Chapter 4 H O W H a R M O N Y S P E a K S

How Film & TV Music Communicate – Vol.1 Text © Brian Morrell 2013 Chapter 4 H O W H A R M O N Y S P E A K S This chapter deals with modern and traditional techniques of using harmony and chord voicing to extort specific emotions. The chapter addresses a combination of fairly simple observations regarding how harmonies ‘speak’ to create a feeling of mood and feeling, through to more complex and deeper types of analysis. Central to the study, as always, is the issue of how music communicates meaning and how that meaning works in the film. The films and music analysed in this chapter are: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone - Main Theme & Diagon Ally (John Williams) The English Patient (Gabriel Yared) Atonement (Dario Marianelli) Catch me if you can (John Williams) Knowing (Marco Beltrami) Sixth Sense & The Village (James Newton Howard) Wolf (Ennio Morricone) Panic Room (Howard Shore) The Reaping (John Frizzell) Passengers (Edward Shearmur) HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE John Williams Let us first turn to one of the more recent and iconic movie franchises - Harry Potter . The first film was scored by John Williams and one of the most enduring motifs was ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ which is referenced numerous times in all the films in the series. The piece contains a heady mixture of childlike innocence and charm, together with slightly intimidating, frightening and menacing characteristics. Audio – ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ (Harry Potter) Fig.1 What unique characteristics does this music contain and how do they create exactly the right emotion within us? The first thing I have highlighted in the transcribed score is the 11 th and 9 th in bar three. Because of the lack of any contextual harmony between the melody and what is, in effect, the counter melody underneath, the listener is deprived of the normal chordal ‘filler’ which guides their listening. But the melody in bar two contains all the usual harmonic signposts (root, minor 3 rd and 5th ) which help us rationalise the bar as Em . 1 How Film & TV Music Communicate – Vol.1 Text © Brian Morrell 2013 There is, in most circumstances, no such thing as unaccompanied melody; the concept is a myth. When we listen to solos which are unaccompanied, we simply fill in the harmony according to what the melodic notes suggest, using intuition, knowledge and intellect. An infant child hearing this tune would probably listen to it completely without context but anyone who’s listened to music for any amount of time builds up a database of information which guides their listening; thus we listen according to previous listening experiences. If the harmonies aren’t there, we subconsciously fill them in. We are usually blissfully unaware of this process. Therefore bar two gives us the information we want but bar three only contains the 11 th and the 9 th . Because we heard the bar before we know in what context we’re hearing the A and the F# but because they’re not ‘normal’ intervals this tests our aural cognition, causing brief surprise, which engages us because of the extent to which it differs from ‘normal’ music. The notes are not dissonant but are sufficiently ‘off the beaten track’. The second ‘surprising’ element, which I have highlighted below are the D# and F natural, which in context of Em function as maj7 and flattened 9 th . This is enough to ‘throw us’ but if we go a step further and look at how those two notes might function taken out of this context, we get this: Root, 2 nd Fig.2 The Harry Potter context of the two notes places them A more rational interpretation, on face value would be th root and 2 nd of an Eb chord as maj7 and flattened 9 Of course we are effectively prevented from rationalising the two notes like this due to the accompaniment, which alludes to the Em presumption. But regardless there is a slight ‘duality of aural perception’ which is what offers us the polytonal characteristic. Perhaps the bar which communicates the most in terms of its mesmeric and enticing appeal is bar seven (the second bar of the abbreviated transcription below) which features a melody of D (5 th of the Gm), Db (b5 th of the Gm) and C (5 th of the Fm). The absolutely key thing here is the 2 nd inversions of the Gm chord and the Fm chord; building the Gm chord over the D shines a light on the melodic line, also a D. Inversions always dramatise chords, but when the inversion is copied in the melody, producing an octave line, it can be more effective. The same happens with the Fm chord (melody on a C; chord inverted over a C bass). Fig.3 Put simply, when a chord is inverted the harmonic dynamic is subtly altered. This is like placing an object a different way up. It’s the same object but it looks different and causes a slightly