lm program rested entirely in the hands of the conductor or leader of the orchestra, and very often the principal qualification for holding such a position was not skill or taste so much as the ownership of a large personal library of musical pieces. since the conductor seldom saw the films until the night before they were to be shown(if indeed, the conductor was lucky enough to see them then), the musical arrangement was normally improvised in the greatest hurry.to help meet this difficulty, film distributing companies started the practice of publishing suggestions for musical accompaniments. in 1909, for example, the edison company began issuing with their films such indications of mood as “ pleasant”, “sad”, “lively”.

　　the suggestions became more explicit, and so emerged the musical cue sheet containing indications of mood, the titles of suitable pieces of music, and precise directions to show where one piece led into the next.certain films had music especially composed for them. the most famous of these early special scores was that composed and arranged for d.w griffith’s film birth of a nation, which was released in 1915.