Batman vs the Circus Flashcards
Batman
Starts on a (harmony)
Tonic pedal B
Which theme is heard? And on which instruments?
Batman’s theme
Cello and trumpets
After the cellos and trumpets play Batman’s theme, it is then dovetailed to…(instruments)
The bassoons, and bass clarinets
The Celeste and harp play semiquavers of pitches….of…
1,3,4,5
Batman’s theme
The strings play an….in a really…register
(B. 4)
Unfinished Batman’ s theme tremolando
High
Bar 7 sustained chord
C# major
After the sustained C# major chord, we then go to…(key)
E minor
The timpani plays…to…
Roll
Prepare the audience for a change in
The timpani crescendos from fp to….in bar 11
Sfzpp (extra intensity)
The clarinet plays…(rhythm) and the…appears
Triplets
Penguin’s waddle
Wider listening
Katchaturian’s Saber Dance
Bar 18 the tempo is…and there’s fragments of…theme
170 bpm (quick)
Catwoman’s theme
The trumpets play with
Mute
Time signatures throughout the piece
AO4
2 4, 3 4, 4 4
Unsettling atmosphere
The violins play (performance technique)
Include wider listening
Glissando to G
Psycho : shower scene
In the funky section, the xylophone plays
Cm arpeggio
In the funky section, the piano plays..
4 bar ostinato (staccato)
Which instruments join in the funky section
Temple blocks and snare drum
What do the temple blocks do
Doubles the piano 4 octaves above
In the funky section…except for…(notes)
All semitones played except for E and Bb
3 different 4 note whole tone collection
Wider listening for whole tone collection
Stravinsky: rite of spring
AO4 captures chaos
The pitches of the trumpets are derived from…(wider listening)
Hexachord
Rite of spring
The marimba melody is based on (pitches)
6 pitches
Describe the melody in the funky section
Disjunct -> characterises the poodle trodding
In the funky section the snare plays tremolo and then the timpani plays 4 semiquaver notes. What is happening on screen
Explosion
The xylophone in bar 36 (after the explosion), plays a frenetic…
Ostinato
The horns in bar 36 (after the explosion), play…
Accented version of Batman’s motif
After the explosion,the piano plays
A second ostinato in metric shifting, pointillist motif (chaos)
Before the horns play glissando you can hear…(harmony and melody)
Violent diminished 7th arpeggio
The bar before the horns play glissandos, there is a … played in the percussion
Whole tone scale to finish the section
When the harp plays glissandos up and down of a whole tone scale in F#. What is happening on the screen
(B. 43-44)
Window smashed
What is cause by the harp’s glissandos and the string accompaniment playing tremolo
(Harmony)
Tritone
Wider listening for tritone
Stravinsky : petrushka chord
What is significant about the amount of notes the bass drums plays in b. 45 (just after hearing the glissandos in the harp)
5 notes = 5 notes in Batman’s theme
Which instrument joins in b. 45 after the harps glissando
AO4
Fairground steam organ -> associated with freak shows or grotesque / absurd scenes
The brass plays an…. In bar 50-51 (performance technique)
AO4
Extreme lip trill
Sounds like a siren -> perhaps suggesting that the police is after Batman
The trumpets play consecutive…(rhythm) which introduces the…harmonised as a…
Triplets
Batman’s theme harmonised as a full chord for triumphant effect
Wider listening
Cartoon music I.e. Tom and jerry
When the oboe has to play extreme vibrato in bar 57. What’s the melody like?
Warped
The temple blocks play a…
Rhythmic motif
The strings in bar 59 play a…
Two 4 note ostinato based on diminished 4th
Listen out for…(rhythm)
Cross rhythms
The fairground steam organ plays a…version of… in bar 62
Shorter (diminished)
Penguin’ s theme
B. 67 harmony
Half diminished E
In bar 73, the horns play….of pitches…
Sustained pedal notes
Pitches 2,3,4 of Batman’s theme
During the horns playing the long sustained pedal notes, what is occurring on screen
Batman puts a rocket launcher on his shoulder. The pedal notes create an ominous and foreboding effect
Wider listening for the long sustained pedal notes in horns
“Mars” from Planet of the Apes (?)
Which unusual chord is played on bar 77
Petrushka chord -> harmony revolves around C7
In bar 78, the xylophone recycles…
The semitone fragment from b. 36-39
In b. 82, the low brass plays a…version of Batman’s theme.
AO4
Augmented
Slow motion effect to follow what’s occurring on screen (his device is flying through the air)
Towards the end of the piece, the final version of Batman’s theme is heard in the trombone and tuba. But it is a…version
Truncated
After the truncated version of Batman’s theme…(texture)
Tutti orchestral effect
Towards the end, the harp plays a….which accompanies the scene on screen. This is because…
Wider listening and say what technique this is
Glissando
Batman gets hit
“Mambo” from West Side Story
Mickey Mousing technique
Towards the end of the piece, the base plays an…of a…
Ominous oscillating accompaniment of a Tritone
