The Influence of Classical Music in Film Score

We all know that the written music for film makes use of clichés as an anchor point for a necessary emotional connection with the public. And well known are the gadgets that composers used to convey emotions, based on preconceived relationship that the viewer already have about what this or that musical passage can mean, for example: A clarinet in descending scale evokes a dizzying fall in the style of cartoons, a slow melody in a minor key assigned to cellos and basses suggest mystery or an ostinato rhythm in seconds playded by the  violins could take us into a scene of horror as Alfred Hitchcock´s Psycho (composed by Bernard Herrmann)

But how these clichés are born? Who have taken the risk to innovate and contribute new sounds that enrich the palette of harmonies and musical textures applicable to the movies?

Many composers have opened the way, and one of them in my opinion is Igor Stravinsky and especially today I want to name his ballet Petrushka as a contribution not only to music for film, but the incidental music in general.

 This is the story of Petrushka, a puppet that comes to life influenced by the spell of the the Charlatan (a magician) who runs the small theater where he also lives with the Ballerina and the Moor.

Ballerina

The Master Stravinsky created a masterpiece for this story using among other things polytonality (his famous Petrushka chord for example) creating numerous gestures and textures that were, in my opinion as inspiration for many composers. In this work we can enjoy wonderful local color Russians in great dances and incidental music samples as well.

Stravinsky with Nijinsky as Petrushka

 

This link will take you to a synopsis of the piece