[lit-ideas] Re: J.S. Bach and Unchained Memories

  • From: Eric Yost <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2008 06:22:05 -0400

Phil cites; "1. Magnificent use of Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' throughout the movie 'Die Hard' 2. The rock band, Evanescence, twice sampling Mozart's 'Requiem' in 'Anything For You' and then 'Lacrymosa'

3. A more personal connection: Watching the earlier Star Wars (i.e.
Episodes 4-6), I keep hearing Dvorak's 'New World Symphony', a
sentimental favourite of mine.


Eric: Surely you jest. "Crossover" means ... what? Do you think any reasonable percentage of the audience for these "products" would recognize the Beethoven Ninth or Mozart's Requiem? How can something "cross over" if it has not retained its identity?

For example, in the Die Hard I, Schiller's Ode to Pan-Europeanism in Beethoven's setting, has been transformed into a brief backdrop for the glee of a bunch of bank robbers at opening a safe. How is that a magnificent use? The Vaughn Monroe song at the end's more to the point.

Here's a "magnificent" use of veiled esoteric reference: in Interview with a Vampire, Tom Cruise sings "Non piu adrai, farfallone amoroso" from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro while dancing with the corpse of a prostitute. (No more fluttering for that amorous butterfly.)

As for John Williams' Star Wars Music, he's the Global King of Ripoffs ... you'll find a lot of Richard Strauss, Mahler, Copland, Stravinsky, even Delius in his mighty opuses. That means what? That he can tear out fragments from classic works, repackage them without people noticing, and insert them into films in order to tell the audience what to feel?

What crosses over? The adagio from Mahler's Fifth with an added drum track and a montage of thoughtful actors so you know you're supposed to feel "thoughtful"? [Insert emoticon here.]


Phil: I have no patience for the 'Kids are stupider these days' attitude, an attitude which in my opinion says more about the holder of said attitude than 'kids these days'.

Eric: Do you say the same for those who hold a "culture is stupider" attitude?

If you sang "Kill the Wabbit" twoscore ago, kids might recall Elmer Fudd wearing a Valkyrie's helmet and be led to some vague operatic or Wagnerian association. Maybe.

Now? A few older kids might have seen the helicopter attack sequence from Apocalypse Now. Neither group would have understood that the Valkyrie's ride is a good thing. Yet a few of the Elmer Fudd group were much more likely to being led to find out.
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