I smell a Turner prize...
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 08, 2010
Sunday, September 27, 2009
My Lovely Nan
On Saturday evening, 26th September 2009, Patricia O'Connor (aka Nan) passed away peacefully.
We will miss you dearly and you will never be forgotten.
RIP (May 14th 1924 - September 26th 2009)
xo
Friday, September 25, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Green Man Highlights
Thursday
Camera broke. Spent all night taking it apart out of slight fascination but mostly boredom. Had some chai tea, which had a nice ginger spiciness to it. On the positive, we had a few refreshing pints of Addlestone’s ‘cloudy’ cider which was sold at the bars, and saw a luminous rainbow refracting off the river.
Exploring the gardens of the site was one of my favourite memories of Green Man. I loved the little lake with the pink elephant, and the water-filled bubble seats, and the trees that hung little notes that people wrote and attached to the branches. I fell in love with the little streams along the stone gutters meandering around the trees that channelled the water into the lake. I felt like a giant stepping across them. The trees with faces was also a nice surprise, and that lead to Einstein’s garden, which was full of family-orientated activities, pressure group tents and fascinating stalls selling instruments and displaying strange hand-crafted items of wood, hoodoo voodoo, and other wizardry ornaments. Oh, and there were some healing tents too.
Before coming back to the tent, Scott & I bought a lantern from the lantern stall but realised we didn’t have any matches or lighters to light the candle. OOPS. Then it rusted by the morning so we threw it away.
Friday
Today was the best day for bands. We met up with Neil by the bridge, then we went to the Chai Wallahs tent (“a space suffesed with an array of creative talent, energising music, soul-warming vibes and happy smiling hosts...”). With the smell of incense in our nostrils, we saw a performance by a folk band, followed by an awesome dub vocalist, playing with a harmonica and making some tasty beats. Later on, I went to see PIVOT as they fired up the bbq. PIVOT rocked! Only three members of the band and they make such a slaughtering sound. Loved their energy on stage and I was well into it at the front – hardly anyone there.
MAGIC ARM were quite good. GANG GANG DANCE was delightful. At first I wasn’t sure about them, but now I’ve been converted. Their performance was SO spaced out, my mind was in the clouds halfway through.
So I was really intoxicated by about 8pm.
We went over to the bonfire with Wooden Shjips and Four Tet in the background, then over to watch ANIMAL COLLECTIVE. Still buzzing from the liquer, about halfway through I was off my head. I can’t remember the second half of the concert, but I remember loving it.
Saturday
I had the worst hangover ever. But then came GRIZZLY BEAR and we bought a blanket and I felt better after that. Also, Victoria Legrand came on to do vocals for Two Weeks, which was a nice surprise.
BON IVER was the highlight of my weekend. We sat on the hill watching him and it was so relaxed up there as I took in his songs. His bittersweet and honest lyrics are wonderful, and the moment overall was pretty special.
Sunday
So on the final day, we went for a walk down the beautiful river towards Crickhowell and saw some sheep!
We went to the bycicle-powered electricity tent in the afternoon to power up our dead mobiles. After 15 minutes of cycling flat out my legs were completely gone, and all I got was one bar of battery!
Still feeling weary from walking around and drinking too much, we went over to the Chai Wallahs, the place to “relax, recover, rejuvenate, celebrate and fill your soul with good things”, to get ourselves a fix. We chilled in the shisha lounge and I filled my soul with a cherry flavoured hookah, which is basically an elaborate bong. After that, PICTISH TRAIL, then over to main stage to CAMERA OBSCURA and my brothers sat on the hill. They were ok, I really like some of their songs, but it didn’t hit home seeing them live. After that was RODRIGUEZ, then DIRTY THREE who were fantastic. Despite being far away and sitting down, I loved their energy and the lead singer was pretty funny, asking the audience to help them come up with new material for their next album – offering to split the royalties 50/50. That brought the mood up for WILCO, and my goodness, they did not disappoint. I was doubting them for a while, but seeing that show has just brought my respect for them up again. They are quite possibly the best band ever, if not, best live band ever.
Then came a really surreal moment followed by the nicest surprise ever. Two men in white gowns were walking up the hill holding lit torches, and following them were a mass of people. With the tribal drums and the flaming torches, I felt like a pagan from the middle ages as we followed the troupe. Eventually we got to the Green Man statue in the field, which was swarming with people so we couldn’t get close to see what was happening. The kafuffle was silenced with a nice fireworks display, and then they set the green giant alight and we all watched it go up in flames like the end of Wicker Man. No Scottish policemen were sacrificed this time.
Overall, Glanusk Park is an attractive and enchanting place. There were hardly any crowds, the weather was reasonable, impeccable views and scenery, and the attitude of the festival was relaxed and good-natured.
10/10
Camera broke. Spent all night taking it apart out of slight fascination but mostly boredom. Had some chai tea, which had a nice ginger spiciness to it. On the positive, we had a few refreshing pints of Addlestone’s ‘cloudy’ cider which was sold at the bars, and saw a luminous rainbow refracting off the river.
Exploring the gardens of the site was one of my favourite memories of Green Man. I loved the little lake with the pink elephant, and the water-filled bubble seats, and the trees that hung little notes that people wrote and attached to the branches. I fell in love with the little streams along the stone gutters meandering around the trees that channelled the water into the lake. I felt like a giant stepping across them. The trees with faces was also a nice surprise, and that lead to Einstein’s garden, which was full of family-orientated activities, pressure group tents and fascinating stalls selling instruments and displaying strange hand-crafted items of wood, hoodoo voodoo, and other wizardry ornaments. Oh, and there were some healing tents too.
Before coming back to the tent, Scott & I bought a lantern from the lantern stall but realised we didn’t have any matches or lighters to light the candle. OOPS. Then it rusted by the morning so we threw it away.
Friday
Today was the best day for bands. We met up with Neil by the bridge, then we went to the Chai Wallahs tent (“a space suffesed with an array of creative talent, energising music, soul-warming vibes and happy smiling hosts...”). With the smell of incense in our nostrils, we saw a performance by a folk band, followed by an awesome dub vocalist, playing with a harmonica and making some tasty beats. Later on, I went to see PIVOT as they fired up the bbq. PIVOT rocked! Only three members of the band and they make such a slaughtering sound. Loved their energy on stage and I was well into it at the front – hardly anyone there.
MAGIC ARM were quite good. GANG GANG DANCE was delightful. At first I wasn’t sure about them, but now I’ve been converted. Their performance was SO spaced out, my mind was in the clouds halfway through.
So I was really intoxicated by about 8pm.
We went over to the bonfire with Wooden Shjips and Four Tet in the background, then over to watch ANIMAL COLLECTIVE. Still buzzing from the liquer, about halfway through I was off my head. I can’t remember the second half of the concert, but I remember loving it.
Saturday
I had the worst hangover ever. But then came GRIZZLY BEAR and we bought a blanket and I felt better after that. Also, Victoria Legrand came on to do vocals for Two Weeks, which was a nice surprise.
BON IVER was the highlight of my weekend. We sat on the hill watching him and it was so relaxed up there as I took in his songs. His bittersweet and honest lyrics are wonderful, and the moment overall was pretty special.
Sunday
So on the final day, we went for a walk down the beautiful river towards Crickhowell and saw some sheep!
We went to the bycicle-powered electricity tent in the afternoon to power up our dead mobiles. After 15 minutes of cycling flat out my legs were completely gone, and all I got was one bar of battery!
Still feeling weary from walking around and drinking too much, we went over to the Chai Wallahs, the place to “relax, recover, rejuvenate, celebrate and fill your soul with good things”, to get ourselves a fix. We chilled in the shisha lounge and I filled my soul with a cherry flavoured hookah, which is basically an elaborate bong. After that, PICTISH TRAIL, then over to main stage to CAMERA OBSCURA and my brothers sat on the hill. They were ok, I really like some of their songs, but it didn’t hit home seeing them live. After that was RODRIGUEZ, then DIRTY THREE who were fantastic. Despite being far away and sitting down, I loved their energy and the lead singer was pretty funny, asking the audience to help them come up with new material for their next album – offering to split the royalties 50/50. That brought the mood up for WILCO, and my goodness, they did not disappoint. I was doubting them for a while, but seeing that show has just brought my respect for them up again. They are quite possibly the best band ever, if not, best live band ever.
Then came a really surreal moment followed by the nicest surprise ever. Two men in white gowns were walking up the hill holding lit torches, and following them were a mass of people. With the tribal drums and the flaming torches, I felt like a pagan from the middle ages as we followed the troupe. Eventually we got to the Green Man statue in the field, which was swarming with people so we couldn’t get close to see what was happening. The kafuffle was silenced with a nice fireworks display, and then they set the green giant alight and we all watched it go up in flames like the end of Wicker Man. No Scottish policemen were sacrificed this time.
Overall, Glanusk Park is an attractive and enchanting place. There were hardly any crowds, the weather was reasonable, impeccable views and scenery, and the attitude of the festival was relaxed and good-natured.
10/10
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Woohoo!
"Local writer"
...Look at me go.
This is a book of poems by Keele University students, and it just so happens I went there and spent most of my time rambling on about stuff, so here it is... polished, published, and apparently to be on the shelves in all decent book shops... so not whsmiths then.
The rap I submitted is called 'Aliquid Pro Aliquo' and can be seen with human eyes by going here -> www.amazon.co.uk or here -> www.authorhouse.co.uk (cheaper!)
Check it out though, there's some really good writing in this book.
...Look at me go.
This is a book of poems by Keele University students, and it just so happens I went there and spent most of my time rambling on about stuff, so here it is... polished, published, and apparently to be on the shelves in all decent book shops... so not whsmiths then.
The rap I submitted is called 'Aliquid Pro Aliquo' and can be seen with human eyes by going here -> www.amazon.co.uk or here -> www.authorhouse.co.uk (cheaper!)
Check it out though, there's some really good writing in this book.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Two Essays
PRETTY UGLY
by Glen Rowlan
CRITICAL REVIEW OF There Will Be Blood OST BY Jonny Greenwood
The music in There Will Be Blood has the sonic asperity of grinding broken glass, but a closer inspection reveals a raw transcendental beauty, accredited to a composer not afraid to draw on influences of 20th century avant-garde techniques for a high-budget Hollywood film.
