Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Soundtrack
Volume 7 Number 1
© 2014 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/st.7.1.39_1
Samantha Lin
Queen’s University Belfast
Abstract Keywords
This article examines the ways in which the musical ‘love theme’ in Franco Zeffirelli’s Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet (1968) plays a crucial role in the careful negotiation of additions adaptation
and subtractions in terms of content, visuals, and audio alike – negotiations made Renaissance
necessary by the shift of medium from drama to film. Introduced as a song entitled literary film
‘What Is a Youth?’ in the film’s diegesis, the ‘love theme’ is a popular tune that leitmotif
has since been covered extensively in various versions and arrangements. However, British-Italian
despite the name attributed to the cue, the ‘love theme’ does not only represent the intertextuality
titular characters’ passion, but also the result of such love: their deaths. By consider- 1960s
ing the function of the ‘love theme’ in relation to both notions of love and death, this
article argues that the soundtrack is crucial in supporting Zeffirelli’s interpretation,
not only in terms of creating an emotional landscape for the film, but also on a wider
level in consolidating and translating the ideas of Shakespearean tragedy.
Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet (1968), with its critical and commercial
success, has been credited as the adaptation that prompted a resurrection of
Shakespeare on-screen in the 1960s and 1970s (Jackson 2007: 4). As with its
39
Samantha Lin
40
‘How Silver-Sweet Sound Lovers’ Tongues’
Figure 1: Theme A.
the logic of music’ (2001: 3). This is particularly pertinent when it comes to
the harmonies and tonalities of the ‘love theme’, as its musical developments
maintain a symbiotic relationship with the non-auditory cinematic compo-
nents of Romeo and Juliet.
The ‘love theme’ makes its first appearance as a diegetic song at the
Capulet ball during which Romeo and Juliet meet. This song, ‘What Is
a Youth?’, was composed by Nino Rota with lyrics by Eugene Walter, and
contains all aspects of the ‘love theme’ as a whole. The song consists of two
distinct musical themes, A (Figure 1) and B (Figure 2), which are connected
by a short bridge. The ternary form of the song allows for a distinct contrast
between both themes: A is in a resolute minor tonality, while B is in its rela-
tive major.
These two themes return separately on several occasions to support the
cohesion and endurance of Romeo and Juliet’s passion, as well as to provide a
constant reminder of their imminent deaths: theme A appears non-diegetically
during their first meeting, their balcony scene, their bedroom scene and their
final tomb scene; on the other hand, theme B occurs, most notably, as the
diegetic songs at their marriage and at both funerals. Although the overall
‘love theme’ can be referred to as a ‘leitmotif’, it would be more specific to call
these two distinct themes ‘auditory metonyms’, whereby each theme is aurally
associated and contiguous with Romeo and Juliet’s love and death. These two
auditory metonyms contribute to the ‘filmic conceits of sight, sound, and
Figure 2: Theme B.
41
Samantha Lin
42
‘How Silver-Sweet Sound Lovers’ Tongues’
The melody itself consists of a melancholic minor tonality with several leaps
that hint at melodrama, providing an apt representation of the young lovers.
Although the theme is featured extensively in several scenes containing
private interactions between the two, it is scattered and fragmented, moves
across different instruments and flits from key to key: across the four scenes
depicting their initial encounter, their balcony interaction, their pillow talk and
their final mausoleum moments, theme A is heard on strings, lute, flute and
oboe and by full orchestra, in the minor keys of C, C#, E, Eb, F, A and B. This
kind of treatment, although incongruent with traditional musical associations
and progressions, highlights the nuances of the love in question, and thereby
adds both breadth and depth to a relationship that, though it belongs to two
youths, contains the maturity and gravity necessary to resolve the ‘ancient
grudge’ between their families, and ultimately to ‘bury their parents’ strife’.
