Musical Expression in Film and Theatre

Week 4
Film music composers (II)

John Williams and Steven Spielberg films

Jaws (1975)

- the main "shark" motif, a short and simple alternating pattern of two notes— "E and F” or “F
and F sharp"—became a classic piece of suspense music, synonymous with approaching
danger.

- intense atmosphere: the relationship between sound and silence

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

- scene with “five-note alien motif”

- specialists at the site begin to try to communicate with the UFOs by use of light and sound on a
large electrical billboard controlled by a multiple-manual synthesizer.

Star War (1977) directed by George Lucas

- influences from Steiner and Wagner
e.g. motif for the Darth Vader and the Empire, and the theme of the Force

“Scene of twin setting suns”

“Something more substantial happens in the celebrated scene in which young Luke Skywalker
looks longingly toward a horizon lit by twin setting suns. Williams writes a melancholy, expansive
G-minor theme for solo horn, which is soon taken up by full strings. Akin to the noble C-minor
melody that Wagner writes for Siegfried, this leitmotif represents not only Luke but also the
mystical medium known as the Force. Buhler points out that the music is heard before the Force
has been explained; thus, in classic Wagnerian fashion, it foreshadows the not-yet-known.” - (Alex
Ross, New Yorker 1/2018)
Hans Zimmer

The Thin Red Line (1998)

- The nine minute cue at the climax of the film, "The Journey to the Line" uses a recurring theme
based on four chords, combined with a "ticking clock" motif

Gladiator (2000)
- the music of the scene of Commodus's triumphal entry into Rome is clearly evocative of the
Prelude to Das Rheingold and Siegfried's Funeral March from Götterdämmerung by Wagner.

- the whole soundtrack resembles the 3-part structure of the sonata-form in a symphony

Inception (2010)
- electronic manipulation of the song "Non, je ne regrette rien”.

Ennio Morricone
an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor

- Morricone gained international fame for composing music for westerns, including The Good, the
Bad and the Ugly (1966): he used gunshots, whistle, voices, jew's harp, trumpets, and the
Fender electric guitar, instead of orchestral arrangements.

- influence on local Cantonese TV series music in 1970s

Cinema Paradiso (1988) directed by Giuseppe Tornatore

- Toto, Salvatore’ s childhood nickname, discovers a love for films and spends every free moment
at the movie house named Cinema Paradiso.

- a film about chasing after dreams in life, Salvatore eventually leaves town to pursue his future
as a filmmaker.