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A math guy's random thoughts. |
Actually, this one is just four notes, the ones that define the Dies Irae, a Gregorian chant dating to the thirteenth century. More generally, this chant uses Dorian Mode.  , something that turns out to be pretty common in popular music, whether intentional or not. The "la-la-las" from Horse With No Name from last year's soundtrack use Dorian mode, for one example. There's a YouTube video with snippets from fifty popular songs that use Dorian mode. But back to those four notes, the ones in the Dies Irae. One of the longer stories that I wrote last year, "Dreamin' Life Away" , broke into twelve short chapters, and each had a musical theme. This is a slipstream story in which Dante, the point-of-view character, travels to the 1950s via a subway in his basement. Given his name, you can guess another famous literary journey that provides rich fodder the many metaphors in this story. Anyway, the third chapter, "Chapter 4--Danse Macabre" uses a movement from Liszt's Totentantz that quotes those four notes. In this chapter, Dante strikes a deal to get new clothes, playing on the Faust legend. If you're interested in the specific Liszt piece, there's a YouTube video linked at the start of the chapter. Instead of linking to Liszt here, I thought I'd instead link to a more interesting video that gives a half dozen or more examples of where these four notes have appeared in movies, ranging from Star Wars to Fritz Lang's Metropolis to the Capra classic It's a Good Life. Probably the most iconic example, though, appears in the opening credits to Kubrick's The Shining, where Jack and Wendy's VW winds through mounttain passes on the way to the Overlook Hotel. The Dies Irae plays in the background, alerting readers to the horror that's about to come. Watch this video on the Dies Irae. It's worth time. |
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