One key example of theme A’s ability to mark these nuances is evident
during the balcony scene. When Juliet utters her first words, ‘Ay me’ is
accompanied by the theme in C-sharp minor sounding gently on the oboe,
a woodwind instrument that evokes the pastoral mode and consequently
suggests the necessity of leaving Veronian society in order for their burgeon-
ing love to survive. Such a generic notion is also found in Shakespeare’s
pastoral comedies, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It.
The music then disappears as conversation progresses, but this silence facili-
tates theme A’s second entry on a lute in A minor, after Romeo declares that
the only ‘satisfaction’ he requires is ‘the exchange of thy love’s faithful vow
for mine’. Here, the gentle, plucked strings not only recall the Renaissance
instrument and sound a subtle reminder of the film’s ‘authentic’ setting,
evoking a serenade sung beneath the balcony, but also suggest the tender-
ness and vulnerability of the lovers, particularly of Romeo. After several other
re-entries within this scene, theme A ends with the couple’s parting, with
the music, now in E minor, swelling in a full orchestra to capture their almost
overwhelming passion, as their joined hands de-interlace and the close-up
zooms out to mark their separation. The melody then finishes on the oboe,
returning to the instrumentation used at the beginning of the scene and reaf-
firming the enclosed privacy of the balcony, an artificial removal from society
that is vital for their survival. Again, these numerous key changes would not
make any musical sense if this were autonomous music, but are indicative of
an abundant love. Using various key signatures effectively demonstrates the
scope of their feelings, unrestrained by a singular key, while the same relative
pitch in the melodic line remains steadfast in the fundamental way of express-
ing such love.
The perfect-fourth interval of theme A, situated near the end of the
melody, is one aspect of the theme that acquires particular significance at the
film’s close. This interval, introduced in C-sharp minor, is first used to under-
score the dramatic moment when Romeo pulls Juliet towards him at the ball,
initiating the first two-shot in which they appear together in private. After its
numerous reappearance in a number of keys and instrumentations through-
out the film, theme A achieves its only cohesion in the decisive suicidal
actions made first by Romeo, which are later mirrored by Juliet. Their deci-
sions, though set six minutes apart, are both marked by the same perfect-
fourth interval on strings in E-flat minor. This similarity of key signature,
particularly when viewed in light of the fluidity of transformations previously
applied to the theme, provides an auditory connection between Romeo and
Juliet in their final moments, which occur separately. Just as the visual parallels
43
Samantha Lin
of the extreme close-ups, subdued colour palette and chiaroscuro bind them
through death, the identical musical material achieves the same connection
on an auditory level. When used to supplement the visuals and the dialogue,
theme A, with its various manifestations, becomes musically symbolic of the
love story at the centre of the film.
Theme B, on the other hand, retains a close association with the film’s
two major deaths. Its initial appearance in ‘What Is a Youth?’ is presented as
a pavane-like melody, serving as another attempt at capturing Renaissance
authenticity; however, theme B undergoes several reconfigurations, transform-
ing from the stately dance in duple time to the eventual lament in triple time.
This treatment parallels theme A’s movements across keys, instrumentations
and scenes, but instead of love, its metonymic association is primarily with
death. Rothwell notes that this melody, more versatile due to its major tonality,
‘[defines] both wedding and funeral, implicated in Juliet’s “Come, cords, come,
nurse, I’ll to my wedding-bed, /And death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead!”
(3.2.136–7)’ (2004: 129). When paired together, this juxtaposition enhances
the film’s driving force of tragic inevitability. Unlike theme A, which remains
constrained to the non-diegetic after its initial appearance, theme B returns to
the film’s diegesis on two separate occasions. While theme A exists solely in
private moments between the two, musically indicating a similar spatial limi-
tation on their passion, theme B’s diegetic appearances set their deaths firmly
in the public eye, indicating that their destruction plays a vital role in restoring
order to the strife-ridden society.
