-minute French production, The Assassination of the Duke de Guise.
It was made by a new company called Film d'Art, set up to bring the prestige of the theater to the cinema, and the film was directed by Charles Le Bargy and André Calmettes of the Comédie-Française.
And not surprisingly for a venture determined to bring some class to the fledgling medium of film, they sought the assistance of France's most celebrated living composer, Camille Saint-Saëns.
Now, considering the subject matter of the film is a grisly episode of French history when King Henry III murdered his rival, the Duke de Guise, in 1588, about a third of the way in, the music becomes a little jaunty, which I think might be the entrance of the unsuspecting duke.
The Assassination of the Duke de Guise by Camille Saint-Saëns, performed by Ensemble Musique Oblique.
That was the opening section of the first film score ever written, composed for the 1908 film The Assassination of the Duke de Guise and composed by Camille Saint-Saëns.
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