ABSTRACT
In many undergraduate curricula, courses such as American music, world music, and film music are offered as liberal arts electives rather than as credits toward a degree program. Students are generally enthusiastic about studying film music because many already have a personal connection through favourite films and soundtrack recordings. One of the goals of the course is to introduce students to the wide range of musical styles and aesthetic approaches used in narrative film. In May 1999, it was possible to find online a well-maintained site dedicated to film music that listed the "fifty major film scores of all time". The associative power of music can be easily demonstrated at this point through a process of "commutation"—borrowing the music of one genre film and replaying it along with the image track of another. A film such as Baz Luhrmann's 1996 Romeo and Juliet, uses the compilation technique, where songs and musical numbers by several artists impose structure onto the drama.