The first instance of theme B’s diegetic appearance is at Romeo and
Juliet’s wedding, where the theme becomes the musical setting of ‘Ave Maris
Stella’/‘Hail Star of the Sea’, a ninth-century plainsong Vespers hymn to the
Virgin Mary, sung at evening services. In the two verses of Rota’s composi-
tion, only the first follows the text (Hail, star of the sea, /loving Mother of God,
/and also always a virgin, /Happy gate of heaven), while the second contains
a partial reworking of another Marian hymn, Ave Maria (Hail Mary, /full of
grace, /Hail Mary, /the Lord is with thee). Another Marian antiphon, ‘Salve
Regina’ – which Rothwell incorrectly identifies as a ‘Magnificat’ (Rothwell
2004: 129) – makes an appearance earlier in the film when Romeo and the
Nurse converse in the same church. The musical setting of this plainsong hymn
is not of Rota’s creation, but is a Gregorian chant hailing from the Liber Usualis
(Benedictines of Solesmes, 1962), which was the official book of plainsong for
the Catholic Church at the time of the film’s production. When coupled with
Zeffirelli’s invocation of traditional liturgy, Rota’s ‘original’ setting of ‘Ave
Maris Stella’ is given an artificial religious ‘authenticity’ that contributes to the
Italian Renaissance milieu. The clean sounds of the sung liturgical Latin – with
only five vowel sounds and an absence of diphthongs – also draw attention to
Juliet’s chastity and virginity at the time of her marriage.
The second diegetic reappearance of theme B features the same song,
but is sung at Juliet’s ‘funeral’. The lyrics, based on the same text and hailing
the Virgin Mary, have now become ironic, as Juliet is no longer a virgin; her
subsequent ‘corruption’ of losing her virginity is closely tied to the impend-
ing tragedy. The music itself shifts from the non-diegetic to the diegetic: this
appearance of theme B is first heard on strings while the camera zooms into
a close-up of a ‘dead’ Juliet, is then repeated on the French horn over a long
shot of Friar John leaving with Friar Laurence’s letter, and finally manifests in
the diegesis as the film cuts to another long shot, this time depicting Juliet’s
funeral procession. The series of editing, combined with the changes in
44
‘How Silver-Sweet Sound Lovers’ Tongues’
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Mark Thornton Burnett for his invaluable feedback and
continuous academic guidance; the organizers and participants of the
Cinesonika 3 conference; David Stevens for identifying and providing refer-
ences to ‘Salve Regina’; Kevin Murray, George Twigg and Maria de Vries for
commenting on this article in its numerous stages; and Bill Walker for his
insightful criticism, fresh perspectives and stimulating conversations about
Shakespeare and music.
References
Adorno, Theodor W. and Eisler, Hanns (1994), Composing for the Films,
London: Athlone Press.
Benedictines of Solesmes (ed.) (1962), The Liber Usualis, with Introduction and
Rubrics in English, Tournai, Belgium and New York: Desclée.
Brown, Royal S. (1994), Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music, Berkeley,
CA and London: University of California Press.
Cartmell, Deborah (2007), ‘Franco Zeffirelli and Shakespeare’, in R. Jackson
(ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film, New York and
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 216–25.
Crowl, Samuel (2008), Shakespeare and Film: A Norton Guide, New York and
London: W. W. Norton & Company.
45
Samantha Lin
Suggested citation
Lin, S. (2014), ‘“How Silver-Sweet Sound Lovers’ Tongues”: The music of
love and death in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet’, The Soundtrack 7: 1,
pp. 39–46, doi: 10.1386/st.7.1.39_1
Contributor details
Samantha Lin holds a combined BSc/BA from the University of New South
Wales, Australia, and an MA in English literature from Durham University.
She is currently undertaking a Ph.D. at Queen’s University Belfast, where
her interdisciplinary research investigates the function of the soundtrack in
Shakespeare film adaptations.
Contact: School of English, 2 University Square, Queen’s University Belfast,
Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland.
E-mail: slin04@qub.ac.uk
Samantha Lin has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work in the format that was
submitted to Intellect Ltd.
46