Music Analysis

By Taylor MacGillivray

 

Jaws

The music from Jaws is designed to evoke primitivism and brutality. For this score, Williams returned to the classical cinema sound with a full orchestra. The opening theme, while iconic, is reminiscent of one of the seminal compositions of the twentieth century: The Rite of Spring. 

The Rite of Spring (begin at 7:40): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOZmlYgYzG4&t=624s 

This is a ballet, written by Igor Stravinsky, tells the story of a ritual involving a virgin sacrifice. One woman from the village is sacrificed to the bear spirit in order to maintain the safety of the rest of the villagers. 

When compared, I believe that Chrissie's death is intended to look like a sacrifice. One that is emphasized by her gender and youth. We feel empathetic towards Chrissie because she is taken before her time, by a threat we do not perceive (at this point).  Would we feel equally empathetic if she was died while having sex? Is she a victim because she died alone? Unable to defend herself? 

 

Rear Window

The music of Rear Window is a pastiche of sounds. Using a variety of popular songs of the day, interspersed with the noises of the city, Hitchcock overloads the senses with his score. All of the sounds of the film are diegetic (there is one exception which is the music from the opening credits), yet, Hitchcock plays with the location of these sounds, often having them off-screen, or asynchronous. This allows him to connect stories using these sounds and allows him to deliver more information to the audience via what we’re seeing. 

The theme Lisa runs through the film, connecting three women in particular: Lisa, Ms. Lonely Hearts and Thorwald’s wife. The song is a song of longing, and a song of melancholia. We assign these emotions to the characters who are present on the screen when it is played, we connect their stories by grace of the music, we equate their circumstances without hearing their stories and understanding their nuances. As such, we assume that Lisa is head-over-heels in love with Jeff, but that his nonchalance is what is making her lonely. Thorwald’s wife is confined to her bedroom, rarely speaking with anyone, and is eventually murdered by her husband (after potentially catching him cheating on her), we assume that she was lonely, and eventually a victim of domestic violence. Ms. Lonely Hearts seems pathetic in the eyes of most who view her, is eventually  assaulted by someone she brings home on a date, and considers suicide. These stories are often underscored by the song Lisa, and in one instance, by the song Mona Lisa. 

Yet, these characters rarely speak for themselves. It is the song Lisa (which is built over the course of the film) which influences the audience’s perception of these women. We see them objects, objects without agency, objects with superficial desires, objects meant for a pre-set position in society. We see them as a caricature of their true selves. 

 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The music of Texas Chainsaw Massacre is almost accidental in nature. The music blends with the sounds of the scenery to create suspense. The actual music is eerie in nature and very atmospheric. The music often includes drones, instruments which were prepared (or as Bell put it: instruments they tortured) guitars, and some highly edited sounds.  It is often incidental in nature and doesn’t comment on the characters and the plot, but does comment on what is happening at that moment. In this case, the music doesn’t have an allegiance to one character or another, but an allegiance to the energy of the scene. One common thread with these soundtracks of these films (every one we are studying) is the high degree of editing which goes into creating the soundtrack. Every sound is meticulously crafted and placed within the scene, there are no stray sounds, nothing that wasn’t pre-planned. ​​