Film Music 3 电影音乐3

The classic music for The Titanic and Legends of the Fall was written by James Horner. From the last essay, this one will seek to extend further the relationship between a film's message and its music's content.

The Titanic is undoubtedly one of the most touching and heart-grabbing romance films ever produced, aiming to discuss the concepts of “love” and “freedom,” demonstrating both the power of these two concepts and the connections in between. The theme music, namely “The Hymn to the Sea” and “Rose’s Theme,” capture the gist quite accurately. “The Hymn to the Sea” is in ¾ time, imitating traditional dance music, appearing most powerfully when the Titanic was about to be fully engulfed by the ocean. The main instruments selected by James Horner are the Irish bagpipe and vocal. The bagpipe produces a melodious and resonant sound that strongly touches one’s deepest emotions. The solo vocal in this song takes the most crucial position, revealing the melody to the audience. The timbre of the vocal assisted by sound effects corresponds to that of the bagpipe subtly, being similarly melodious and impactful emotionally. The arrangement in the latter half of this piece, where the vocals present a plethora of smooth and long textures, shows this powerful feature of this instrument adequately. These melodic and powerful characteristics present in “The Hymn to the Sea” dye the film in more romantic colors and free tones, thus ultimately helping it to discuss relevant concepts of “romance” or “freedom.”

One highlight of this composition by James Horner is that it is written in E and G Majors, which should deliver the happiness we usually associate with major scales. However, on the contrary, the piece displays an intimate and melancholic feeling. Two reasons explain why. First, putting this piece into context, it is usually present when the tragic plot is actively developed, or the eventual tragedy is unveiled. It is safe to conclude that the plot imbues the music with a heart-rending tone. Second, the bagpipe is an instrument that often appears traditionally at funerals. It is an instrument that is associated with tragedy in traditional culture. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, the timbre of the bagpipe strikes a chord with the heart's deepest emotions and can produce meandering and heartbreaking music sounds.

Another theme music that aids the film in presenting its motifs is Rose’s theme. It can be claimed that Rose’s theme is directly tied to romance. This theme can be categorized as a “Leitmotif,” which refers to a certain theme repeated throughout the film. A segment of this piece is cleverly inserted into the scene where Jack sees Rose on the deck for the first time, and since then appears in multiple variations in different variations, most evidently during the film's last scene. This repetition allows the audience to immerse fully, to view from the lenses of the two characters fully, and gain an understanding of romance and freedom from there.

The melody of this theme follows from “The Hymn to the Sea,” consisting of long notes anchored around the E. In terms of instrumentation, this piece continues to emphasize the role of the vocal, which serves to sing out the melody again. The tonality is sometimes identical to that in “The Hymn to the Sea.” There is a slight difference in the feelings the vocal delivers in this piece compared to “The Hymn to the Sea.” A peaceful, almost optimistic hue can be discovered in Rose's theme. This piece sounds like a genuine song of praise for love and freedom. The gentleness of the vocal does not get hooked with melancholy but can be imagined as intimate whispers of relief into the audience’s ears.

Another masterpiece by James Horner is the music for Legends of the Fall. The theme, “The Ludlows,” is a heart-touching piece that is beautifully knitted together with subtle uses of instrumentation, texture, and tonality. It delivers affectionately the film’s quest to explore the boundaries of human life and willpower.

There are three main sections to the music. The first part is solely composed for the piano. The middle section contains a classical orchestra. The last section is composed of a violin duet. The piano plays the initial motif in a dolce manner, using the pedal to create a lasting, warming feeling. But compared to the orchestra that comes in later, the piano's timbre is much shallower and simpler. The piano’s special timbre describes the easy, relaxing, and simple life the Ludlows had before the plot begins to climb to the climax. It creates a sharp contrast that amplifies the emotional effect of the later sections on the audience when the characters experience their tumultuous fates.

After the first part, the strings begin to play the main section and second motif. The melody phrases are long, meaning the strings can fully show their magic in carving out powerful emotions. The magnificent and sensational notes the strings produce send deep-running messages to the audience. They sigh about the fickleness and power of fate; they exclaim the adventures each character takes to reach the limits of human freedom; they carry the memories of both the simple and tumultuous times, blending these memories with a touch of fate. The strings are the most capable family of instruments to dye the music and the film scenes with depth and iridescence.

Towards the end, Horner arranged a violin duet to play the first motif again. This time, the violins produce a vastly different feel to the music compared to the piano at the start. The two violins add more textures and significant complexity to the music. This arrangement is another evidence that points out how “The Ludlows” correspond to the film's messages. After all the adventure and the struggles against fate, the film emphasizes that what truly matters is the growth characters experience, not necessarily the outcome of their lives. To showcase this incredible growth, Horner created direct contrast between the first and last parts of the piece. The more textured end signifies the characters' changes and implies the profound impacts these changes bring.

Finally, the tonality of the piece deserves discussion. The piece is in D Major, which creates an upward-lifting and positive feeling. But in this piece, the major tonality does not only convey this simple happiness. There is a slight solemness to the harmonies that is probably the result of the way they are arranged. This mix of positivity and a bit of solemness reveals the film’s multi-perspective discussion of human nature and fate, corresponding well with relevant motifs.

WORKS CITED

有一种心态叫知足.【黑胶】《Hymn to the sea》（海的咏叹）-Titanic（泰坦尼克号）." Bilibili,          21 Feb. 2022, https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1SS4y1F7Jj?spm_id_from=333.337.search-                card.all.click.

"Legends of the Fall · The Ludlows." YouTube, uploaded by HD Film Tributes, HD 
     Film Tributes, 16 Aug. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Iio8QmZY8A. Accessed 
     30 Jan. 2022.

