In the scene, Ilsa says to Rick "There's still nobody in the world who can play 'As Time Goes By' like Sam". That is true, and from the first time I saw Casablanca I was impressed by the music and piano playing. Only now decades later have I tried to capture some of the magic in those performances of the song. Only the first part of the song is featured in the famous scene but a good part of the orchestral film score is based on it. The bridge of the song is only featured later in the Paris flash back scene.
My transcription is not note for note exact, because I wanted a piano solo and the famous Sam and Ilsa scene is an accompaniment to Sam's vocal. But from the film scenes I managed to hear much of what the pianist does in each scene. The two renditions are quite different and in different keys, neither following the composer Herman Hupleld's harmonic changes entirely. The Ilsa scene accompaniment is I think the pianist's own work, whereas the Rick scene is part of the film score, presumably under the guidance of Max Steiner the musical director. The song was part of the play on which the film is based but Steiner actually disliked it and wanted to replace the song with something of his own. How fortunate it is, that didn't happen!
FILM FACTLETS
The tiny upright piano featured in the Ilsa scene was auctioned in 2014 for $3.4m.
The upright piano in the Paris flashback scene was auctioned in 2012 for $600k.
Everyone thinks the phrase Bogart used was "Play it again Sam" but he actually says......"You know what I want to hear, you played it for her ..now play it for me....Play it!"
Dooley Wilson who played Sam and sang in the film, was a not a pianist and mimed the playing in the film. So who actually played it? Recent research (ref. Wikipedia) indicates although there were three pianists involved during the production and the actual pianist was not credited. When Dooley Wilson subsequently made a record of it with one of the other pianists.. wrongly took the credit for the film work. However the iconic playing we hear in the film is actually that of Jean Plummer a young Los Angeles studio pianist. He went on to have a successful musical career in the Army and on CBS Radio.
#casablanca #piano #pianosolo
Негізгі бет Музыка As Time Goes By (Hupfeld) : Piano solo transcription from Casablanca.
Пікірлер: 34