Musical Links Investigation

A Comparison Between Compositions

[zal-mli]

Introduction

When you go to see a movie or a play, you watch it for the visuals- for the dialogue and the action. Hardly ever does anyone say they’re going to the theatre to listen to the background music. However, while it may not seem important when there are things exploding or couples publicly professing their undying love for each other, that “background music” you so quickly dismissed, is often what makes your favorite scene so powerful and heart wrenching.

Even at home, television commercials use music that draws in the audience in order to keep them from changing the channel. The SPCA, for example, is one of the most well known for producing tear-jerking commercials. On top of the montage of images showing adorable, albeit emaciated or scarred, animals, and the voice-over recounting the horror stories the poor pets had survived, what really breaks you down in the end is Sarah McLachlan mournfully singing “Angel” in the background.

  "But even without the music, the commercial would still be extraordinarily depressing; Batman racing the Batmobile up a dark and winding road on a windy night would still be daunting and awesome," you cry.

Except, it really wouldn’t. Imagine watching Jaws without the ever-increasing suspense created by the quickening tempo of the short, low tones and the higher and slightly discordant notes that make your heart race. There would be no tension to go with the anticipation for the oversized beast that would sooner rather than later come bursting from the water to attack innocent swimmers. In fact, you might just mistake the movie for a documentary about the increase of shark attacks at a certain beach.

  "I see," you say slowly. "I guess this music thing really is more important than I’d originally thought. But do all productions use the same techniques to create tension or express the overwhelming stress of a student trying to finish an essay the night before it’s due?" Why yes, the styles and techniques are all incredibly similar in their most basic forms. While the keys and rhythms vary drastically from piece to piece, and from one production to another, there is one thing that always remains constant.

Music is used to inspire emotional responses, whether positive or negative; and on average, there are certain techniques and styles that don’t differ as drastically between pieces of music, and never fail to make a crowd scream, laugh, or cry.

  Let’s see some examples, you say? Well today’s your lucky day. I have two pieces that are perfect for the comparison.

[zal-mli]

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back full film score

The first piece up for discussion is Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, a well-known film score by one of the greatest composers of the twentieth, John Williams. His career has spanned over sixty years, and his numerous compositions (the Indiana Jones trilogy, E.T., and Jaws to name a few of the most well known) grew famous extremely quickly, along with the films they are played in.

Film scores are timed to match a scene from a movie, composed with the direction of the producer or director. It is usually comprised of an orchestral piece of music, often times in the Western classical style.

Western classical instrumentation is comprised mostly of instruments codified in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is generally referred to as one of the more complex styles, utilizing techniques such as counterpoint, phrasing, harmonization, and many other things to enrich the music with emotion.

[zal-mli]

Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique

Hector Berlioz, composer of the second piece, Symphonie Fantastique, was a French Romance composer, heavily influenced by Shakespeare’s work. The Symphonie was inspired by Thomas de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, a literary work written to portray “a drug-induced series of morbid fantasies concerning the unrequited love of a sensitive poet involving murder, execution, and the torments of Hell”.

He was a composer during the Romantic period, the times showing in his work through many traits associated with Romanticism, such as connotations of remoteness and a longing for the infinite.

[zal-mli]

Thematic and Motive Assignment:

So let’s begin. The first significant link between the two pieces of music is thematic and motive assignment. In both pieces, the music changes drastically as a new scene or character is introduced. There are iconic sections to each piece representing the archetypal hero, villain, damsel, and antihero– for example, the “Main Title”, the “Imperial March”, and "Han Solo and the Princess" from Star Wars. The different tonalities, instrumentation, and harmonies of the various sections reflect the character and scene the composer was attempting to recreate through music.

A major component of this link is the technique, idée fixe, a "short, constantly recurring musical phrase". Translating literally to “leading motif”, idée fixe is usually a melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic idea that is important throughout the movement, the smallest unit to have its own thematic identity. Idée fixe is a huge part of introducing characters and recognizing their presence later on in the production. The listener comes to recognize the melodies, harmonies, and rhythms of certain characters or moods, making them able to predict an occurring scene that uses those specific melodies and rhythms.

