ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on the advent of sound film in Italy and on the first approaches to the new audiovisual genre by Italian composers from 1930 to 1940. The music of various composers characterized the first decade of sound film in Italy and their theoretical writings about film music in major film magazines of the era are of primary importance in understanding their poetry, their theoretical approach, and the situation of film music in Italy. This is done by relating and comparing the first sound film in Italy and the most famous Hollywood productions in terms of compositional practice, early theories, and film criticism.
