NEW YORK–Scottsboro: An American Tragedy is the story of nine African-American teenaged boys accused of rape by two white women in 1930s Alabama. Edward Bilous, a Juilliard School, New York, educated composer (and Juilliard faculty member) composed the score for the Oscar-nominated film, and discussed the process with SHOOT.
Bilous is a co-founder/composer at 15-year-old Bilous-DiBucci Music, New York, as well. Of late, he has concentrated on composing music for features including Naked Man and Mickey Blue Eyes, though he is currently composing the music for a package of spots for AT&T via Young & Rubicam, New York. Bilous was a musical consultant to the Philadelphia Orchestra for its video and Web-based educational program, Music from the Inside Out. It was while working on that project in the summer of ’99 that he met Scottsboro director Daniel Anker; Barak Goodman is billed as co-director on the film.
Bilous and Anker hit it off, and in mid-November ’99 Anker asked Bilous to compose the documentary’s score—with the proviso that it be completed in about three months. But two weeks later, as Bilous told SHOOT, "The directors called me up and said, ‘Scottsboro was accepted at Sundance, and we want to submit the film with original music. Can you write a score in three weeks?’ " Bilous was game, so, he recalled, "For the next three weeks all I did was work on this film." Scottsboro did go with original music to the Sundance Film Festival in January ’00, and was nominated for the festival’s grand jury prize.
Bilous has written a mournful, beautiful score that, surprisingly, does not refer to the film’s subject matter. This was deliberate, he said. "We [he, Anker and Goodman] made a conscious decision not to make the score sound ‘Southern’ or ‘folksy,’ " recounted Bilous. "This film was about some universal, human issues, and I decided to write a score that addressed the issues rather than specifics related to race or gender or geography. So there’s no harmonica or banjo; there’s nothing in the score that says, ‘This is a film about poor Southern men.’ But you do hear a wide range of dark, emotional responses. That’s why the score worked so well and attracted so much attention—it goes beyond the obvious."
Describing his composing process, Bilous explained: "After I watch the film and am familiar with the subject, I sit with my eyes closed and try to hear the score in my head. After I think I hear a sound that would be appropriate for a character or a mood, I’ll take out a piece of music paper and write it down. I don’t go to the piano or the computer, because I don’t want to taint what I hear in my head with the imperfections of electronic instruments." This is followed by a rhythmic component: "Step two is pacing. When I start walking, I usually feel the rhythms of the piece."
Rhythm is important to Bilous, who cites not only other composers, but percussionists from around the world as musical influences. "European and American musicians are trained to count beats and divide them into smaller units," he observed. "A West African drummer or a North Indian tabla musician thinks about the smallest units first, and then builds [beats] into larger collections. Consequently, the music has an urgency that Western musicians find very difficult to recreate." Bilous studied the drums, and his efforts "have affected even my violin writing." His attention to cadence is apparent in Scottsboro, where "There are two pianos and several mallet percussion instruments—marimbas, xylophones, vibraphones. The percussion ensemble is mixed with the sounds of a symphony orchestra, so it has the kind of drive and motor rhythm of a sophisticated percussion ensemble, and the depth and richness that can only come from a professional symphony orchestra."
When he was ready to record the hour-long score, Bilous enlisted the Prague Film Orchestra. While this coincided with his desire to avoid regional references in the music, the composer’s reasons were practical as well as aesthetic: "Studio time is very inexpensive there," Bilous reported. Though "some of the best musicians in the world live in New York City, there are very few rooms for [large ensembles]. And these rooms are expensive and they’re not state-of-the-art. Anytime I really have to get a large ensemble together, I do my best to get out of town." Another benefit of working with players outside of cities like New York is that the musicians tend to work together regularly. Oftentimes, "What you get in New York is essentially a pick-up orchestra: You call a contractor who hires twelve or twenty strings."
Regarding spots, Bilous acknowledged that because he’s been "less about trend than about emotional content," his advertising assignments don’t usually consist of "cutting-edge stuff." However, he noted, "the kind of thing I do never goes out of style." Currently, Bilous has several projects in the works, including scores for films and television programs. Two pieces—one of which will debut at New York City’s Lincoln Center, and another for the Philadelphia Choral Society—will premiere this October and in February ’02, respectively. Bilous is also preparing an album of his own music, and he is reaping the benefits of the response to the Scottsboro score: "I was so surprised at how the score to a documentary film can make such an impact. It’s really opened up lots of opportunities." Scottsboro: An American Tragedy was shown on local PBS affiliates as part of the series The American Experience, and copies of the video tape can be purchased through the network.
Bilous-DiBucci Music consists of Bilous, composer/co-founder Michelle DiBucci, composer/head of production Greg Kalember and sound designer Pawel Sek. The company is handled nationally by in-house sales rep Dorothy Greenberg.
