sovay | If you look back now, night never turns to day

The riff from Mad Love (1935) which I mentioned and which is often stuck in my head turns out to be something of a mystery. It is identified in the film as the modern composition of its up-and-coming pianist and heard twice at a semi-spectral remove, once in the radio broadcast of the concert which soundtracks his wife's confrontation with a fatefully obsessed fan, once in a recording briefly and heartbreakingly mistaken for her husband recovering his prowess at the piano after the accident that replaced his hands. It has a sort of post-Gershwin orchestral jazz sound; partly because it is attributed to the fictional character and partly because the rest of his overheard repertoire is recognizably Chopin, I assumed it had been written by Dmitri Tiomkin who is credited with the musical score. According to Tiomkin's cue sheet for the movie, it is an excerpt from something called "The Skyscraper" by "St. John." Trying to discover any further information about this piece or its composer has failed amid a welter of algorithmically unhelpful search results. (I did find a Clarence Hoard St. John who seems to have composed primarily ragtime, which I enjoyed listening to.) It sounds from the title and the listing of the composer as the rights holder as though it existed prior to the production of the film, but then again David Snell who spent his entire career under contract to MGM is indicated to retain the rights to his improvised contributions to the score, so perhaps St. John was in a similar position and "The Skyscraper" is only the name of the piece when it's played by Stephen Orlac. Any thoughts even on where to look for a reliable lead on solving any of these questions would be appreciated. The fragments are notably catchy and I'd like to hear the rest of it sometime. I imagine this article would help if I could read it. [edit] It did not, but

theseatheseatheopensea did!

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'm definitely intrigued about her now!

Yes! Per the announcement of her marriage in 1932: "Mr Redlich at present is writing a play, for which his bride is composing the musical scores." I wonder if it was produced. I am so interested by the fact of her composing in the decades she did, even under a pseudonym.

I wonder if it was produced.

I hope so! I only found information about plays he copyrighted earlier.

I also found this--apparently she also used the pseudonym Ann St. John? And here's one of her stories (with some info about her)!

I also found this--apparently she also used the pseudonym Ann St. John?

I saw that on her gravestone. I'm not sure how to take the co-authorship claim on the fiction. I've read novels co-written by couples (Frances and Richard Lockridge, Dick Francis), but The Westgate Mystery (1941) seems to be the only novel published under the Darby St. John name—it was reviewed on release as "a notable first detective story by a new author who will, we trust, be heard from again"—and when it was used to copyright film music, it can only have referred to the composer in the family. I suppose it's conceivable she/they could have used other pseudonyms not yet linked up with Elizabeth Bateson, but. I'm a lot more willing to accept it in the case of the play attributed to Darby St. John, knowing the husband's line.

And here's one of her stories (with some info about her)!

"Later in Hollywood sold some music for pictures."

I would have loved to hear her symphonies, as many of them as she numbered.

Edited 2024-07-06 07:32 (UTC)