Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2016 at 3:11 pm

Halloween is a funny holiday. It has its light, fun side, with kids, costumes, candy, parties. It also has a darker side, making us contemplate death as the summer world “dies” into winter. Somewhere in between, we delight in facing our darkest fears from a safe distance – like watching a horror movie from the safety of our living rooms.

The Dance of Death is an old allegory for the harsh reality of life – no matter who you are in life, how important or unimportant, we all end up dead in the end. Perhaps this holiday helps us address this reality with a sense of humor. Camille Saint-Saëns‘ famous symphonic poem, Danse Macabre, had its beginnings as an art song that he wrote, in which death plays his violin, calling souls to their death. Shortly after he wrote it, Saint-Saëns expanded, adapted, and crafted into this Halloween favorite. It follows a predictable, but fun hallows eve legend – death awakens at midnight, dances his wild dance, but returns to the grave with the morning sun.

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Composers vs. Disney

October 29, 2016 at 12:59 pm

I can’t tell you how many people of my generation say they were first introduced to Art (“classical”) Music through cartoons. There are more than a dozen music-themed Looney Tunes shorts, not to mention the marvelous pairing of music and emotion found in Ren & Stimpy. These of course are light cartoons, based on slap-stick comedy (or, in the case of Ren & Stimpy, truly absurd comedy). Disney, on the other hand, tended to take things a little more seriously.

In the years surrounding World War II, Disney was working hard to lift the American spirit, producing music-themed feel-good movies such as Make Mine Music (containing Peter & the Wolf and an Operatic Whale) and of course, Fantasia. Unlike cartoon comedy shorts which presented anarchic musical satire, Disney presented a fairly authentic version of Art Music performances. Still, the story and music of Disney’s Peter & the Wolf is very different from Prokofiev‘s, but not insultingly so. A composer who came out worse for wear after dealing with Disney was without a doubt Igor Stravinsky, whose Rite of Spring was changed from a primitive pagan ritual into a dancing dinosaur ballet. Stravinsky said he was offered little choice whether or not to allow his piece to be used; Disney approached him and said he was going to use the Rite one way or the other – Stravinsky was offered only the choice to be paid or not.

Paul Dukas, on the other hand, died five years before Fantasia was released, and therefore didn’t have to negotiate with Disney when they decided to set his tone poem, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, to cartoons. And, amazingly, Disney adapted neither the original story nor Dukas’ score in the film – it’s about as authentic as you can get, once you get over Mickey Mouse as a main character. Now, the image of magician Mickey Mouse can be found everywhere, and Dukas’ music is permanently associated with this performance

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Halloween Tripping (Don’t Do Drugs)

October 16, 2016 at 1:38 pm

I’ve said it before, kids. Don’t Do Drugs. But if you do … write music while you’re tripping.

Legend says that Hector Berlioz was under the influence of opium during the composition of Symphonie Fantastique. His own program notes for the symphony indicate that the last two movements are nothing less than a wild hallucination. The fifth movement is by far the best; in Berlioz’s own words:

[The Love-Lorn Hero] sees himself at a witches’ sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers and monsters of every kind who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. The beloved melody [1:28, the idée fixe – a tune which represent the hero, which is heard in every movement of the symphony] appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it is now no more than a vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque: it is [his love] who is coming to the sabbath … Roar of delight at her arrival … She joins the diabolical orgy … The funeral knell tolls [3:00], burlesque parody of the Dies irae [at 3:27, a Gregorian chant sung at funeral masses], the dance of the witches.

Happy Sunday!

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