Film music – whether Max Steiner's groundbreaking score for King Kong in 1933 or Bernard Herrmann's brilliant four chords and five notes which went into the music for Citizen Kane – will be examined in a major BBC autumn season.
The broadcaster on Thursday announced details of programmes on BBC4 and its radio stations celebrating composers, songs and film scores that can sometimes be just as important as the images audiences are watching.
Helen Boaden, the BBC's director of radio, said there would be "an incredible breadth" of programming. "We want to give our audiences a deep understanding of what music does for film. How it works – which I think most will find fascinating – and the people involved in that relationship. And of course we want to give pleasurable programming, simple enjoyment. It is not just the things that are good for you, it is things that give you pleasure."
On BBC4, the writer and composer Neil Brand will present a three-part documentary called Sound of Cinema: The Music That Made the Movies, exploring great scores including Vangelis's music for Chariots of Fire in 1981; Martin Scorsese's decision to use 60s rock and pop in Mean Streets (1973); and what Brand said was one of the finest of all scores – John Barry's music for the 1965 thriller The Ipcress File.
Radio 3 will feature many programmes over three weeks in September including the Guardian's Tom Service exploring some of the most significant composer-director collaborators such as George Fenton and Ken Loach; and James Horner on his partnerships with James Cameron and Ron Howard.
Radio 2's contribution will be a four-part series from Mark Kermode called The Soundtrack of My Life while Radio 6 Music will include programmes in which people such as the actor Cillian Murphy and the composer David Arnold pick their favourite film moments. Jarvis Cocker will also explore the sound effects department at a UK film studio while Huey Morgan will examine Blaxploitation.
There will also be themed programmes on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra and the BBC Asian Network. Boaden said: "I honestly think that only the BBC could offer this range, this depth, this expertise and this simple delight and pleasure in music."
