Jane Austen & Movie Music: A Visit with Ruth Mudge

The delicate tinkling of a pianoforte. The clash of cymbals. The soothing strains of a harp. Music in Austen film adaptations performs a variety of functions: it can set the scene, highlight a character’s personality, make us laugh, and make us sigh. In this episode music maven Ruth Mudge—cellist, instructor, performer, and music maven—joins us to discuss the soundtracks of four screen adaptations we know and love.

Ruth Mudge is a cellist, instructor and performer in the Chicago area and a faculty member at the String Academy of Chicago. She has written and collaborated on several soundtrack analysis projects, and in 2020 began teaching soundtrack classes on Zoom, ranging from Star Wars to Harry Potter to Jane Austen adaptations. She presented a breakout session "The World of Jane Austen Soundtracks" at JASNA's AGM in 2021, and produces and hosts the World of Soundtracks podcast, which provides an in-depth look at movie and TV soundtracks, exploring how stories are told through music and the ways these musical ideas carry both the narrative and emotional journey.

Many thanks to Ruth for appearing as a guest on Austen Chat!

Listen to Episode 11

Listen to the interview or read the transcript and show notes on our Episode 11 webpage, or stream the episode on your favorite podcast app. Austen Chat is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and other streaming platforms.