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Name: ___________________________________ Date: ___________________ Instructor: ___________________________________ EXPANDING THE REPERTOIRE 9.3 Michel Legrand, “The Windmills of Your Mind” (1968) This song by French composer Michel Legrand was used as the main theme for the film The Thomas Crown Affair and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1968. 1. Listen closely to the first verse of the song, and answer the following: a. The first three chords of the song strongly establish E minor as the main key. What progression is used? 6 6 ii° –V–i i–V–i i–iv–i Cadential 4–V–i b. Having established E minor as the key, the rest of the verse embarks on a se- quence. Choose the harmonic motion that most nearly sounds like what hap- pens in the song: • E7–Am–D7–Gmaj7–Cmaj7–F#m7(5)–B7–Em • Em7–B7–C–G–Am7–F#m7(5)–B7–Em c. What is the name of the sequence you chose? What intervallic pattern do the roots of the chords outline? d. Which chord in the progression is not diatonic? Why does it work well within the progression? e. Because of the intervallic pattern outlined by the roots of chords, many schol- ars identify this sequence with the word “circle.” How does this word relate to the title of the song, “The Windmills of Your Mind,” and to the visuals as presented in the scene from The Thomas Crown Affair where the song is intro- duced? (Watch the video posted online.) 249 99780199943821_0229_0250_CH09.indd780199943821_0229_0250_CH09.indd 249249 88/21/13/21/13 33:40:40 PMPM Name: ______________________________________ Date: ____________________ Instructor: ______________________________________ EXPANDING THE REPERTOIRE 27.4 Main Titles/Episode Intro to “Them, Robot,” from The Simpsons. The main title theme for the series (and movies) was composed by Danny Elfman; under- scoring for each episode, however, has been composed by Alf Clausen. The intro to this episode is in A B A′ form, featuring the main title theme in sections A and A′, while mu- sically diverging in the B section. The B section accompanies the scenes introducing the subject of the TV episode and establishes both the time and place in which the episode takes place. In “Them, Robot” (and in The Simpsons in general), the notion of the “passage of time” is depicted with a particular scale, as you will find out in this assignment. 1. Transcribe the main theme. On which “mode” is this theme based? (Hint: it con- tains raised 4.) Does it come back during the introduction? Is it altered in any way? Mode: __________________ 2. As the subject for the episode is introduced visually, the music changes. Tran- scribe the pitches in the form of a scale and name it. (Hint: this scale features no half steps.) Scale: __________________ 3. Although any pitch could serve as the gravitational focal point for the scale out- lined here, this excerpt seems to establish C# as the most important pitch. How does the composer (and sound designer) achieve this? (Hint: listen closely to the piano bass pattern, and to the “ching” sound of the counter.) 799 99780199943821_0763_0800_CH27.indd780199943821_0763_0800_CH27.indd 799799 88/8/13/8/13 33:06:06 PPMM EXPANDING THE REPERTOIRE 27.4 4. Optional assignment: speculate about the form of the introduction and how the mu- sic helps shape that design. Watch other episodes of The Simpsons, and analyze the introduction in a similar manner. 800 99780199943821_0763_0800_CH27.indd780199943821_0763_0800_CH27.indd 800800 88/8/13/8/13 33:06:06 PPMM.

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