For the hero archetype - mainly the “Main Title” and its reprises in Star Wars and at 00:53 in movement 4 of the Symphanie Fantastique - the music is bright and regal, with upper woodwinds and brass playing grandioso. The tonality is primarily major in both the melody and harmony, giving the section it’s majestic sound. To represent the protagonist or associated groups and individuals, often bold and determined characters, the music is written to encompass those traits. Through use of this style of music, the audience can make a connection between the fundamental goodness of the character and the valorous music that portrays her or him. 

When the villain is introduced to the scene, or his or her lair is expressed through the music, such as 1:02:17 from the Star Wars film score, the Imperial March and 8:06 from Berlioz’s Symphonie, the chords tend to have a minor tonality and a more discordant nature and are played by low brass and strings. The percussion is a base drum or timpani, almost like a racing heartbeat. The unresolved chord progressions leave the listener on edge, and the slow, dark, and ominous tempo makes the antagonist almost visible – if only on the fringe of the audience’s mind; the unfurling of shadows, the swirl of pitch black robes, the manic chuckle that’s just barely audible above the music. When the upper woodwinds play, it’s primarily in the upper register, with lots of short notes and chromatic descent.

The introduction of the princess or damsel archetype is played with a melody by the upper woodwinds, primarily legato with long tones, soft runs, and ornamentation such as trills or grace notes. The tonality varies, sometimes major, sometimes minor, depending on the emotion the character is supposed to be expressing. Distressing damsels are often accompanied by rather frantic minor melodies, causing the reader to feel tense and worried for the character’s safety, while frolicking princesses often appear with brighter music, more similar to that which was first described. For example, 0:47:57 Han Solo and the Princess from the Star Wars film score, and 4:05 in the Symphanie Fantastique, where the idée fixe of the lover is begun, but cut off as is the artist’s head in the story.

[zal-mli]

Program Writing

The second significant link between the two pieces is the fact they’re both programmatic. Program writing, meaning the music portrays a storyline, is usually based off of a preexisting piece of literature, a script, or an experience. Often times, the programmatic aspect of the piece is a set of spoken cues or a written program containing background information, poetry, or a plot line to the story that the listener needs to understand the piece of music as it was imagined by the composer.

Most film scores are program pieces; the music matches the scenery and character being shown, giving the production more depth and emotion. Without music, dramatic scenes fall flat and lose power. The music is what helps to establish a connection between the audience and the ideas of the writer or director of the production had envisioned.

In the Star Wars film score, the music is timed to fit the scene it will be played during. Each movement or part of the piece was written for the sole purpose of being used during a certain part of the film. It’s cued by the change of scenes, for example, moving from 1:02:17 Imperial March to 1:05:17 Yoda's Theme. The music changes to show that the scene and mood has changed as well. Although the specific sections may not be used in that particular order, the music is spliced to fit the length of each scene.

Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique was written based off of a piece of literature, telling the tale of an artist who poisons himself with opium when his love goes unrequited. In the movements I’m addressing, the artist begins to hallucinate due to the large dosage of narcotics. In the fourth movement, he bears witness to his own demise, and to a gathering of witches that includes the woman he loves in the fifth. The music follows this tale, Berlioz having written in notes for the piece describing the story in order for the director to appropriately portray the emotions – despair, loss, and confusion – within the piece.

[zal-mli]

Discography/Bibliography

"Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/keepingscore/berlioz-symphonie-fantastique.html>.

"Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique." YouTube. YouTube, 28 May 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elWQLxoXav4>.

"Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique." Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/sfantastique.htm>.

Rooney, Jessica. "Use of Leitmotif in Star Wars." Music in Science Fiction Film. N.p., 2006. Web. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Facademic.depauw.edu%2Faevans_web%2FHONR101-02%2FWebPages%2FSpring2006%2FRooney%2528Jessica%2529%2Fstarwarsleitmotif.htm>.

"Star Wars Soundtrack Episode V : Full Soundtrack." YouTube. YouTube, 22 Nov. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VExBxOvqhv4>.