A musical Polinalysis part 2
So I spent hours yesterday writing an analysis on the music we hear when Colin and Penelope first kiss, only to realize a couple hours later that...the kiss isn't the first time we hear that theme!! So of course I had to keep writing about it, because I just think this is so cool...
Alright, check this out... The very first time we hear the theme is the very first time Penelope sees Colin at the beginning of the season. We've just seen Colin flirting with that gaggle of ladies; he approaches his family, and as soon as Pen catches sight of him, we hear this:
But wait. I'm going to back up a sec, because in my last post, I said this was Polin's theme:
Pretty different, huh? So what's going on here?
Well, in the first transcription above, I have us in G Major, starting our theme with the familiar intervals of the fifth note of the key going up to the tonic, or first, note of the key, and then up to the second note (in this case, from D to G to A) and so on for the next few notes. Everything sounds normal here except that we're in a different key (G Major for the first sound clip, D-flat Major for the second one).
But then what happens halfway through with all those # marks? These accidentals are called sharps, and they indicate chromaticisms in the key, or notes that don't naturally occur in the key that we're in. Another way to write this so that the notes do naturally occur in the key (it sounds the same as the first transcription above, it's just expressed with a different key signature) is this...
The part I've circled in red indicates a key change. At the beginning, we're in G Major. Halfway through, we move into g minor. These keys are related in that their scales start on the same note—the tonic of both keys is the note G. However, the scales themselves do not sound the same—these keys do not contain the same notes. Here is a G Major scale:
And here is a g minor scale:
Notice that the g minor scale sounds a little darker, spookier, maybe more intense. This is the typical quality of minor scales in general—they tend to have a sadder sound.
So, okay, that was a lot of music theory, but what does this all mean for our Polin theme? I think it's so compelling that the first time we hear this theme, we have a key change halfway through from major to minor—from a relatively bright, happy sound to a more intense, morose sound. This is the first time we see Colin and Penelope occupying the same space this season, the first time Penelope sees Colin after his return (and it's honestly unclear to me whether Colin sees Penelope, as well...he looks in her direction but doesn't seem to recognize that she's there?). And the first statement we get of the music that is going to represent them throughout the next few episodes has a dramatic twist halfway through! Much like their relationship? Much like season 3 itself?? I think this speaks of conflict and intrigue to come—for these first four episodes and the season overall.
But that's not all! At the end of this episode, we have Colin and Penelope making their arrangement for Colin to help Penelope find a husband. And as they shake hands and share meaningful looks, just before Lady Whistledown's narration starts the close-out of the episode, this is what plays in the background:
Unlike the very first statement of the theme, this one does not start in a major key and then modulate to a minor key—it is fully minor from the beginning (the key of f-sharp minor is my guess).
Knowing what we know about minor keys having a sadder, more intense sound, this statement of the theme is clearly meant to convey conflict. There are two big conflicts being set up in this moment between Colin and Penelope: 1) the arc for the first half of the season, of Colin trying to help Penelope find a husband and oops falling in love with her instead, and 2) the arc that we'll be seeing in the second half of the season, of Penelope's secret identity and what that means for her and Colin's relationship. The music is telling us, as Colin and Penelope grasp hands, that we need to be wary.
There is one more iteration of this theme that I want to talk about, and it occurs during the scene when Penelope meets Colin at Bridgerton house for one of their lessons (the scene that is infamous for Colin putting his hand on Pen's back Colin what are you doiiiiiing we are so scandalized!! *gasp*).
The moment Colin greets Penelope in the entryway, we hear this very softly in the background:
This abbreviated theme repeats several time throughout the above scene, and it builds as it's repeated. First there's a couple measures of the theme, then a couple measures without, then the theme is stated again, followed by another couple measures without, and then we get three statements of the theme one right after another in different instruments, until Colin and Penelope make it to the drawing room.
In sharp contrast to the intense, doomsday-foretelling version of the theme we got at the end of ep1, this version is light and playful. We're back in a major key—and in fact, we seem to be in A Major, which is the relative major of f-sharp minor (the key we were in at the end of ep1). That is to say, f-sharp minor and A Major share a key signature—they contain the same notes—but since the A Major scale starts on an A rather than an F-sharp, it has a brighter, cheerier sound.
So here's what I think is happening with all this musical storytelling. In the beginning of the first episode, we get our first statement of Polin's theme, starting in a pleasant major key sound and turning sharply into a darker minor key sound halfway through. This foreshadows Polin's narrative arc, and the idea of more drama to come in the second half of the season, just as Colin and Penelope think they've found their happiness.
Then at the end of the first episode, we get a statement of Polin's theme entirely in a minor key—a callback to the second half of the first instance of their theme at the beginning of the episode, and another moment of foreshadowing which sets us up for the main conflicts we will see this season and in Polin's relationship. Episode one is all about setting the stage for the rest of what's to come.
Then at the beginning of ep2, when we hear the theme again, it's like we're being oriented back towards the first half of the iteration that we heard at the beginning of ep1. It's saying, "Okay, the music in ep1 told you to expect both joy and danger, and now here we are at the joy part." We're having fun right now. The romantic tension is still fairly breezy at this point. We haven't yet gotten into the gut-wrenching angst of watching the best friend we accidentally fell in love with about to get engaged to another man.
At the same time, the build-up of the theme the way we hear it in the scene at Bridgerton house—the way we get multiple statements of only the first couple measures—also creates some tension. The theme keeps getting cut off partway through, so naturally we want to hear more; we want to hear it keep going all the way to resolution. Keep in mind, up to this point, we have not yet (I don't think, anyway...) heard the theme all the way to resolution in a major key. So far, we've heard the theme: 1) start in a major key and end in a minor key, 2) start and end in a minor key, and 3) start in a major key but not end at all. And when do we finally, finally get to hear the theme all the way through in a major key, without all the twists and interruptions that we've experienced previously?
And it's beautiful, and soaring, and feels something like catharsis...
But of course, even hearing their theme all the way through leaves us wanting more, because at that moment, their arc is still just beginning.
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