different reaction. In this case an inversion alters our perception by distorting the harmonic balance. This makes this listening experience slightly more acute. Try playing the bar over root-positioned chords and again with the inversions. There is a difference. With John Williams everything is deliberate. Nothing is accidental. Perhaps more than any other film composer he has the ability to extort any emotion he chooses by the skilful harnessing and manipulation of the virtually limitless possibilities music offers. He knows which specific harmonic or textural alterations cause tiny, almost imperceptibly different emotional reactions in listeners. Turning now to a scene in the film where Harry Potter is taken to ‘Diagon Alley’ we examine again how Williams manipulates our perceptions. 2 How Film & TV Music Communicate – Vol.1 Text © Brian Morrell 2013 In the films Diagon Alley is reached on foot by passing through The Leaky Cauldron , a pub visible to ‘Muggles’ which lies somewhere along London’s Charring Cross Road. Diagon Alley is only accessible by Wizards and Witches. Therefore when Harry is taken from the ‘real’ world and into the magical world which will occupy the rest of the film, the moment represents the start of a whole new life. It is also a major turning point in the movie. None of the buildings are straight; the dimensions seem a little odd and skewed. This important part of the film is scored brilliantly by Williams. Below I have transcribed a reduced version of the piece which displays all the salient harmonies which play such an enormous part in crafting the musical version of Diagon Alley. Williams’ skill here is making the musically complex, intricate and multifarious sound completely plausible, rational and effortless. Movie, 00.20.54 – Cue: “Harry, welcome to Diagon Alley” Fig.4 Stri ngs / woodwind / brass Db Low stri ngs / woodwi nd / brass F Db Eb Db C If we are looking for harmonic or rhythmic elements which ‘skew’ a listener’s reality then the two opening bars do just this; once again we have no harmonic context offered – no chords. The counterpoint offers two lines which are a 9 th apart. This is virtually impossible to rationalise because that’s precisely the point – it should be beyond rational comprehension. If we rationalise we normalise and then we zone-out. What Williams has written in bars one and two isn’t absolute dissonance but it functions by politely displacing our expectations. If we look below we can see that there is an abrupt time change from 6/8 to 4/4. This time change might not have worked as well had the first two bars not been so difficult to rationalise harmonically. Given the lack of harmony we concentrate instead on the rhythm, which we can rationalise. This piece may sound and look confusing but the crucial thing is that it isn’t cluttered . There is great economy here. Abrupt time change; no perceived Fig.5 key centre Strings / woodwind / brass Trumpets Low strings / woodwind / brass 3 How Film & TV Music Communicate – Vol.1 Text © Brian Morrell 2013 Easily the most infectious and mesmerising section of this piece is where it breaks out into what at first seems like a ‘tune’. On closer scrutiny however we’re aware once again that the piece is skewed harmonically. If we simply isolate the rhythm of the melody we realise it is perfectly rational. The harmony, however, features bitonality. The last two beats of bar four and six feature notes which belong over a C chord but which are actually played over a Db chord. Williams has done what he’s done a thousand times before and always to great effect; he’s placed a ‘nice tune’ in a bizarre harmonic surrounding. We therefore experience a ‘duality of perception’; it’s a nice tune but something’s wrong. It’s a nice tune but something’s weird Bi-tonal; notes imply a chord of C (over Db) Fig.6 Db F Db Eb Db C THE ENGLISH PATIENT Gabriel Yared Turning now to something wholly more sedate, we examine one of the main themes from the movie The English Patient , a grand and complex tale of love, loss and tragedy. Set in North Africa and Italy it is an epic drama of two haunting love stories that unfolds against a background of WWII. Through the prism of war, love and friendship, themes of adultery, nationality and betrayal are explored. A track entitled ‘Rupert Bear’, by Gabriel Yared is one of the most effective pieces in the film. Given that this piece is the most popular music cue from the film and has been performed in its own right, what are its communicative qualities, and how does it reflect the sense of sadness, loss and emotion? 4 How Film & TV Music Communicate – Vol.1 Text © Brian Morrell 2013 Fig.7 Audio – Rupert Bear Let’s first start with a simple observation; that the piece is slow and languid; there is room for the harmonies and subtleties to breathe.

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