When you acknowledge the amount of work that goes into the production of a film – the direction, the casting, and so on – the priority of music constitutes a low concern. But the importance is nonetheless crucial. In There Will Be Blood, a Paul Thomas Anderson adaptation of the Upton Sinclair novel Oil!, composer Jonny Greenwood has produced a challenging score that does more than just provide an emotional vehicle; it stands as a work of its own. Richard Davis states a similar view about John Williams’ music for ET: The Extra Terrestrial, and he goes on to say: ‘But when heard in conjunction with the visual...the whole film takes on another dimension’. With the inclusion of music, There Will Be Blood is a beautiful tempest. From the great acting and gripping storyline to the provocatively unsettling soundtrack, I’ve never been so fully engrossed in a film for a long time. The word “beauty” may not fit neatly between the lines in this case, as this is not a happy film (as the title suggests), but what makes the blood run cold is the imagination and fearlessness shown by the creators to colour over the lines and push the boundaries of film-making.
In Anderson’s emotionally-charged drama, emotion whistles to the point of a boiling kettle. The film’s elemental story, set in 1898 and ending in 1927, follows Daniel Plainview, a ferocious oil man striving to find affluence in the wake of the American oil boom, while fathering an adopted son. Oil becomes a symbol of power, and what follows is a greed for oil and wealth, a course that, as the audience is told, will assuredly involve drawing blood. You never know what Plainview is capable of doing to get what he wants. In person he comes off as proud and self-important, but at heart, a family man. In thought, he declares his dislike for “these people”, and as religion takes on the brute force of nature and commerce, things begin to fracture. Finally, when Plainview’s pride is taken from him, he disconcertingly exposes in shocking, sometimes brutal ways his superiority that leaves the audience reeling.
As Daniel Day Lewis gives the performance of his life as Daniel Plainview, Jonny Greenwood, likewise, casually unleashes his inner demons through a series of complex and brash compositions. A shy member of experimental British rock band Radiohead for over 20 years, Greenwood began his musical schooling in 1984 at Abingdon School in Oxford. While taking a fond interest in classical music, he took up the viola, performing with the Thames Vale Youth Orchestra. At the age of 19, he began a course in Music and Psychology at Oxford Polytechnic College which lasted three months, and dropped out to become lead guitarist of Radiohead. Greenwood is generally considered the most musically-gifted member of the band, pioneering and re-inventing Radiohead’s sound by way of introducing new instruments and absorbing new influences from diverse styles such as electronica, jazz and post-modernism.
Over the past 15 years, Greenwood has evolved as a composer. In 2003 he committed himself to his first film scoring project, Bodysong, which is a blend of experimental rock, jazz and avant-garde. It is the sound of a composer working in his comfort zone, whereas Blood is his attempt to broaden his horizons. Invariably looking for new instruments and new sounds for the band, Greenwood stumbled across the ondes Martenot, an electronic instrument and he remembers hearing it for the first time: ‘I first heard Messiaen when I was 15 or 16—the Turangalîla-Symphonie—and just found it magical, especially with the ondes Martenot swooping around with the strings’.
His keen admiration for Messiaen, Penderecki and Ligeti comes through in Blood. In 2005 Greenwood was appointed composer-in-residence for the BBC where he had the opportunity to exhibit a new piece. Popcorn Superhet Receiver, an eighteen minute piece for thirty-four strings, is a masterpiece. This is his best work. The sounds produced by the strings appear alien, even electronic and you marvel at how such a sound can be generated from this archaic family of instruments. The real brilliance of Popcorn is in the imagination of the string writing, inspired by Penderecki’s Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, as Greenwood recollects, ‘I saw him conduct his Viola Concerto and just couldn't believe it was only strings on stage. Where was that noise coming from? Where were the speakers?’. If the blending glissandos portray the soft syrupy texture of oil, then the ostinatic drumming suggests the frenzied and self-indulged efforts to obtain it – an image still familiar in today’s world.
The music of Jonny Greenwood could be considered challenging, with his compositions containing a myriad of intricacies, and his records with Radiohead are no doubt works of perfectionism, but as a listening experience, there is a lot of gratifying depth. The same belief can be expressed about There Will Be Blood. Anderson recalls a Greenwood composition, Life in a Glasshouse, as one of his favourite songs: ‘The Dixieland one makes me excited and melancholy and really satisfied every time I hear it. I love that song’. Further on, Popcorn Superhet Receiver was to underpin Anderson’s confidence in Greenwood as composer of Blood, when he heard it performed in 2005 at the Ether Festival in London: ‘I just loved the sounds of it, and I just couldn't put my finger on what I liked about it’. Excerpts from Popcorn can be heard in the film, for instance, in the opening focus on the barren, desolate hills. This sequence is illuminated in Greenwood’s score by a wash of dissonant strings playing towards one single F# note, which suggests something unhealthy about this uncultivated land. The first 20 minutes of this film will stay with you for the rest of your life, and the most part is owed to the music. The busy clouds of strings seem to epitomize the competitive thirst for oil, in an age where business began flourishing, forming, and taking on global proportions.
Further excerpts of Popcorn reappear throughout the duration of the movie where there is tension (Henry Plainview , Proven Lands, There Will Be Blood), and Greenwood defiantly exploits the passages of dissonances and jagged rhythms to their fullest potential, although meticulously where needed. With the music and visuals paired together, these scenes expound to terrifying, disconcerting and sometimes intimate effect. The abrasive drumming in Convergence, a gritty composition from Greenwood’s first soundtrack, Bodysong, marks the cataclysmic incident of the derrick fire. The repetitive migraine-inducing rhythms may feel like it’s bashing you over the head for the duration, but it’s an effective piece of music that puts you in the frenetic frame of mind of Plainview.
This excellent recording is a selection of pieces from the film all composed by Jonny Greenwood, and arranged in a different order to the film. The film begins with Popcorn, however, the recording begins with Open Spaces, comprising of short call-and-response motifs played by the strings and ondes Martenot, which momentarily develop into a slow flux of chromatic notes that whither and decline. It is a minimal composition that captures the mood of the film – unrest, change, the start of something to come – on the contrary, this could be a symbol for the film’s weakness to control any meanings or explanations. Greenwood demonstrates this by a progression of tonic-to-dominant, an unfinished cadence and a shift that symbolises instigation, or uncertainty. One interesting thing about this title is that it could allude to the freedom Greenwood has to paint his canvas:
‘I was happier writing lots of music for the film/story, and having PTA [Paul Thomas Anderson] fit some of it to the film /I was a bit like a kid in a candy store, in that I was just given free reign to write a lot of music with the film or certain scenes vaguely in mind’ .
His score is predominantly free from clichés and associations, and this may stem from the same “liberal” image that Radiohead notably possess (musically and politically). There Will Be Blood is a big step up for Greenwood. Bodysong was his first film score but it wasn’t so much devoted to synchronising the music with the visuals, like the common practice of film scoring is all about. However, he states he wanted to avoid advocating ‘specific themes for characters’.
To capture the complexities of struggle and success that lasts over two hours, Greenwood attempts to inhibit the same imaginative attributes as Popcorn, in Eat Him by His Own Light and There Will Be Blood. The wistful melancholy of Prospector’s Arrive is utterly beautiful and neatly assists with the passing of time. Greenwood develops this with Prospector’s Quartet by replacing piano for strings and the effect is what one can describe as pure sinister bleakness. The former sounds like a galactic funeral procession and hearing the ondes Martenot evokes images of deep space. Concentrating more on what’s happening on screen, it evokes the bitter, complex emotions, but also the vast landscape of desolate South California of the early 20th century. However, for a period film, the music itself sounds very futuristic, evoking the soundtrack of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Chris Willman accurately describes this connection:
‘A lot of it is one character out in the desert, with long silences suddenly giving way to screeching strings. It reminded me of 2001: A Space Odyssey, where Stanley Kubrick had the silence of space and then suddenly ''The Blue Danube'' or one of the more dissonant pieces he used’.
There are two moments in the film, which could be regarded as “breathers”. Anderson has included Brahms’ third movement of the Violin Concerto in D Major, though this hasn’t been included in the recording. I was surprised not to see the inclusion of Arvo Pärt’s haunting Fratres for Cello and Piano, as this is a significant period of underscoring to the film and fits well with the disparaging mood. The majestic splendour of the former is employed as more of a clichéd device, particularly when the derrick is activated. When Daniel Plainview proclaims, “I have a competition in me...I want no one else to succeed”, the audience comprehends Plainview’s ‘external rise and internal collapse’. This sensation could not be expressed more aptly than in Prospector’s Quartet, drawing attention the forward momentum of the upper violins which drives the emotion to a rich climax, and this example of film scoring just demonstrates how Greenwood truly understands the poetic nature of Blood.
Music is for the ears, and for this reason, I would like to see a live performance of the music to see the colours and textures visualised by the orchestra in the environment of a concert hall, while watching the film, or even a performance of the score alone. It is rare that you can listen to a soundtrack, without the film accompanying it. In this case, the music is at times more direct than the film itself, and it is hard to think of a film that pulls this off with such imaginative technical flair. In the context of film soundtracks, these techniques are perhaps not exploited enough in film music. Or are they best left to the concert hall? Either way, Greenwood is an inspiration to future generations of composers. It is difficult not to be aware of the music, even watching for the first time, as there has been plenty of spotlight on the composer Jonny Greenwood. I would like to see him writing in an even more avant-garde style like Popcorn, and not be a slave to the screen and his uninspired contemporaries. With the freedom and capability, he is surely one to take music forward to new creative and innovative levels, be it with the band or with his burgeoning solo career.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davis, R. (1999, pp.15-16) Complete Guide to Film Scoring. 1st Edn. Boston: Berklee Press
Nunn, T. (2002, p.16) ‘Radiohead: Everything in its Right Place’ Q Special Edition
Websites:
Nonesuch (2007) Nonesuch Journal Exclusive: An Interview with Jonny Greenwood – Available at: http://journal.nonesuch.com/journal/2007/12/three-weeks-bef.html (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Willman, C. (2007, pp.1-4) There Will Be Music Entertainment Weekly – Available at: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20155516_20155530_20158721,00.html (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Ross, A. (2008) Welling Up The New Yorker – Available at: http://www.therestisnoise.com/2008/01/jonny-greenwood.html (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Martin, P. (2008) Cinematical – Available at: http://www.cinematical.com/2008/01/22/eight-is-not-enough-jonny-greenwoods-blood-score-dqed/ (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
DISCOGRAPHY
Greenwood, J. (2007) There Will Be Blood. BBC Concert Orchestra, Conducted by Robert Ziegler [CD] Nonesuch Records
AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON
JOHN LENNON’S HARMONIC LANGUAGE
The following entries are commentaries on several sources referring to the harmonic language of John Lennon. These include two chapters from a book publication, a transcription of a recording, another chapter from a book publication, a journal essay and a CD recording. Where there is a source that looks at the Lennon/McCartney partnership, or the band as a whole in regards to harmonic language, I have sought to focus on John Lennon only, and the compositions that he instigated. Subsequent to the commentaries is a further list of sources that relate to the topic under investigation.
