또 다시 우울이 나를 찾아왔다. 때로는 우울함의 원인이 명확할 때도 있지만 가끔은 나도 이유를 모를 때가 있다. 이유야 어찌됐든 마음이 무거워지는 날은 습관처럼 찾게 되는 음악이 있다. 바로 영화음악계의 거장 엔니오 모리꼬네의 The Crisis라는 음악이다.
Simple and ProfoundAustin here! This weeks entry will be on a score by maestro Ennio Morricone from the film The Legend of 1900, and Italian drama by director Giuseppe Tornatore starring Tim Roth. Its one of my favorite movies about a man who is born and raised on a cruise ship and devotes his life to nothing but playing a piano. His legendary skills and unique style live and die on the ship with him. Some might recognize this track from Seven Pounds starring Will Smith, but the score was originally written for this lesser known film. Upon first listen, one might criticize the song for being another simplistic, ostinato-based film score meant to pull at the heartstrings with clichéd musical material, but I believe that the repetition of its few ideas drives the content of the movies plot appropriately. In my opinion, a film composer at Morricone’s caliber can and should show restraint when it serves the film, and this is one of those cases. However, despite its simplicity and repetition, there are some pretty cool ideas going on in The Crisis when we look under the hood! The pieces stand-out element is revealed straight away: the jarring minor 2nd interval that happens immediately within the first phrase. I love the tragic sound of the (somewhat arbitrary) dissonance and that melodic arpeggio essentially IS the piece. A simple, dogmatic loop of an arpeggiated D major add 9 chord which strikes both the minor and major 3rd to create a poignant sound that disturbs an otherwise peaceful and beautiful melody. To me, this inclusion of both the minor and major 3rd is a profound representation of both the beauty and tragedy’s that exists in each persons life. It makes this melody simultaneously a D major add 9 chord as well as a D minor add 9 chord, which to me embody the most explicit feeling of joy and sadness as far as basic chords in isolation go. As we journey with Tim Roth’s character and experience both his passion for music and his deep sense of isolation from the world we begin to understand the duality of genius as both a source of joy and sadness. Furthermore what I find beautiful and hopeful about this phrase is how despite the presence of the minor 3rd, the harmonization provided by the bass line and the nuances of the pianist make it clear that the chord is supposed to be of a major quality that has been overwhelmingly tinged by the clash of the minor 3rd as opposed to the other way around. The second element that makes up this piece is the bass line. Now recently I’ve been really into the power of bass reharmonization and the emotional implications of harmony as created by the bass line. This fascination is probably largely rooted in my love for this song. Adam Neely has a fantastic video on this musical technique here on Youtube if you’re interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8TxHm__FZ8
This combination of the contrary motion between the stubborn and hauntingly beautiful D major add 9 arpeggio with the harmonically-dictating descending chromatic bass line make up the entirety of the piece. What happens from here on out is essentially elaborations of the material through a more active bass texture to orchestration until the piece comes to a close on the biting dissonance of the major/minor 3rd, reminding us that life is both tragic and wonderful. Admittedly the lack of development of these materials and its explicit use of the all-too-common ostinato makes the score lack luster as a musical piece. I understand the criticisms offered by many who might be put off by the popularity of this particular piece in a film that is rampant with much more exciting piano work. However I believe that the simple execution of this 10 bar loop that I speaks more clearly to the listener in its purpose as a film score. The implied structural depth of an otherwise basic pattern sinks in easily and efficiently embodies the emotional content of this amazing film. Anyways thanks for listening to me rant about 3 minutes of the same 10 bars. ‘Till next week! |