《泰坦尼克号》和《燃情岁月》这两部经典电影的配乐均出自詹姆斯-霍纳之手。继上一篇文章，本文将就电影的主题与音乐之间的关系做进一步延伸阐述。

《泰坦尼克号》无疑是有史以来最感人、最振撼人心的爱情电影之一，其旨在讨论"爱情 "和 "自由 "的概念，展示它们之间的联系。主题音乐，即 "大海的赞歌 "和"Rose的主题"，相当准确地抓住了这部电影的要旨。 "大海的赞歌"采用3/4拍，模仿传统舞曲的风格，在泰坦尼克号最终沉没时最有力地显现。詹姆斯-霍纳选择的主要乐器是爱尔兰风笛配合人声。风笛发出的声音悠扬而嘹亮，深刻地触动人们最深的情感。在这首歌曲中，独唱的人声占据了最重要的位置，向观众揭示了旋律的内容。在音效的辅助下，人声的音色与风笛的音色巧妙地呼应起来，婉转悠扬，富有情感冲击。这首曲子后半部分的安排，人声呈现出大量流畅而悠长的纹理，充分显示了人声这一特征。“大海的赞歌”中呈现的这些旋律性和强有力的特点将影片染上了更充盈的浪漫色彩和自由的色调，从而最终帮助电影讨论 "爱情"与 "自由 "的相关概念。

詹姆斯-霍纳的这首作品的另一个亮点是，它是用E和G大调写成的。大调应该传递出我们通常所联系的普遍快乐。然而，恰恰相反，这首曲子显示出一种延绵和忧郁感。有两个原因可以解释为什么。首先，把这首曲子放在电影背景中，它通常出现在悲剧情节被发展和悲剧被揭开之时。可以断定，情节使音乐充满了令人心碎的色调。第二，传统上，风笛是一种经常出现在葬礼上的乐器，它在传统文化中一直与悲哀息息相关。此外，如前所述，风笛的音色与人内心深处的情感共鸣，使其能够产生音乐领域中相当蜿蜒和令人心碎的音调。

另一首《泰坦尼克号》值得关注的配乐是Rose的主题。可以说，Rose的主题直接与爱情联系在一起。这个主题是所谓的 "Leitmotif"，指的是在整个影片中多次重复的某段主题音乐。这首曲子的一个片段被巧妙地插入到杰克第一次在甲板上看到Rose的场景中，此后又以不同的变奏出现在多个场合，最明显的是在影片的最后一幕。这种重复让观众完全沉浸在影片中，并获得对浪漫和自由的理解。

这个主题的旋律沿袭了《大海的赞歌》，由长音组成，固定在E音周围。在乐器方面，这首曲子继续强调声乐的作用，再次唱出旋律。调性与《大海的赞歌》中的调性相同，都是大调。不过与 "大海的赞歌 "相比，这首曲子中的声乐所表达的感情有一点不同。在Rose的主题中，可以发现一种和平的、几乎是乐观的色调。这首曲子听起来像是一首真正的赞美爱情和自由的歌。人声的温柔并没有被忧郁所迷惑，而是可以想象成是对听众耳边的解脱的亲密耳语。

詹姆斯-霍纳的另一个杰作是《燃情岁月》的音乐。主题 "卢德勒一家 "是一首触动人心的乐曲，通过对乐器、质地和音调的微妙运用，有机地编织在一起，传递出影片对深刻探索人类生命和意志力极限的追求。

该音乐有三个主要部分。第一部分完全是为钢琴创作，中间部分包含一个古典管弦乐队，最后一个部分是为小提琴二重奏而作。钢琴以一种柔和的方式演奏最初的动机，利用踏板创造一种持久、温暖的感觉。但与后来加入的管弦乐队相比，钢琴的音色要浅得多，也简单许多。我相信这个安排是霍纳的特殊布置。钢琴的特殊音色描述了卢德勒夫妇在情节开始攀升到高潮之前的轻松、惬意、简单的生活。它创造了一个鲜明的对比，放大了后面部分主人公跌宕起伏的命运对观众情感的冲击。

第一部分结束后，弦乐开始演奏这个主题音乐的主要部分和第二个动机。旋律乐句非常长，意味着弦乐可以充分展示其在刻画强大情感方面的魔力。弦乐所发出的拉长的、华丽的、深刻的声音向观众传递着深沉的信息。它们叹息着命运的无常与力量；它们感叹着每个人物为达到人类自由的极限而进行的必要冒险；它们承载着简单和动荡的记忆，并将这些记忆与命运的气息融合在一起。弦乐是能够为音乐和电影场景染上如此深度与色彩的最有能力的乐器家族。

在接近尾声时，霍纳安排了一个小提琴二重奏，再次演奏第一个动机。不过这一次，与开始时的钢琴相比，小提琴给音乐带来了不同感觉。两把小提琴给音乐增加了明显的质感和复杂性。这一安排是另一个证据，它指出了"卢德勒一家 "是如何与电影的主旨相对应的。在所有的冒险与命运的斗争之后，影片旨在强调，真正重要的是人物所经历的成长，而不是他们生活的结果。为了展示这种促进思考的成长，霍纳在作品的第一部分和最后一部分之间创造了直接的衬托。更有质感和多层次的结尾标志着人物的变化，并暗示了这些变化的深刻影响。

最后，这首曲子的调性值得讨论。这首曲子是D大调，正如前面所分析的那样，它同样创造了一种普遍的向上和积极的感觉。但在这首曲子中，大调性并没有传达出这些简单的快乐感动。和声有一种轻微的庄严感，这可能是它们的演奏方式所造成的。这种既积极又庄重的混合，揭示了电影对人性与命运多角度的深入探讨，与相关主题巧妙地遥相呼应。