Thomson, E. & The Lennon Companion: Twenty-Five Years of Comment. 1st edn.
Gutman, D. (ed.) (1987) (London: Macmillan Press)
This exhaustive publication contains a collection of raw materials such as articles and reprints of criticism on John Lennon’s life and work, assembled by two editors. They state in the introduction their aim is to ‘present the best of 25 years of comment and commentary engendered by a man and his music’, though allowing the reader to ‘make an individual assessment’. My initial reaction to this companion is of surprise, in regards to the amount of intense commentary and critical study has been spent on Lennon, musically and non-musically. The publication is interesting in terms of understanding the views of John Lennon when he was alive and at the peak of popularity. With reference to Lennon’s harmonic language, I would like to concentrate a closer inspection of two articles published at the time of the book: Joshua Rifkin’s ‘On The Music of The Beatles’ (pp. 113-126) and Eric Tamm’s ‘Beyond Strawberry Fields: Lennon’s later style (pp. 211-217).
In Rifkin’s article, he reveals his attempt to ‘justify The Beatles in terms of a particular ideology’ by directing his analytical study towards an advanced level of pop music academia rather than a ‘response to the pop scene’. He firstly considers the maturity in their ability to absorb such a wide range of musical influences and techniques, such as the accuracy and control over their compositions and their improvisational (musical) approach to writing pop songs, while never losing their distinctive profile. With Lennon’s ‘Please Please Me’ highlighted as the first example, the author discusses the organisation within its construction, with emphasis on the ‘third apart’ harmonies; the most characteristic element of harmonic language that gives Lennon and The Beatles their signature sound.
Rifkin establishes the significance in the melody-harmony relationship in this song, which achieves ‘a special consistency through a recurrent emphasis on the subdominant’, paying close attention to the ‘spare harmonic palette’. This harmonic simplicity perhaps alludes to the DIY style of punk music that was to emerge over a decade later, in that Lennon’s means of composing involved using guitar, so there is a great deal of focus on chord progressions and harmonic progressions. The article expounds on Lennon’s methods of harmonic development with the ‘constant interchange of modes which leads to a strong tonicisation of more than one key, creating virtual dual tonal centres of a kind often found in 17th Century music’. His argument here is fascinating to read, although there is no evidence to support this statement, and enthusiasts of the band may not find it relevant. Finally, it is an article that consistently relates to The Beatles as one collective in the compositional process, when there are clearly individuals in the band that wrote most of the music by themselves, with assistance from each other.
The article by Tamm is undoubtedly in favour of John Lennon’s success as a songwriter and is very accessible to most levels of reader. The author focuses on Lennon’s individual musicianship, disconnecting his involvement in the band, and begins by stressing the ‘sheer sound [of his music] that grabs the listener and makes the decisive musical statement’. The argument is straightforward and states that Lennon progressed towards concentrating not so much on the compositional techniques, but the ‘sound and spirit’ of the music.
Drawing attention to the section ‘Melody, harmony, rhythm and form’, it is clear the author is an enthusiast of Lennon, with the bias statement, ‘Lennon knew how to write a rock melody’, although this is not analysed or supported by a reference to any primary material (e.g. a score). There is, however, some fluency in the initial argument backed up by some basic general knowledge and the author’s opinions. In relation to Lennon’s harmonic language, Tamm highlights Lennon’s tendency of writing phrases round ‘very few notes (frequently from the pentatonic scale)’, which forms a ‘tension-release principle’. The mapping of Lennon’s compositional writing by a establishing a cut-off point (‘post-Strawberry Fields’) from where he began to employ more repetitive and simplistic harmonic language, is useful to identify a timeline of his progress in songwriting. There is the assertion that the songs with ostinatic figures Lennon employs in later compositions such as “Well Well Well” and “Gimme Some Truth” which underpin the harmony, are the most successful. The latter’s character is described as ‘mesmerizing’ as guitar ostinatos clash with the changing chord progression creating harmonic ambiguity. Again, the author stresses Lennon’s ‘simple’ use of a piano motif in “Remember” to enhance the song’s character and demonstrating Lennon’s skill at songwriting. Although fairly easy to appreciate, this article would probably be most useful as a supplemental reference to something more theory-orientated.
Jones, D. (2000) ‘All You Need Is Love’ The Beatles: 1. New Music Arrangements (Suffolk: Wise Publications), pp.66-69.
This is a phonetic transcription by Derek Jones, classified as a “new music arrangement”. The song as it is heard on the recording Magical Mystery Tour is the source for this score. His interpretation is a reduction from the heavily-texture recording, discarding the drum part, the strings, the brass, the woodwind, the accordion, the vocal harmonies, the banjo, harpsichord, and the half-improvised shrieks from the band members. What remains is a basic transcription for piano, with a primitive chord arrangement for guitar, and the lyrics to the song. The purpose of this score is presumably to create a simplified version of the song comprehensible for a performer, either at a learner’s level, or perhaps at an advanced level.
The arrangement is so very close to the recording, in that some parts take the same note, for instance, the harpsichord and double bass both adopt the one-bar crescendo in the bass clef leading up to verse one. Care is taken over the rhythmic aspects, though not over the harmonic fluency, which is facilitated by the strings, and thus, a performance of this score would seem even more plodding than the recording already is. There appears to lack the preciseness in Lennon’s melodic delivery in the second verse. In addition, the guitar solo after the first chorus is not included, though rightly so, considering the difficulty in transcribing this to piano. The semiquaver phrasing in the strings leading up to the second verse are also removed, as are the grace notes that accompany the descending chromatic thirds in the chorus. These examples of harmonic reduction could be improvised in the guitar performance to establish a much needed harmonic balance, or a sense of individuality.
On the contrary, Jones’ transcription exposes an unexpected rawness, not apparent in the recording. This may be due to the song’s poor sound quality, with Ian Macdonald stating The Beatles’ recordings in this period were ‘concealed in a slapdash atmosphere...disguising the sloppiness on show’ (Macdonald, 1998, pp.229), leaving little attention to musical values and production.
Bibliography
MacDonald, I. (1998) Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties. (London: Pimlico), pp. 229-230.
Discography
Lennon, J. (1967) ‘All You Need Is Love’ (track 11), Magical Mystery Tour [CD] (London: EMI)
Moore, A. F. (1997) ‘Commentary’ The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. 1st edn. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 26-57.
The section of this book analyses very thoroughly, track-by-track, the music of the Beatles album on which this publication is founded upon. Moore also offers an ‘objective account’ of each song, while criticizing the many rock critic accounts that focus too much on the writer and not on the song itself. He establishes this by associating each song with its own section. References to score material are shown in ‘Schenkerian’ format, which serve to demonstrate a closer inspection of Lennon’s harmonic language. Moore is specific with small details of each song such as time duration and tempo. In the discussion of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, the harmony is carefully dissected with a chord progression summary and a Schenkerian graph, which are supported by associations to LSD, a theme familiar with the song’s lyrical elements. Moore attempts settle the argument that whether ‘tone overtakes meaning’ in the song by indicating the texture and production is responsible for its false connections.
As stated in the introduction, ‘the song itself’ is integral to this analysis, and the author refers to several tracks released on another album (The Beatles Anthology Collection), not on the 1967 recording, such as “Lucy” and “Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite”. This second Lennon composition is stated as one of his ‘mid-period Beatle songs crucial to Britain’s incipient psychedelia’. The article is convincing in the way of establishing Lennon’s efforts to develop his sound, after it is well-known that The Beatles wanted Sgt Pepper to be the answer to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds – a tour de force in its harmonic associations.
Everett, W. (1986) ‘Fantastic Remembrance in John Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Julia"’, The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 72, No.3, pp. 360-393. (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Jstor [Online] – Available At: http://www.jstor.org/stable/948147 (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
This fascinating journal entry focuses on the function of memory and fantasy in the songs of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and how significantly these elements influence the compositional process. By looking at two Lennon compositions, “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Julia”, we are given two convincing examples to support the author’s argument. A recurring theme which is established in these two songs and other selected Lennon songs (“If I Fell”, “Yes It Is”, “I’m Only Sleeping”), is the ‘slithering polyphonic lines’ that portray ‘altered states of awareness’.
Brief attention is paid to memory as a compositional strategy in the Lennon/McCartney relationship, in which each composer has written a song based on the memories of their partnership (“Glass Onion”, which ‘warps the tune of “Strawberry Fields”’, and “Two Of Us”), although Everett does not go into detail on this, and one senses there could be a great deal written on their conscious, or unconscious compositional decisions that allude to each other’s style or technique. Everett states that ‘these examples have demonstrated their ways of dealing with either memories (escaping to them, wishing to avoid them)‘. Lennon is notoriously familiar for this second statement, with regards to his spiteful attack on McCartney in “How Do You Sleep?”, and further discussion could have been included on the aggressive harmonic quality in this song, in relation to “Glass Onion”.
The reference to Lennon’s commentary on “Strawberry Fields” serves well to demonstrate his profound and insightful self-analysis of memory, which comes across in his music, as Everett attempts to show in the Schenkerian transcription the unusual harmonic progression. In “Julia”, this Lennon composition is one of his simplest and is driven by a tonic harmony, despite the shifting colourful surface harmonies. The conclusion is that of all these “wrong” qualities in harmonic colouring, combining them with positive or negative attitudes (through harmonic ambiguity or lyrical wisdom) creates the fulfilment of artistic communication.
Lennon, J. (1986) Live in New York City [CD] (New York: EMI)
This is a timeless recording of John Lennon’s last full-length concert, joined by members of the ‘Plastic Ono Elephants Memory Band’ in Madison Square Garden. It is the second recording in a series of live albums arranged by his widow, Yoko Ono, six years after his death, and was organised to support a charity for mentally-handicapped children. Lennon’s performance is at times clumsy and unprepared, while he declares to the audience “welcome to the rehearsal”, but this sense of authenticity transpires, particularly in “Mother”, where his vocals reaches to the point of toneless screaming. The quality is not great, with several parts of the band drowned out by the poorly balanced levels, and at the end of “Instant Karma”, Lennon comically apologises for their flat finish, with “we’ll get it right next time”.
