School of Music Assignment Cover Sheet

Name of Student: Thomas Grice Unit Code

Surname: Grice MUSC3336

First Name: Thomas

Student ID Number: 22736851

Name of Lecturer Due Date

John Pax 25/08/2021

Assignment and Topic Number Office Date Stamp When Submitted

Critical Review Module 2

No assignment will be accepted unless the following declaration is signed and dated:

I declare that:
1. The assignment submitted is my own work and all ideas and materials derived from secondary
sources have been fully and accurately documented;
2. I have read the Faculty of Arts’ policy on plagiarism
(http://intranet.uwa.edu.au/arts/staff/teaching_and_learning/academic_conduct); and,
3. I possess a photocopy or a computer back-up of this work.

Signature of student: Date submitted: 24/08/2021

Marker’s Comments

No assignment will be accepted without the correct unit number. All assignments not collected by the
first day of semester following the date of submission will be destroyed.
Critical Review- Module 2

Lecture Summary

1, Module 2’s focus was Modernism and Audio-Vision. The European avant-garde movement of Dadaism
(began in early 1920s) was initially discussed. Dadaism centred around absurdist art, seeking to challenge a
world obsessed with progress and consumption. Proponents included Jean Paul Sartre, Pablo Picasso and
Salvador Dali. The lecture affirmed that Dadaism was not nihilism, but rather recognised the surreal nature
of life and death, and how little control we can have over our own existence. Dadaism also satirised and
mocked the concept of constant technological optimisation: how our control of the world around us isn’t
as certain as we may think.

Following Dadaism was the positioning of the middle class in terms of the moving picture, and how the
guidelines for high and low brow were still being established. Ballet and Theatre were considered
highbrow, whereas more basic Musicals and Westerns were designated as low brow.

Next was the genre of documentary, and how in theatres before a film a short sequence was played,
perhaps a public service announcement or ad, but often news reels. A certain genre of these were war
reels, which could be an informative form of propaganda. Music of course played a role in documentary’s
presentation of reality, which was highlighted in an ACA clip about kerbside bin disputes. Montage was
briefly touched on, and it was proffered that silent-film montages (City Symphonies) created distance and
felt disembodied. Also in this section were the famous ads created by the General Post Office Film Unit in
the UK, demonstrating creative use of shapes and colours.

Summary of Reading

Playing in 'Toon: Walt Disney's Fantasia (1940) and the Imagineering of Classical Music (Mark Clague)

This article was about what Fantasia was trying to achieve, and how it had to adapt to changing times.
Clague explains that narrator and conductor Leopold Stokowski had a very high view of what music could
achieve, and how Fantasia was about making “great music” available to “every man, woman and child.”
Fantasia, then, uses stories to accompany well-known musical works; stories which exercise bright colours
and attention-grabbing concepts, such as “meet the soundtrack,” which visualised soundwaves and
demonstrated the science behind music. Clague later touched on how Fantasia had to be edited as it
contained stereotypical depictions of African American identity in the form of subservient centaurs.

Synopsis of set viewing

The set viewing was Disney’s Fantasia, released in 1940. The musical works performed by the Philadelphia
Orchestra are introduced by conductor Leopold Stokowski, who also composed the score. Fantasia aims to
bring classical works to the masses, so includes major titles such as The Rite of Spring, Beethoven’s Pastoral
Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. Lively animations accompany the music, featuring a broad
array of subjects such as dinosaurs, animals, magic, dance, comedy, friendship and morality. Stokowski
introduces each segment with humour and charm, assuming limited or no prior knowledge on the
audience’s part. For its time- and to an extent still today- this film is technically spectacular. It appears
remarkably clear and vivid, thanks to a multiplane camera for animation and a Technicolor dye process.
Therefore, there’s no continuing plot, but rather Fantasia appears as an exhibition or display; an almost
“greatest hits,” of classical music introduced to the middle class.

Scene Analysis: Sorcerer’s Apprentice Opening Scene (29:51-31:07)

TIME MUSIC ACTION DESIGN/NOTES

29:51 Minor chord held in the Sorcerer looks over a Creates a mysterious
strings cauldron opening scene
30:02 Bassoon passage, Mickey Mouse walks in The piano notes sync up
spaced piano notes carrying two buckets. with his footsteps;
displaying how difficult
it is to carry to buckets.
30:26 Shimmering higher Sorcerer performing The music matches the
notes in the strings spells expansive “magical”
movements of the
sorcerer’s hands
30:48 Very fast downward Sorcerer casts a A contrast is made
passage phantom butterfly back between Mickey’s lowly
into his pot, Mickey position and the
looks on Sorcerer’s power.
Conflict is established.
31:07 Mysterious passage is The sorcerer leaves his Mickey is tempted by
played, led by brass hat on the table next to the power of the hat;
a skull but the skull is a
warning.