In this article we ask a working composer of music for TV and film to show us some of the techniques he uses when faced with a request to write some music is the style of a well known writer. This might happen because of use of a temp track which for legal reasons can’t be used in the final production of because for creative reasons the project is referencing other work.
Being principally a challenge of composition this necessarily involves a discussion of theory but while there might be extracts from the score for those who read music, the audio examples and accompanying text are all you need to understand how the devices being employed work.
Alessandro Panella shows us what he would do if asked to write something like John Williams…
I know, the title of this article is very pretentious. I strongly believe that John Williams is to be considered one of the real heirs of the great composers of the past (in particular, of the late romantic period), in terms of mastery of composing techniques and musical inspiration, which makes him almost inimitable.
Nevertheless, I do feel that, as composers, we can and we should try to grasp the essence of his style, so as to be able to use part of his language in our compositions, whenever we feel it necessary or functional to the music we are writing.
Quoting other composers’ work was a habit in classical music, and far from being a mere “copy and paste” operation, it was (and it should still be) a recognition of the greatness of the work of a colleague, to whom the writer felt the need to pay homage.
With this mind-set, and after analysing the full scores of some of Williams’s greatest soundtracks, I decided to try to write a two-minute “tribute” to the Maestro, using what I think are some of the “essentials” of his musical language, that in this article I would like to translate into tricks that can be used to imitate this extraordinary composer.
1) The “Suspension Trick”
This is probably the most iconic effect that makes us immediately attribute a soundtrack to John Williams. It can be found, for instance, after the main theme in Star Wars, when the camera moves from a fixed starred sky to the first scene in the movie, and it generally comes after a fast-paced piece of music, to create (obviously!) tension and anticipation in the public.
This effect is usually created by the woodwinds, as the nature of their timbre makes them extremely effective in being both soft and ominous at the same time. It makes use of two superimposed major triads and a spurious note; the first triad uses a very spread voicing, while the second sits in the middle together with the “extra note”. In this example, the first triad is F major, spread out between the piccolo (Ottv. in the score, please forgive the Italian diction!), the oboe and the bassoon (Fgt. in the score). The second triad is A major, and it is played by the clarinet and bass clarinet, with the oboe completing the triad with a note in common with the previous one. The flute plays a spurious D sharp.
The second part uses a similar approach, and we have a wide C flat major played by flute, oboe and bassoon, an E flat major played by clarinet, bass clarinet and again oboe for the common note, with the piccolo playing a spurious A.
2) Minor Triads Moving In Half-steps Using Multi Harmony
This is another example of tension/interest creating musical effect. It can be found in almost all Williams’s works, when the scene needs to convey a movement towards action and some feeling of uneasiness. It consists of minor triads moving in half steps. In this example we have the high woodwinds playing F minor – G flat minor – F minor and descending triads starting from A flat minor going to D flat minor. The continuous change of chords creates an multi harmony effect, as no specific harmonic structure can be identified, accentuated by some staccato trumpet calls in A minor, with an F pedal played by the low brass and woodwinds.
3) Unusual Intervals
The use of strange and unlikely intervals in the harmonic structure is a typical musical device used in fantasy movies in particular, to create moments of interest and surprise. The chords can be either major (creating an effect of wonder) or minor (to obtain a menacing feeling). Major triads generally move by augmented fourths (or diminished fifths), while minor triads tend to move by minor thirds (the infamous Imperial March is a typical example).
In this example, I used major triads to get the “merveille” effect that we find in movies like ET or Harry Potter. We can hear the brass (doubled by the glockenspiel and the celeste) playing a staccato line which moves from E flat major to A major, then from F sharp major to C major and finally from A major coming back to E flat major.
4) Melodic and Rhythmic Ostinato
Ostinatos are an important part of toolset of a composer. We can find them in every soundtrack that we can think of, but some composers (John Williams, Hans Zimmer) are real masters at it. They are used to generate a wide range of feeling ranging from sadness and resignation to determination, fear, and strength. The most famous Williams’s ostinatos can be found in the main theme of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and in the “Duel of Fates” scene from Star Wars Episode 1, when Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi fight against the dark lord Darth Maul.
In this example, I tried to recreate this last scene, making the strings play a melodic-rhythmic ostinato (sometimes doubled by some woodwinds and brass), together with some percussions and the choir singing single syllables in minor triads moving by minor thirds.
5) Use Of Leitmotif
Leitmotif is a German word that indicates a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation. When we think of the use of leitmotif in music, our mind immediately goes to Wagner, the classical composer who used this artistic device to its highest degree. As regards modern film composers, all the greatest personalities master this technique and in particular (again!) John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore just to name a few.
In this composition the leitmotif is also the main theme. Its first appearance is at the very beginning, where it is played by a solo horn, supported by the first violins playing a long high C “con sordino”. My intention was to recreate the feeling conveyed by the famous “Force Theme” and, more recently, by the main theme of the new Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series. The theme is then repeated by the string sections, with the woodwinds making some simple counterpoints.
The second time we hear the theme, its first half is played again by the horns, doubled by the tuba and the clarinet, but this time I altered some intervals in the melody, as it had to be adapted to the new harmonic structure and “feel” of the section. This makes the listener partially recognise the theme (creating a kind of “anchor” during an unexpected change of pace or mood) while at the same time creating interest with the addition of unexpected changes in the melody.
Finally, the theme is reprised one last time at the end of the “mini-suite” in a kind of epic march (Williams treats the Force theme in the same way in the Star Wars saga), with a more fanfare-like rhythmic structure; this time it is played by the full brass section playing in octaves (to create an imposing wall of sound), accompanied by a staccato ostinato played by all the other instruments, and followed by a final chord with trills, tremolos, fast triplets in crescendo and all the musical devices that can create a glorious finale.
You can listen to the full piece below and read the full score by using the following link
Photo: TashTish at English Wikipedia