Despite this, the success of this recording is owed significantly to the fact that Lennon rarely performed live in his later years, and to experience the concert first-hand would have been a precious occasion. Lennon’s affirmation for rock and roll continues with “Hound Dog”, which he screams out with passion. This cover owes some significance to the influence on his musical direction. As a model for first-hand experiences, George Martin recalls John Lennon’s admiration for Elvis Presley, which he regards as ‘Modified blues music of Chuck Berry (Martin, 1995, p. 44). Lennon’s harmonic language in this recording in comparison with his earlier work with the Beatles is more bluesy in nature, and this relates to the ‘sound and spirit’ (Thomson, E. & Gutman, D. 1987, p.212), which Lennon embraced later on in his life.
Bibliography
Martin, G. (1995) Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt. Pepper. 1st edn. (London: Pan Books)
Thomson, E. & The Lennon Companion: Twenty-Five Years of Comment. 1st edn.
Gutman, D. (ed.) (1987) (London: Macmillan Press)
FURTHER BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thompson, G. (2001) Let me take you down...to the subdominant. Tools of establishment and revealing the establishment. Yrjö Heinonen, Markus Heuger, Sheila Whiteley, Terhi Nurmesjärvi and Jouni Koskimäki (eds.), Beatlestudies 3. Proceedings of the Beatles 2000 conference. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä (Department of Music, Research Reports 23), pp. 283-291.
Martin, G. (1995) Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt. Pepper. 1st edn. (London: Pan Books)
Moore, A. (1992) ‘Patterns of Harmony’, Popular Music, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 73-106. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Jstor [Online] – Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/853228 (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Wagner, N. (2003) ‘"Domestication" of Blue Notes in the Beatles' Songs’, Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Autumn, 2003), pp. 353-365. (California: University of California Press). Jstor [Online] – Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3595435 (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Reck, D.R. (1985) ‘Beatles Orientalis: Influences from Asia in a Popular Song Tradition’, Asian Music, Vol. 16, No. 1 (1985), pp. 83-149. (Texas: University of Texas Press). Jstor [Online] – Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/834014 (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Riley, T. (1987) ‘For the Beatles: Notes on Their Achievement’, Popular Music, Vol. 6, No. 3, Beatles Issue (Oct., 1987), pp. 257-271. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Jstor [Online] – Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/853187 (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
MacDonald, I. (1998) Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties. (London: Pimlico)
by Glen Rowlan
CRITICAL REVIEW OF There Will Be Blood OST BY Jonny Greenwood
The music in There Will Be Blood has the sonic asperity of grinding broken glass, but a closer inspection reveals a raw transcendental beauty, accredited to a composer not afraid to draw on influences of 20th century avant-garde techniques for a high-budget Hollywood film.
When you acknowledge the amount of work that goes into the production of a film – the direction, the casting, and so on – the priority of music constitutes a low concern. But the importance is nonetheless crucial. In There Will Be Blood, a Paul Thomas Anderson adaptation of the Upton Sinclair novel Oil!, composer Jonny Greenwood has produced a challenging score that does more than just provide an emotional vehicle; it stands as a work of its own. Richard Davis states a similar view about John Williams’ music for ET: The Extra Terrestrial, and he goes on to say: ‘But when heard in conjunction with the visual...the whole film takes on another dimension’. With the inclusion of music, There Will Be Blood is a beautiful tempest. From the great acting and gripping storyline to the provocatively unsettling soundtrack, I’ve never been so fully engrossed in a film for a long time. The word “beauty” may not fit neatly between the lines in this case, as this is not a happy film (as the title suggests), but what makes the blood run cold is the imagination and fearlessness shown by the creators to colour over the lines and push the boundaries of film-making.
In Anderson’s emotionally-charged drama, emotion whistles to the point of a boiling kettle. The film’s elemental story, set in 1898 and ending in 1927, follows Daniel Plainview, a ferocious oil man striving to find affluence in the wake of the American oil boom, while fathering an adopted son. Oil becomes a symbol of power, and what follows is a greed for oil and wealth, a course that, as the audience is told, will assuredly involve drawing blood. You never know what Plainview is capable of doing to get what he wants. In person he comes off as proud and self-important, but at heart, a family man. In thought, he declares his dislike for “these people”, and as religion takes on the brute force of nature and commerce, things begin to fracture. Finally, when Plainview’s pride is taken from him, he disconcertingly exposes in shocking, sometimes brutal ways his superiority that leaves the audience reeling.
As Daniel Day Lewis gives the performance of his life as Daniel Plainview, Jonny Greenwood, likewise, casually unleashes his inner demons through a series of complex and brash compositions. A shy member of experimental British rock band Radiohead for over 20 years, Greenwood began his musical schooling in 1984 at Abingdon School in Oxford. While taking a fond interest in classical music, he took up the viola, performing with the Thames Vale Youth Orchestra. At the age of 19, he began a course in Music and Psychology at Oxford Polytechnic College which lasted three months, and dropped out to become lead guitarist of Radiohead. Greenwood is generally considered the most musically-gifted member of the band, pioneering and re-inventing Radiohead’s sound by way of introducing new instruments and absorbing new influences from diverse styles such as electronica, jazz and post-modernism.
Over the past 15 years, Greenwood has evolved as a composer. In 2003 he committed himself to his first film scoring project, Bodysong, which is a blend of experimental rock, jazz and avant-garde. It is the sound of a composer working in his comfort zone, whereas Blood is his attempt to broaden his horizons. Invariably looking for new instruments and new sounds for the band, Greenwood stumbled across the ondes Martenot, an electronic instrument and he remembers hearing it for the first time: ‘I first heard Messiaen when I was 15 or 16—the Turangalîla-Symphonie—and just found it magical, especially with the ondes Martenot swooping around with the strings’.
His keen admiration for Messiaen, Penderecki and Ligeti comes through in Blood. In 2005 Greenwood was appointed composer-in-residence for the BBC where he had the opportunity to exhibit a new piece. Popcorn Superhet Receiver, an eighteen minute piece for thirty-four strings, is a masterpiece. This is his best work. The sounds produced by the strings appear alien, even electronic and you marvel at how such a sound can be generated from this archaic family of instruments. The real brilliance of Popcorn is in the imagination of the string writing, inspired by Penderecki’s Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, as Greenwood recollects, ‘I saw him conduct his Viola Concerto and just couldn't believe it was only strings on stage. Where was that noise coming from? Where were the speakers?’. If the blending glissandos portray the soft syrupy texture of oil, then the ostinatic drumming suggests the frenzied and self-indulged efforts to obtain it – an image still familiar in today’s world.
The music of Jonny Greenwood could be considered challenging, with his compositions containing a myriad of intricacies, and his records with Radiohead are no doubt works of perfectionism, but as a listening experience, there is a lot of gratifying depth. The same belief can be expressed about There Will Be Blood. Anderson recalls a Greenwood composition, Life in a Glasshouse, as one of his favourite songs: ‘The Dixieland one makes me excited and melancholy and really satisfied every time I hear it. I love that song’. Further on, Popcorn Superhet Receiver was to underpin Anderson’s confidence in Greenwood as composer of Blood, when he heard it performed in 2005 at the Ether Festival in London: ‘I just loved the sounds of it, and I just couldn't put my finger on what I liked about it’. Excerpts from Popcorn can be heard in the film, for instance, in the opening focus on the barren, desolate hills. This sequence is illuminated in Greenwood’s score by a wash of dissonant strings playing towards one single F# note, which suggests something unhealthy about this uncultivated land. The first 20 minutes of this film will stay with you for the rest of your life, and the most part is owed to the music. The busy clouds of strings seem to epitomize the competitive thirst for oil, in an age where business began flourishing, forming, and taking on global proportions.
Further excerpts of Popcorn reappear throughout the duration of the movie where there is tension (Henry Plainview , Proven Lands, There Will Be Blood), and Greenwood defiantly exploits the passages of dissonances and jagged rhythms to their fullest potential, although meticulously where needed. With the music and visuals paired together, these scenes expound to terrifying, disconcerting and sometimes intimate effect. The abrasive drumming in Convergence, a gritty composition from Greenwood’s first soundtrack, Bodysong, marks the cataclysmic incident of the derrick fire. The repetitive migraine-inducing rhythms may feel like it’s bashing you over the head for the duration, but it’s an effective piece of music that puts you in the frenetic frame of mind of Plainview.
This excellent recording is a selection of pieces from the film all composed by Jonny Greenwood, and arranged in a different order to the film. The film begins with Popcorn, however, the recording begins with Open Spaces, comprising of short call-and-response motifs played by the strings and ondes Martenot, which momentarily develop into a slow flux of chromatic notes that whither and decline. It is a minimal composition that captures the mood of the film – unrest, change, the start of something to come – on the contrary, this could be a symbol for the film’s weakness to control any meanings or explanations. Greenwood demonstrates this by a progression of tonic-to-dominant, an unfinished cadence and a shift that symbolises instigation, or uncertainty. One interesting thing about this title is that it could allude to the freedom Greenwood has to paint his canvas:
‘I was happier writing lots of music for the film/story, and having PTA [Paul Thomas Anderson] fit some of it to the film /I was a bit like a kid in a candy store, in that I was just given free reign to write a lot of music with the film or certain scenes vaguely in mind’ .
His score is predominantly free from clichés and associations, and this may stem from the same “liberal” image that Radiohead notably possess (musically and politically). There Will Be Blood is a big step up for Greenwood. Bodysong was his first film score but it wasn’t so much devoted to synchronising the music with the visuals, like the common practice of film scoring is all about. However, he states he wanted to avoid advocating ‘specific themes for characters’.
To capture the complexities of struggle and success that lasts over two hours, Greenwood attempts to inhibit the same imaginative attributes as Popcorn, in Eat Him by His Own Light and There Will Be Blood. The wistful melancholy of Prospector’s Arrive is utterly beautiful and neatly assists with the passing of time. Greenwood develops this with Prospector’s Quartet by replacing piano for strings and the effect is what one can describe as pure sinister bleakness. The former sounds like a galactic funeral procession and hearing the ondes Martenot evokes images of deep space. Concentrating more on what’s happening on screen, it evokes the bitter, complex emotions, but also the vast landscape of desolate South California of the early 20th century. However, for a period film, the music itself sounds very futuristic, evoking the soundtrack of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Chris Willman accurately describes this connection:
‘A lot of it is one character out in the desert, with long silences suddenly giving way to screeching strings. It reminded me of 2001: A Space Odyssey, where Stanley Kubrick had the silence of space and then suddenly ''The Blue Danube'' or one of the more dissonant pieces he used’.
