BBC Radio and Television have announced a season of programming dedicated to music of the big screen. ‘Sound Of Cinema’ will run across BBC Four, Radio 3, 6 Music, Radio 1, Radio 2 and the Asian Network this autumn, and explore the composers, songs and film scores that have formed an indelible part of cinema - from the birth of film to the current day.

At the heart of programming is ‘Sound Of Cinema: The Music That Made The Movies’, a three-part documentary presented by writer and composer Neil Brand, featuring such well-known directors as Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese, alongside film scores of cult and blockbuster movies. Brand’s alternative history of the big screen places the soundtrack firmly at the centre of the cinematic experience, and explores the relationship between director and composer, and soundtrack and narrative.

For its part, BBC Radio 3 features three weeks of programming, including interviews with some of today’s most successful film composers about their collaborations with leading directors: Ken Loach and George Fenton discuss their 20-year partnership, while Carter Burwell reflects on working with the Coen Brothers and James Horner discusses his partnerships with James Cameron and Ron Howard.

In addition on Radio 3, actors Terence Stamp and Sir Tom Courtenay present their music choices in ‘Saturday Classics’; the BBC’s Performing Groups play film music ‘Live in Concert’ with conductors Carl Davis, John Wilson and Robert Ziegler; and ‘Composer Of The Week’ explores British film music and Hollywood composers, including an exclusive interview with John Williams. There is also a live gothic-inspired programme from the British Film Institute on Friday 13th, during which the Tippett Quartet perform music by Hitchcock’s favourite composer Bernard Herrmann.

Outside the classical world BBC Radio 6 Music presents a five-part series featuring big names from cinema; BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra focus on collaborations between the worlds of Hip Hop and cinema; BBC Radio 2 showcases film critic Mark Kermode’s take on the story of music and film in ‘Mark Kermode: The Soundtrack Of My Life’; and the BBC Asian Network explores Bollywood film music.

‘It's so fantastic that the BBC, the biggest producer of music content, is showing how music works for films this autumn with "Sound of Cinema",’ said Neil Brand. ‘Film scores demand an extraordinary degree of both musicianship and dramatic understanding on the part of their composers. Whilst creating potent, original music to synchronise exactly with the images, composers are also making that music as discreet, accessible and communicative as possible, so that it can speak to each and every one of us. Film music demands the highest standards of its composers, the insight to 'see' what is needed and come up with something new and original.’