Publication details
Different Compositional Work with Ethnic Music Elements: Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and Yentl (1983)
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| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The integration of ethnic music into film scores is a quite common phenomenon. Its main purpose is to serve as a means which allows a relatively swift identification of the film’s locale or a specific ethnic background of individual characters. From the compositional point of view there are myriad ways of working with ethnic music in the film score, ranging from the most authentic form and interpretation possible – predominantly as diegetic music – to subtle hints created by blending ethnic elements into the score through the use of a particular musical instrument or a harmonic or melodic element – predominantly as non-diegetic music. In my contribution I will be analysing the music adaptation by John Williams for the Fiddler on the Roof feature film (1971) and score by Michel Legrand for Yentl (1983). My analysis will build on the parallelism of genre (both films are musicals), of geographical setting as well as of cultural and religious themes (both are set in Ashkenazi Jewish „shtetls“ in the geographical area of what is now Poland and Ukraine) and of time setting (both are set into the first decade of 20th century). I will attempt to compare the different methods of working with Jewish music in each of the films and to assess the level of authenticity or stylization. Hence, the analysis will focus on the overall musical approach, the form, instrumentation and orchestration, both melodic and harmonic components as well as the interpretation. Finally, based on compositional style, I will attempt to set each of the scores in a broader context of film music created by John Williams and Michel Legrand respectively. |