There are two moments in the film, which could be regarded as “breathers”. Anderson has included Brahms’ third movement of the Violin Concerto in D Major, though this hasn’t been included in the recording. I was surprised not to see the inclusion of Arvo Pärt’s haunting Fratres for Cello and Piano, as this is a significant period of underscoring to the film and fits well with the disparaging mood. The majestic splendour of the former is employed as more of a clichéd device, particularly when the derrick is activated. When Daniel Plainview proclaims, “I have a competition in me...I want no one else to succeed”, the audience comprehends Plainview’s ‘external rise and internal collapse’. This sensation could not be expressed more aptly than in Prospector’s Quartet, drawing attention the forward momentum of the upper violins which drives the emotion to a rich climax, and this example of film scoring just demonstrates how Greenwood truly understands the poetic nature of Blood.
Music is for the ears, and for this reason, I would like to see a live performance of the music to see the colours and textures visualised by the orchestra in the environment of a concert hall, while watching the film, or even a performance of the score alone. It is rare that you can listen to a soundtrack, without the film accompanying it. In this case, the music is at times more direct than the film itself, and it is hard to think of a film that pulls this off with such imaginative technical flair. In the context of film soundtracks, these techniques are perhaps not exploited enough in film music. Or are they best left to the concert hall? Either way, Greenwood is an inspiration to future generations of composers. It is difficult not to be aware of the music, even watching for the first time, as there has been plenty of spotlight on the composer Jonny Greenwood. I would like to see him writing in an even more avant-garde style like Popcorn, and not be a slave to the screen and his uninspired contemporaries. With the freedom and capability, he is surely one to take music forward to new creative and innovative levels, be it with the band or with his burgeoning solo career.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davis, R. (1999, pp.15-16) Complete Guide to Film Scoring. 1st Edn. Boston: Berklee Press
Nunn, T. (2002, p.16) ‘Radiohead: Everything in its Right Place’ Q Special Edition
Websites:
Nonesuch (2007) Nonesuch Journal Exclusive: An Interview with Jonny Greenwood – Available at: http://journal.nonesuch.com/journal/2007/12/three-weeks-bef.html (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Willman, C. (2007, pp.1-4) There Will Be Music Entertainment Weekly – Available at: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20155516_20155530_20158721,00.html (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Ross, A. (2008) Welling Up The New Yorker – Available at: http://www.therestisnoise.com/2008/01/jonny-greenwood.html (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Martin, P. (2008) Cinematical – Available at: http://www.cinematical.com/2008/01/22/eight-is-not-enough-jonny-greenwoods-blood-score-dqed/ (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
DISCOGRAPHY
Greenwood, J. (2007) There Will Be Blood. BBC Concert Orchestra, Conducted by Robert Ziegler [CD] Nonesuch Records
AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON
JOHN LENNON’S HARMONIC LANGUAGE
The following entries are commentaries on several sources referring to the harmonic language of John Lennon. These include two chapters from a book publication, a transcription of a recording, another chapter from a book publication, a journal essay and a CD recording. Where there is a source that looks at the Lennon/McCartney partnership, or the band as a whole in regards to harmonic language, I have sought to focus on John Lennon only, and the compositions that he instigated. Subsequent to the commentaries is a further list of sources that relate to the topic under investigation.
Thomson, E. & The Lennon Companion: Twenty-Five Years of Comment. 1st edn.
Gutman, D. (ed.) (1987) (London: Macmillan Press)
This exhaustive publication contains a collection of raw materials such as articles and reprints of criticism on John Lennon’s life and work, assembled by two editors. They state in the introduction their aim is to ‘present the best of 25 years of comment and commentary engendered by a man and his music’, though allowing the reader to ‘make an individual assessment’. My initial reaction to this companion is of surprise, in regards to the amount of intense commentary and critical study has been spent on Lennon, musically and non-musically. The publication is interesting in terms of understanding the views of John Lennon when he was alive and at the peak of popularity. With reference to Lennon’s harmonic language, I would like to concentrate a closer inspection of two articles published at the time of the book: Joshua Rifkin’s ‘On The Music of The Beatles’ (pp. 113-126) and Eric Tamm’s ‘Beyond Strawberry Fields: Lennon’s later style (pp. 211-217).
In Rifkin’s article, he reveals his attempt to ‘justify The Beatles in terms of a particular ideology’ by directing his analytical study towards an advanced level of pop music academia rather than a ‘response to the pop scene’. He firstly considers the maturity in their ability to absorb such a wide range of musical influences and techniques, such as the accuracy and control over their compositions and their improvisational (musical) approach to writing pop songs, while never losing their distinctive profile. With Lennon’s ‘Please Please Me’ highlighted as the first example, the author discusses the organisation within its construction, with emphasis on the ‘third apart’ harmonies; the most characteristic element of harmonic language that gives Lennon and The Beatles their signature sound.
Rifkin establishes the significance in the melody-harmony relationship in this song, which achieves ‘a special consistency through a recurrent emphasis on the subdominant’, paying close attention to the ‘spare harmonic palette’. This harmonic simplicity perhaps alludes to the DIY style of punk music that was to emerge over a decade later, in that Lennon’s means of composing involved using guitar, so there is a great deal of focus on chord progressions and harmonic progressions. The article expounds on Lennon’s methods of harmonic development with the ‘constant interchange of modes which leads to a strong tonicisation of more than one key, creating virtual dual tonal centres of a kind often found in 17th Century music’. His argument here is fascinating to read, although there is no evidence to support this statement, and enthusiasts of the band may not find it relevant. Finally, it is an article that consistently relates to The Beatles as one collective in the compositional process, when there are clearly individuals in the band that wrote most of the music by themselves, with assistance from each other.
The article by Tamm is undoubtedly in favour of John Lennon’s success as a songwriter and is very accessible to most levels of reader. The author focuses on Lennon’s individual musicianship, disconnecting his involvement in the band, and begins by stressing the ‘sheer sound [of his music] that grabs the listener and makes the decisive musical statement’. The argument is straightforward and states that Lennon progressed towards concentrating not so much on the compositional techniques, but the ‘sound and spirit’ of the music.
Drawing attention to the section ‘Melody, harmony, rhythm and form’, it is clear the author is an enthusiast of Lennon, with the bias statement, ‘Lennon knew how to write a rock melody’, although this is not analysed or supported by a reference to any primary material (e.g. a score). There is, however, some fluency in the initial argument backed up by some basic general knowledge and the author’s opinions. In relation to Lennon’s harmonic language, Tamm highlights Lennon’s tendency of writing phrases round ‘very few notes (frequently from the pentatonic scale)’, which forms a ‘tension-release principle’. The mapping of Lennon’s compositional writing by a establishing a cut-off point (‘post-Strawberry Fields’) from where he began to employ more repetitive and simplistic harmonic language, is useful to identify a timeline of his progress in songwriting. There is the assertion that the songs with ostinatic figures Lennon employs in later compositions such as “Well Well Well” and “Gimme Some Truth” which underpin the harmony, are the most successful. The latter’s character is described as ‘mesmerizing’ as guitar ostinatos clash with the changing chord progression creating harmonic ambiguity. Again, the author stresses Lennon’s ‘simple’ use of a piano motif in “Remember” to enhance the song’s character and demonstrating Lennon’s skill at songwriting. Although fairly easy to appreciate, this article would probably be most useful as a supplemental reference to something more theory-orientated.
Jones, D. (2000) ‘All You Need Is Love’ The Beatles: 1. New Music Arrangements (Suffolk: Wise Publications), pp.66-69.
This is a phonetic transcription by Derek Jones, classified as a “new music arrangement”. The song as it is heard on the recording Magical Mystery Tour is the source for this score. His interpretation is a reduction from the heavily-texture recording, discarding the drum part, the strings, the brass, the woodwind, the accordion, the vocal harmonies, the banjo, harpsichord, and the half-improvised shrieks from the band members. What remains is a basic transcription for piano, with a primitive chord arrangement for guitar, and the lyrics to the song. The purpose of this score is presumably to create a simplified version of the song comprehensible for a performer, either at a learner’s level, or perhaps at an advanced level.
The arrangement is so very close to the recording, in that some parts take the same note, for instance, the harpsichord and double bass both adopt the one-bar crescendo in the bass clef leading up to verse one. Care is taken over the rhythmic aspects, though not over the harmonic fluency, which is facilitated by the strings, and thus, a performance of this score would seem even more plodding than the recording already is. There appears to lack the preciseness in Lennon’s melodic delivery in the second verse. In addition, the guitar solo after the first chorus is not included, though rightly so, considering the difficulty in transcribing this to piano. The semiquaver phrasing in the strings leading up to the second verse are also removed, as are the grace notes that accompany the descending chromatic thirds in the chorus. These examples of harmonic reduction could be improvised in the guitar performance to establish a much needed harmonic balance, or a sense of individuality.
On the contrary, Jones’ transcription exposes an unexpected rawness, not apparent in the recording. This may be due to the song’s poor sound quality, with Ian Macdonald stating The Beatles’ recordings in this period were ‘concealed in a slapdash atmosphere...disguising the sloppiness on show’ (Macdonald, 1998, pp.229), leaving little attention to musical values and production.
Bibliography
MacDonald, I. (1998) Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties. (London: Pimlico), pp. 229-230.
Discography
Lennon, J. (1967) ‘All You Need Is Love’ (track 11), Magical Mystery Tour [CD] (London: EMI)
Moore, A. F. (1997) ‘Commentary’ The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. 1st edn. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 26-57.
The section of this book analyses very thoroughly, track-by-track, the music of the Beatles album on which this publication is founded upon. Moore also offers an ‘objective account’ of each song, while criticizing the many rock critic accounts that focus too much on the writer and not on the song itself. He establishes this by associating each song with its own section. References to score material are shown in ‘Schenkerian’ format, which serve to demonstrate a closer inspection of Lennon’s harmonic language. Moore is specific with small details of each song such as time duration and tempo. In the discussion of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, the harmony is carefully dissected with a chord progression summary and a Schenkerian graph, which are supported by associations to LSD, a theme familiar with the song’s lyrical elements. Moore attempts settle the argument that whether ‘tone overtakes meaning’ in the song by indicating the texture and production is responsible for its false connections.
