On December 28, 1895, in the Grand Café on the Boulevard des Capucines, The Lumière brothers presented to the world their invention – the cinématographe. Everything was ready for the show, but one thing was confusing: the crackling from the apparatus could spoil the perception. The decision came spontaneously – to hold the session with musical accompaniment. And so "The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station"(L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat) was accompanied by a musical ensemble. Thus, the birth of film music took place on the same day as the birth of cinema. Having realised the extent of music influence on the understanding and emotional perception of films, filmmakers began to create special recommendation sheets for tappers or orchestras, consisting of popular melodies. Such a sheet contained information about musical pieces that the authors felt were suitable for certain parts of the film. There were also attempts to compose music for certain silent films (Camille Saint-Saëns and “The Murder of the Duke of Guise”, 1908; Dmitri Shostakovich and “New Babylon”, 1908).

In sound cinematography, music and visual imagery of the movie are all the more inextricably linked.

Two types of music selection can be used in cinema. Music can be created specifically for a particular film or series, or well-known musical compositions can be used. Music can be created specifically for a particular film or TV series, or it can be commonly known musical composition. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages. The main criterion for the choice of music and its use is the definite dramaturgy. The musical concept of the film is subordinate to the director's overall authorial intent.

Besides the obvious emphasis on evoking emotions, music plays another important role. Melodies can act as leitmotifs – the main themes of one or another character, activated exactly at the moment when a character, location or other important element of the film appears on camera.

Musical films came to cinema screens directly from theatre stages. The American musicals or, as they were called in the 1930s, comic operas, and French operettas are considered the basis of the genre. They had much in common, yet the operettas featured professional opera singers, while the musical featured singing dramatic actors and entertainers.

The easiest way to introduce music into a film is to have a musician or singer appear on screen. Therefore, the song in the cinema immediately took its own important place. It proved to be a wonderful means of characterising the characters in the film, the time and atmosphere of the action.

Modern cinema envisages the presence of a musical concept in a film. It is based on the use of voice-over and in-frame, motivated film music, which often becomes a way of unobtrusive, but deep and subtle penetration into the essence of human characters.

We present to your attention two lectures from the series "Cinema Music": "Lecture "The Classical period Russian cinema score". Part I and "The National cinema music", Part II. The lectures are dedicated to the roots of the Russian cinema, about little-known inventors of the early 20^th century, the avant-garde experimenters, and about the power of creative alliances of a film director and a composer that dictated the form of a film. This period evidenced the films that won the hearts of millions of viewers who stormed the cinemas in droves. On the Russian Cinema Day, it is pleasant to remember the main stages of its development or listen to music from the films that became classical.