La musica oltre lo schermo e l’editoria degli anni Cinquanta

In a film narrative dimension, music plays a crucial role. What happens when film music is experienced without moving images? Which forms does it take? How are its strategies of consumption transformed? This article focuses on these processes, paying particular attention to music publishing during the 1950s. Through the examination of significant cases, I discuss the importance of paratextual elements of sheet music. I then examine the typologies of music adopted, showing the direct connections with the contemporary popular mediascape. Finally, I reflect on the processes of re-appropriation of the filmic text by the audience through the musical medium. The study of these sources sheds new light on the consolidation of an audio-visual memory of film beyond traditional cinematic domains, and on the construction of new spaces of use, oscillating between intimate domestic enjoyment and new forms of shared socialization in dance halls.