As stated in the introduction, ‘the song itself’ is integral to this analysis, and the author refers to several tracks released on another album (The Beatles Anthology Collection), not on the 1967 recording, such as “Lucy” and “Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite”. This second Lennon composition is stated as one of his ‘mid-period Beatle songs crucial to Britain’s incipient psychedelia’. The article is convincing in the way of establishing Lennon’s efforts to develop his sound, after it is well-known that The Beatles wanted Sgt Pepper to be the answer to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds – a tour de force in its harmonic associations.
Everett, W. (1986) ‘Fantastic Remembrance in John Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Julia"’, The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 72, No.3, pp. 360-393. (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Jstor [Online] – Available At: http://www.jstor.org/stable/948147 (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
This fascinating journal entry focuses on the function of memory and fantasy in the songs of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and how significantly these elements influence the compositional process. By looking at two Lennon compositions, “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Julia”, we are given two convincing examples to support the author’s argument. A recurring theme which is established in these two songs and other selected Lennon songs (“If I Fell”, “Yes It Is”, “I’m Only Sleeping”), is the ‘slithering polyphonic lines’ that portray ‘altered states of awareness’.
Brief attention is paid to memory as a compositional strategy in the Lennon/McCartney relationship, in which each composer has written a song based on the memories of their partnership (“Glass Onion”, which ‘warps the tune of “Strawberry Fields”’, and “Two Of Us”), although Everett does not go into detail on this, and one senses there could be a great deal written on their conscious, or unconscious compositional decisions that allude to each other’s style or technique. Everett states that ‘these examples have demonstrated their ways of dealing with either memories (escaping to them, wishing to avoid them)‘. Lennon is notoriously familiar for this second statement, with regards to his spiteful attack on McCartney in “How Do You Sleep?”, and further discussion could have been included on the aggressive harmonic quality in this song, in relation to “Glass Onion”.
The reference to Lennon’s commentary on “Strawberry Fields” serves well to demonstrate his profound and insightful self-analysis of memory, which comes across in his music, as Everett attempts to show in the Schenkerian transcription the unusual harmonic progression. In “Julia”, this Lennon composition is one of his simplest and is driven by a tonic harmony, despite the shifting colourful surface harmonies. The conclusion is that of all these “wrong” qualities in harmonic colouring, combining them with positive or negative attitudes (through harmonic ambiguity or lyrical wisdom) creates the fulfilment of artistic communication.
Lennon, J. (1986) Live in New York City [CD] (New York: EMI)
This is a timeless recording of John Lennon’s last full-length concert, joined by members of the ‘Plastic Ono Elephants Memory Band’ in Madison Square Garden. It is the second recording in a series of live albums arranged by his widow, Yoko Ono, six years after his death, and was organised to support a charity for mentally-handicapped children. Lennon’s performance is at times clumsy and unprepared, while he declares to the audience “welcome to the rehearsal”, but this sense of authenticity transpires, particularly in “Mother”, where his vocals reaches to the point of toneless screaming. The quality is not great, with several parts of the band drowned out by the poorly balanced levels, and at the end of “Instant Karma”, Lennon comically apologises for their flat finish, with “we’ll get it right next time”.
Despite this, the success of this recording is owed significantly to the fact that Lennon rarely performed live in his later years, and to experience the concert first-hand would have been a precious occasion. Lennon’s affirmation for rock and roll continues with “Hound Dog”, which he screams out with passion. This cover owes some significance to the influence on his musical direction. As a model for first-hand experiences, George Martin recalls John Lennon’s admiration for Elvis Presley, which he regards as ‘Modified blues music of Chuck Berry (Martin, 1995, p. 44). Lennon’s harmonic language in this recording in comparison with his earlier work with the Beatles is more bluesy in nature, and this relates to the ‘sound and spirit’ (Thomson, E. & Gutman, D. 1987, p.212), which Lennon embraced later on in his life.
Bibliography
Martin, G. (1995) Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt. Pepper. 1st edn. (London: Pan Books)
Thomson, E. & The Lennon Companion: Twenty-Five Years of Comment. 1st edn.
Gutman, D. (ed.) (1987) (London: Macmillan Press)
FURTHER BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thompson, G. (2001) Let me take you down...to the subdominant. Tools of establishment and revealing the establishment. Yrjö Heinonen, Markus Heuger, Sheila Whiteley, Terhi Nurmesjärvi and Jouni Koskimäki (eds.), Beatlestudies 3. Proceedings of the Beatles 2000 conference. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä (Department of Music, Research Reports 23), pp. 283-291.
Martin, G. (1995) Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt. Pepper. 1st edn. (London: Pan Books)
Moore, A. (1992) ‘Patterns of Harmony’, Popular Music, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 73-106. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Jstor [Online] – Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/853228 (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Wagner, N. (2003) ‘"Domestication" of Blue Notes in the Beatles' Songs’, Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Autumn, 2003), pp. 353-365. (California: University of California Press). Jstor [Online] – Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3595435 (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Reck, D.R. (1985) ‘Beatles Orientalis: Influences from Asia in a Popular Song Tradition’, Asian Music, Vol. 16, No. 1 (1985), pp. 83-149. (Texas: University of Texas Press). Jstor [Online] – Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/834014 (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
Riley, T. (1987) ‘For the Beatles: Notes on Their Achievement’, Popular Music, Vol. 6, No. 3, Beatles Issue (Oct., 1987), pp. 257-271. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Jstor [Online] – Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/853187 (Accessed: 07 November 2008)
MacDonald, I. (1998) Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties. (London: Pimlico)
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Pour vu
Summer of Sam
I look out to the silent summer sky
A shooting star in a glow of amber light
Hold my hand... I’m sinking in the sand
Or wait for the tide to carry me
I fell in love with a girl from the Garden State
She lives so far so I write her everyday
She came to stay and we made a lot of plans
And I won’t forget when I kissed her hand
The sun came falling
Down upon its head
To bring another new day
These are words
I’ve never said before
I love you everyday
We danced like ghosts under cherry crimson skies
Her long dark hair and her smiling azure eyes
I took off my shoes and marched into the sea
And waited for the tide to carry me
The sun came falling
Down upon its head
To bring another new day
These are words
I’ve never said before
I think we’re doing okay
I look out to the silent summer sky
A shooting star in a glow of amber light
Hold my hand... I’m sinking in the sand
Or wait for the tide to carry me
I fell in love with a girl from the Garden State
She lives so far so I write her everyday
She came to stay and we made a lot of plans
And I won’t forget when I kissed her hand
The sun came falling
Down upon its head
To bring another new day
These are words
I’ve never said before
I love you everyday
We danced like ghosts under cherry crimson skies
Her long dark hair and her smiling azure eyes
I took off my shoes and marched into the sea
And waited for the tide to carry me
The sun came falling
Down upon its head
To bring another new day
These are words
I’ve never said before
I think we’re doing okay
Saturday, October 04, 2008
The Postgraduate
This entry is just to help reflect on my first two weeks at Kingston - the initiation of my Masters course in Music Composition. This is also my second ‘Freshers’ experience, and it does feel like I’ve done this all before. And where I should be focusing on the heap of work coming my way this month, I will ponder on good and unpleasant memories I’ve had here so far.
Monday 22nd September 2008
Made my way to the bus stop, and as I went around the corner, there was a bus up ahead in traffic, so I thought I’d fast-walk my way to the next stop, but that didn’t work so I ended up walking past four stops and still waiting about half an hour for the next bus. I hate them so much!! I turned up late for meeting in the studio, with a large number of undergraduates turning up. As I walked in, clumsily, walked in front of everyone with my heavy bag, and made my way to a spare seat on the end. There was a lady introducing herself, and then a tall man with long curly grey hair and an eccentric sense of humour to match his comic appearance. Later on, I nervously I stated my name and my course pathway to a group that was so small in numbers it hardly required getting so worked up about at all. It makes me frustrated I can’t prevent my lack of self-confidence.
I saw a bit of the university band at the social event, and then looking for some solitude, I took off.
Waiting at the campus bus stop was probably the most defining moment of realisation of where I was and what stage I was occupying in my life. This undergraduate asks me what course I was doing and I said I was a postgraduate and he was somewhat impressed and afraid. The inevitable period of silence that followed made me think that people look up to me for how far I’ve reached to get where I am, just like I looked up to Masters students at Keele. I don’t realise it but it sometimes feels like I’m on top of this momentous pedestal and I don’t know how I got there until I realise I’m there, and it’s unbelievably terrifying. To think it took some people all the courage in the world to be where they want to be and to know it, I wish I could subconsciously comprehend I’m always on this pedestal, and instead of trying to keep my balance, I just reach for my goal.
In the afternoon I went to investigate the ‘fresher’s fayre’ and bought a beautiful ‘Japanese print’ poster to complement my love for all things oriental. I’m excited to join the Gamelan ensemble which will be every Friday afternoon – I would love to compose something for those instruments.
Wednesday
Again, I turned up late to the studio due to my bad luck with the buses. As I’m on this subject, travelling to and from Kingston seems like a hassle, considering the 2-hour via two buses and trains journey, but if I can take my mind off it by reading/listening to music, then I’ll get through these two years just fine. The unpredictable bus service is my only grievance at this moment, but a car to drive would be nice.
This morning I had a first taste of choir, and I’ve just learnt I will miss the next few weeks because of a module clash. As I walked in this time, the choir leader vented frustration at me in a comical way to make the others giggle, with: “Next time you turn up late at one of my practices, you will DIE!”
The social evening was also an awkward affair and rather unpleasant. I had a few minor ailments: hangnails, heartburn, wet feet, a persistent cough, sore cheeks, and a twitch on the bridge of my nose (felt more like a stress vein from smiling too hard). All of which seemed to augment the effort of meeting new people to seem even more discomfiting – as if it’s an easy thing to do! Due to my lack of voice projection, or basic social communication, I found myself on my own, staring at my cup of wine, so I didn’t stay long and left without saying goodbye.
On the train home I finished reading Atonement by Ian McEwan, and watching the film on Thursday night provided the impetus to write a hefty review of both the film and book. Here’s a random quote I rather liked: “A conscious mind is a river through time.”
Thursday
Today was a more proper introduction to the MA music course. And there was a bigger turn out of students on the course, mostly foreigners. I was punctual on this occasion. First there was a general talk about the pathways and an introduction to the lecturers and advisors. Then we were escorted to the library for a quick talk about the library’s resources. On the way there I spoke to a friendly Italian girl about my modules and started a PCs vs Macs argument with her.
Later in the evening was the social event for postgraduates which went down a bit better than the night before. I still need to work on my people skills and not laugh all the time. I spoke to a Mongolian/German girl who was very talkative and nice, a guy called Baz (I think) and some others.
