Modern Times

Charlie Chaplin, one of film historys greatest original geniuses, was also a gifted inventor of melodies and the meticulous musical dramaturge of his films, a fact known by too few. After writing the music for City Lights (1930) he caught the film music bug, going on to compose the music for all his other films. The complex, innovative music for Modern Times (1935), here premiered complete, represents the high point of his compositional career. Although relying on David Raksin for notation and orchestration, almost every measure of the score contains the unmistakable traits of its author.