Saturday/Weekend
I met up with some friends in Keele. They’re really good company and make me feel comfortable. I felt somewhat nostalgic being back there, but the union is mostly the same, in regards to the music and endless queuing for horrible drinks! There is the addition of a cool chill out area in the back, and I was a bit surprised to see they’re dropping the Union Square for a social meeting place. That was a great bar. That was where I found my love for Magners, watched many Arsenal games, read books, and generally existed in my own little world. The only quarrel I could have that weekend was sleeping in Dave’s car, but it wasn’t too bad I suppose.
The return home journey was a nuisance. I had to get a coach from Stoke to Stafford, then a train from there. The confusion and anxiety failed to disappear that day, after seeing a swarm of police take over the road outside Stoke station to escort a bus-load of Stoke football ‘hooligans’.
First Week of October 2008
This past week has been bitterly cold and windy, so I better start wearing my scarf and gloves from now on. A lot to take in as far as the modules are concerned. I need to begin setting deadlines for myself so I can be more organised and less stressed about the amount that needs done.
Two pieces of music on my mind lately: Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending and Ravel’s Daphnis Et Chloe Suite No.2. The former is a wonderful piece of Englishness, and to coincide with finishing Atonement, I’ve been feeling a lot of Anglophilian pride lately. On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve also been lost in a magical fantasy with Ravel’s beautiful music. I also started reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding this week to take my mind of the numbness of reality. I’ve had enough hearing about failing economies and dramatic election run-ins.
Friday was a repeat of that cold January night in London in the hope of seeing Radiohead at Rough Trade/93 Feet East. This time it was TV On The Radio at the Cargo, as part of the Concrete & Glass event – oh yeah! I won tickets for this! So there we are; my brother and I, waiting in the 1000-strong queue trying to get into a 400 capacity venue in the blistering cold, and we finally give in after an hour. Oh well... Never again will I underestimate the popularity of a big band playing in London again... I’m just going to get there early and not rely on hope that there won’t be long queues because there will always crowds. One thing that made the evening quite memorable for me was when we were walking down Old Street, and passing a kebab shop there was one of the European chefs furiously banging on the window at us, trying to convince us to get a take-away. I was scared he may’ve chased us down the road.
So, finally, this weekend I will get some water babies for my fish tank. I don’t really know what to expect, how long they’ll last, or what creatures I’ll end up bringing home. It’s not going well so far, with the pump not working – I must have some sort of curse with aquariums.
Over and out.
Monday 22nd September 2008
Made my way to the bus stop, and as I went around the corner, there was a bus up ahead in traffic, so I thought I’d fast-walk my way to the next stop, but that didn’t work so I ended up walking past four stops and still waiting about half an hour for the next bus. I hate them so much!! I turned up late for meeting in the studio, with a large number of undergraduates turning up. As I walked in, clumsily, walked in front of everyone with my heavy bag, and made my way to a spare seat on the end. There was a lady introducing herself, and then a tall man with long curly grey hair and an eccentric sense of humour to match his comic appearance. Later on, I nervously I stated my name and my course pathway to a group that was so small in numbers it hardly required getting so worked up about at all. It makes me frustrated I can’t prevent my lack of self-confidence.
I saw a bit of the university band at the social event, and then looking for some solitude, I took off.
Waiting at the campus bus stop was probably the most defining moment of realisation of where I was and what stage I was occupying in my life. This undergraduate asks me what course I was doing and I said I was a postgraduate and he was somewhat impressed and afraid. The inevitable period of silence that followed made me think that people look up to me for how far I’ve reached to get where I am, just like I looked up to Masters students at Keele. I don’t realise it but it sometimes feels like I’m on top of this momentous pedestal and I don’t know how I got there until I realise I’m there, and it’s unbelievably terrifying. To think it took some people all the courage in the world to be where they want to be and to know it, I wish I could subconsciously comprehend I’m always on this pedestal, and instead of trying to keep my balance, I just reach for my goal.
In the afternoon I went to investigate the ‘fresher’s fayre’ and bought a beautiful ‘Japanese print’ poster to complement my love for all things oriental. I’m excited to join the Gamelan ensemble which will be every Friday afternoon – I would love to compose something for those instruments.
Wednesday
Again, I turned up late to the studio due to my bad luck with the buses. As I’m on this subject, travelling to and from Kingston seems like a hassle, considering the 2-hour via two buses and trains journey, but if I can take my mind off it by reading/listening to music, then I’ll get through these two years just fine. The unpredictable bus service is my only grievance at this moment, but a car to drive would be nice.
This morning I had a first taste of choir, and I’ve just learnt I will miss the next few weeks because of a module clash. As I walked in this time, the choir leader vented frustration at me in a comical way to make the others giggle, with: “Next time you turn up late at one of my practices, you will DIE!”
The social evening was also an awkward affair and rather unpleasant. I had a few minor ailments: hangnails, heartburn, wet feet, a persistent cough, sore cheeks, and a twitch on the bridge of my nose (felt more like a stress vein from smiling too hard). All of which seemed to augment the effort of meeting new people to seem even more discomfiting – as if it’s an easy thing to do! Due to my lack of voice projection, or basic social communication, I found myself on my own, staring at my cup of wine, so I didn’t stay long and left without saying goodbye.
On the train home I finished reading Atonement by Ian McEwan, and watching the film on Thursday night provided the impetus to write a hefty review of both the film and book. Here’s a random quote I rather liked: “A conscious mind is a river through time.”
Thursday
Today was a more proper introduction to the MA music course. And there was a bigger turn out of students on the course, mostly foreigners. I was punctual on this occasion. First there was a general talk about the pathways and an introduction to the lecturers and advisors. Then we were escorted to the library for a quick talk about the library’s resources. On the way there I spoke to a friendly Italian girl about my modules and started a PCs vs Macs argument with her.
Later in the evening was the social event for postgraduates which went down a bit better than the night before. I still need to work on my people skills and not laugh all the time. I spoke to a Mongolian/German girl who was very talkative and nice, a guy called Baz (I think) and some others.
Saturday/Weekend
I met up with some friends in Keele. They’re really good company and make me feel comfortable. I felt somewhat nostalgic being back there, but the union is mostly the same, in regards to the music and endless queuing for horrible drinks! There is the addition of a cool chill out area in the back, and I was a bit surprised to see they’re dropping the Union Square for a social meeting place. That was a great bar. That was where I found my love for Magners, watched many Arsenal games, read books, and generally existed in my own little world. The only quarrel I could have that weekend was sleeping in Dave’s car, but it wasn’t too bad I suppose.
The return home journey was a nuisance. I had to get a coach from Stoke to Stafford, then a train from there. The confusion and anxiety failed to disappear that day, after seeing a swarm of police take over the road outside Stoke station to escort a bus-load of Stoke football ‘hooligans’.
First Week of October 2008
This past week has been bitterly cold and windy, so I better start wearing my scarf and gloves from now on. A lot to take in as far as the modules are concerned. I need to begin setting deadlines for myself so I can be more organised and less stressed about the amount that needs done.
Two pieces of music on my mind lately: Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending and Ravel’s Daphnis Et Chloe Suite No.2. The former is a wonderful piece of Englishness, and to coincide with finishing Atonement, I’ve been feeling a lot of Anglophilian pride lately. On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve also been lost in a magical fantasy with Ravel’s beautiful music. I also started reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding this week to take my mind of the numbness of reality. I’ve had enough hearing about failing economies and dramatic election run-ins.
Friday was a repeat of that cold January night in London in the hope of seeing Radiohead at Rough Trade/93 Feet East. This time it was TV On The Radio at the Cargo, as part of the Concrete & Glass event – oh yeah! I won tickets for this! So there we are; my brother and I, waiting in the 1000-strong queue trying to get into a 400 capacity venue in the blistering cold, and we finally give in after an hour. Oh well... Never again will I underestimate the popularity of a big band playing in London again... I’m just going to get there early and not rely on hope that there won’t be long queues because there will always crowds. One thing that made the evening quite memorable for me was when we were walking down Old Street, and passing a kebab shop there was one of the European chefs furiously banging on the window at us, trying to convince us to get a take-away. I was scared he may’ve chased us down the road.
So, finally, this weekend I will get some water babies for my fish tank. I don’t really know what to expect, how long they’ll last, or what creatures I’ll end up bringing home. It’s not going well so far, with the pump not working – I must have some sort of curse with aquariums.
Over and out.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Atonement
But What Really Happened?
Book/Film Review of Atonement by Ian McEwan (for those in the first two rows who have not read the book, or seen the film – there will be spoilers!)
I’ve never been so fully engrossed in a novel since Birdsong, and this being another focus on the Second World War (a subject matter I find most interesting to read about), Atonement is a brilliant and poignant masterpiece. This is the second work I’ve read by Ian McEwan (the first, Enduring Love). In a plan to confuse and dispel readers, McEwan has written a very thought-provoking and challenging book.
Establishing the conclusion of the novel, Atonement turns out to be narrated by a character in the story: Briony Tallis. This leaves some questions; is the whole story just a fantasy fabricated by Briony, or is this a true account? Is this the book, the final draft that will get published when she dies?
Her first-hand experiences are somewhat abundant, with depictions of some beautifully poetic scenery and vivid imagery, which at times helps to create a certain tension in a climactic moment where you just want to read past it, but this sometimes wears thin. This is something the publishers at Horizon in the book comment on Briony’s draft as being “static”, and leaving “no sense of forward movement”.
That letter is, in fact, rather useful if you want a good in-depth analyse of the book. “The crystalline present moment is of course a worthy subject in itself, especially for poetry”. Is this McEwan digressing his own literary techniques? Or is he purposefully writing in the style of his own character that writes stories “owing to the techniques of Mrs Woolf”? Genius.
The story is quite depressing to some extent, in that the two main protagonists meet their death at the peak of their lives. This, however, is veiled by our narrator. There is hope and the message she conveys to the reader is that love prevails through hope. The two lovers are kept alive by the storyteller, to atone her crime of wrongly accusing Robbie Turner of attacking an innocent girl; this being her “act of kindness”, despite the unforgivable act which dearly cost them.
There is a lot of realism in the form of graphic imagery, real-life places, and the subject of war. The authenticity of the war depiction is as close as you can get, particularly in the hospital scenes, where we get to comprehend the graphic injuries of the soldiers, via Briony’s first-hand experiences. Disease and death also affects reputable characters throughout the book, which is what makes reading McEwan novels so unique – expect the unexpected!
There was a passage I really liked where Briony compared every novel she had written to writing a modern piece of music, and that wonderful satisfaction of holding your own creation in your fingertips. She wrote a story, and though the age of characters and plots was over, much like the age of tonality and structure is over in music, she elucidates, “A modern novelist could no more write characters or plots than a modern composer could a Mozart Symphony”. It’s like you’re just rewriting the rules of past techniques, so all you can do is let art be art and let the imagination work itself through real sensations, and real human emotions of the human mind: “the conscious mind as a river through time”. This quote alludes to the closing pages of her novel, which will exist only in the mind. All great stories are generated by the creative human mind. This is a story of that process, and there is of course, much beauty in that. Love is the essence of the novel, not just between Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner, but for family relationships, for country, for art, and for storytelling.
The end really delivers home. There’s a sense of despondency felt about the growing up and growing old, the loss of loved ones, the loss of innocence and youth, and the decline of health, but then there’s the experience, wisdom and memories that comes with old age, which half balances that out. I feel that because Briony has lived to old age, she has had to endure the guilt of her crime, and perhaps the only way out of that was to live a fantasy life in her storytelling. This, she explains, would let “the lovers survive and flourish”. I would like to have found out more about what happened to Briony after the war, up until 1999.
I spoilt my own surprise by watching the film before reading the book because by the time I reached the part where Briony meets Cecilia and Robbie at the flat, my mind was fixed on the obvious, right up to the end. I desperately wanted to feel surprise, pathos, or something heartfelt, when she repentantly declares, “Robbie Turner died of Septicaemia at Bray Dunes” and “Cecilia was killed in September of the same year by the bomb that destroyed Balham Underground”. It’s a brilliant and powerful twist, and it struck me while watching the film, and it would probably tug the heartstrings of anyone reading the book for the first time. Nevertheless, I cannot disguise any sense of suspicion to wonder whether Briony is actually telling the truth here. Is she lying to conceal their whereabouts? To keep them alone, together, as lovers? But then she says, “what sense or hope or satisfaction could a reader draw from such an account?” The truth is imperfection. Death is an inevitable oblivion. Only in the mind can a happy end be told, until that mind withers, then one will only exist in the imagination.
I think Joe Wright’s adaptation really did the book justice. Firstly, I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing the roles of Cecilia and Robbie, other than Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. It’s like McEwan had them in mind when he was writing the novel, for instance, when Briony describes Cecilia and Robbie in the flat – these are the most vivid descriptions. I also liked Wright’s interpretation of Briony’s final testimony, with the TV interview regarding her book, instead of the letter. The music couldn’t have been more suited than Dario Marianelli’s magnificent score. Together, ‘Elegy for Dunkirk’ and Wright’s direction of that famous war scene surely marks as that one of the best unedited sequences in film history. I was enchanted to hear Clair de Lune added in the soundtrack, as it is one of my favourites, and I feel it gives a perfectly fitting aura to the film.
There is a fair amount of 'Englishness' akin to Atonement and I will always keep a devout soft spot for this book. It is set in the beautiful setting of Surrey (my home county) and namedrops a few places in London, with its war history and noble landmarks. Also, I loved Briony’s wistful imagination, her eye for detail and the way she leant all her weight on one foot – I occasionally do that. Though I am frustrated by her poor decision-making – she was foolish not to tell the truth about the incident, and live a lie for a whole five years.
Atonement begins the first chapter basked in a theme of innocence, portraying not so much “The Trials of Arabella”, as Briony writes, but the trials and tribulations of growing up. The story ends on a theme of experience, and the emancipation of death – this is evident in her mood telling the news of her inveterate illness. Suffice to say, Briony is the indirect cause of Cecilia and Robbie’s deaths, not just physically, but in love, so she goes about putting it right – by re-establishing their love as it always was, or how it was meant to be. She knows nothing will be enough to convey her regret, except her conjured fantasy, and that’s what will be remembered. And in answer to this review’s title, as 77 year old Briony puts it: “I gave them happiness”.
Book/Film Review of Atonement by Ian McEwan (for those in the first two rows who have not read the book, or seen the film – there will be spoilers!)
I’ve never been so fully engrossed in a novel since Birdsong, and this being another focus on the Second World War (a subject matter I find most interesting to read about), Atonement is a brilliant and poignant masterpiece. This is the second work I’ve read by Ian McEwan (the first, Enduring Love). In a plan to confuse and dispel readers, McEwan has written a very thought-provoking and challenging book.
Establishing the conclusion of the novel, Atonement turns out to be narrated by a character in the story: Briony Tallis. This leaves some questions; is the whole story just a fantasy fabricated by Briony, or is this a true account? Is this the book, the final draft that will get published when she dies?
Her first-hand experiences are somewhat abundant, with depictions of some beautifully poetic scenery and vivid imagery, which at times helps to create a certain tension in a climactic moment where you just want to read past it, but this sometimes wears thin. This is something the publishers at Horizon in the book comment on Briony’s draft as being “static”, and leaving “no sense of forward movement”.
That letter is, in fact, rather useful if you want a good in-depth analyse of the book. “The crystalline present moment is of course a worthy subject in itself, especially for poetry”. Is this McEwan digressing his own literary techniques? Or is he purposefully writing in the style of his own character that writes stories “owing to the techniques of Mrs Woolf”? Genius.
The story is quite depressing to some extent, in that the two main protagonists meet their death at the peak of their lives. This, however, is veiled by our narrator. There is hope and the message she conveys to the reader is that love prevails through hope. The two lovers are kept alive by the storyteller, to atone her crime of wrongly accusing Robbie Turner of attacking an innocent girl; this being her “act of kindness”, despite the unforgivable act which dearly cost them.
There is a lot of realism in the form of graphic imagery, real-life places, and the subject of war. The authenticity of the war depiction is as close as you can get, particularly in the hospital scenes, where we get to comprehend the graphic injuries of the soldiers, via Briony’s first-hand experiences. Disease and death also affects reputable characters throughout the book, which is what makes reading McEwan novels so unique – expect the unexpected!
There was a passage I really liked where Briony compared every novel she had written to writing a modern piece of music, and that wonderful satisfaction of holding your own creation in your fingertips. She wrote a story, and though the age of characters and plots was over, much like the age of tonality and structure is over in music, she elucidates, “A modern novelist could no more write characters or plots than a modern composer could a Mozart Symphony”. It’s like you’re just rewriting the rules of past techniques, so all you can do is let art be art and let the imagination work itself through real sensations, and real human emotions of the human mind: “the conscious mind as a river through time”. This quote alludes to the closing pages of her novel, which will exist only in the mind. All great stories are generated by the creative human mind. This is a story of that process, and there is of course, much beauty in that. Love is the essence of the novel, not just between Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner, but for family relationships, for country, for art, and for storytelling.
The end really delivers home. There’s a sense of despondency felt about the growing up and growing old, the loss of loved ones, the loss of innocence and youth, and the decline of health, but then there’s the experience, wisdom and memories that comes with old age, which half balances that out. I feel that because Briony has lived to old age, she has had to endure the guilt of her crime, and perhaps the only way out of that was to live a fantasy life in her storytelling. This, she explains, would let “the lovers survive and flourish”. I would like to have found out more about what happened to Briony after the war, up until 1999.
I spoilt my own surprise by watching the film before reading the book because by the time I reached the part where Briony meets Cecilia and Robbie at the flat, my mind was fixed on the obvious, right up to the end. I desperately wanted to feel surprise, pathos, or something heartfelt, when she repentantly declares, “Robbie Turner died of Septicaemia at Bray Dunes” and “Cecilia was killed in September of the same year by the bomb that destroyed Balham Underground”. It’s a brilliant and powerful twist, and it struck me while watching the film, and it would probably tug the heartstrings of anyone reading the book for the first time. Nevertheless, I cannot disguise any sense of suspicion to wonder whether Briony is actually telling the truth here. Is she lying to conceal their whereabouts? To keep them alone, together, as lovers? But then she says, “what sense or hope or satisfaction could a reader draw from such an account?” The truth is imperfection. Death is an inevitable oblivion. Only in the mind can a happy end be told, until that mind withers, then one will only exist in the imagination.
I think Joe Wright’s adaptation really did the book justice. Firstly, I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing the roles of Cecilia and Robbie, other than Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. It’s like McEwan had them in mind when he was writing the novel, for instance, when Briony describes Cecilia and Robbie in the flat – these are the most vivid descriptions. I also liked Wright’s interpretation of Briony’s final testimony, with the TV interview regarding her book, instead of the letter. The music couldn’t have been more suited than Dario Marianelli’s magnificent score. Together, ‘Elegy for Dunkirk’ and Wright’s direction of that famous war scene surely marks as that one of the best unedited sequences in film history. I was enchanted to hear Clair de Lune added in the soundtrack, as it is one of my favourites, and I feel it gives a perfectly fitting aura to the film.
There is a fair amount of 'Englishness' akin to Atonement and I will always keep a devout soft spot for this book. It is set in the beautiful setting of Surrey (my home county) and namedrops a few places in London, with its war history and noble landmarks. Also, I loved Briony’s wistful imagination, her eye for detail and the way she leant all her weight on one foot – I occasionally do that. Though I am frustrated by her poor decision-making – she was foolish not to tell the truth about the incident, and live a lie for a whole five years.
Atonement begins the first chapter basked in a theme of innocence, portraying not so much “The Trials of Arabella”, as Briony writes, but the trials and tribulations of growing up. The story ends on a theme of experience, and the emancipation of death – this is evident in her mood telling the news of her inveterate illness. Suffice to say, Briony is the indirect cause of Cecilia and Robbie’s deaths, not just physically, but in love, so she goes about putting it right – by re-establishing their love as it always was, or how it was meant to be. She knows nothing will be enough to convey her regret, except her conjured fantasy, and that’s what will be remembered. And in answer to this review’s title, as 77 year old Briony puts it: “I gave them happiness”.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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There is a sound of electricity, an ambience;
Buzzing like an endless whirring chaos
The alien chime that resonates a hum
The dust that bites my eardrum.
And all the time it hangs in the cracks
Behind my human perception is a firewall,
Signals are a soft breeze in a salty sea
Sighs an algorithm in a magnetic prison.
In the deep chasm of hyperspace hell
The swirling loops of tones are teaming
Churning a roar like the earth died screaming,
Singing from the very water, wind, and rocks themselves
These cosmic sensations align
Flicked and fingerprinted by God
In the dust and the chimes
These are the signs.
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