Exam I

Question 1

learned style

Answer 1

A musical style that shows off technical complexity, esoteric knowledge, and deference to the past. Meant to impress and delight a group of musical insiders. What counts as a learned style changes as time goes on; for a composer in 1650, it would have meant referencing music from the 1500s, for example.

Question 2

paranoid style

Answer 2

A common theme throughout his filmography is a cinematic paranoia; “the Paranoid style” was coined by writer Richard Hofstadter: the “sense of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy” that makes much of American culture & politics [and film!].

Question 3

a cappella

Answer 3

Without musical accompaniment

Question 4

absolute music

Answer 4

A distinction invented in the 19th century to describe music that stands on its own without reference to the outside world in any way. There is no plot, text, or narrative.

Question 5

accompanist

Answer 5

a person who provides a musical accompaniment to another musician or to a singer.

Question 6

adagio

Answer 6

a slow tempo

Question 7

affect

Answer 7

have an effect on; make a difference to.

Question 8

arranger

Answer 8

someone who arranges a piece of music for a music director, music producer, conductor, a group of performers or a single performer.

Question 9

audiovisual congruence

Answer 9

The relationship between what you’re hearing and what you’re seeing. The music has a large effect on what you’re seeing and vice versa! Most mainstream film music

Question 10

blue note

Answer 10

a minor interval where a major would be expected, used especially in jazz.

Question 11

bridge

Answer 11

In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section that prepares for the return of the original material section.

Question 12

brightness/darkness

Answer 12

a visual analogy used to describe music

Question 13

canon

Answer 13

one melody established and then played against itself. E.g. “row, row, row your boat”. They must be very carefully composed so that they don’t clash against each other.

Question 14

celesta

Answer 14

a keyboard instrument that uses chimes rather than strings. like the one used in the main theme of “Harry Potter”

Question 15

chorale

Answer 15

a thick series of chords with not a lot of counterpoint

Question 16

chord

Answer 16

three or more notes played at once

Question 17

clarity/density

Answer 17

a way to convey the amount of musical information happening at once

Question 18

cluster

Answer 18

multiple notes (usually adjacent) played at the same time

Question 19

coda

Answer 19

a passage that brings a piece (or a movement) to an end

Question 20

concerto

Answer 20

a piece written for solo instrument and orchestra, used to show off the special talents of the soloist (e.g. Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto). Concerti would be considered absolute music, with the exception of Williams’ Bassoon Concerto (also titled “The Five Sacred Trees”). For Williams and for most concerto writers, the concerti are written for a specific person. To write a concerto requires intimate knowledge of the possibilities and challenges of the solo instrument.

Question 21

consonance/dissonance

Answer 21

sounds that seem resolved and stable vs sounds that are less stable (e.g. a major chord vs. a dominant 7th)

Question 22

Coplandesque

Answer 22

refers to American composer Aaron Copland, an incredibly popular composer. Composed “populist” music. Williams likes to use this as a shorthand for Americana styles.

Question 23

cue

Answer 23

music that accompanies a particular scene, usually around 5 minutes at the longest. Williams’ cues are around two minutes, give or take a minute or so. (N.B. not the same as a track on a soundtrack)

Question 24

diatonic

Answer 24

involving only notes proper to the prevailing key without chromatic alteration

Question 25

chromatic

Answer 25

relating to or using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage is written (the opposite of diatonic)

Question 26

diegetic / non-diegetic

Answer 26

music is music that could reasonably occur within the world that is being portrayed (also referred to as “source music”). For example, a radio in a movie or a group of musicians. Film scores are generally non-diegetic; the characters in Harry Potter aren’t hearing this 80-piece orchestra and simply not remarking on it!

Question 27

dynamics

Answer 27

volume, loudness, amplitude. It matters for film music, as you don’t want to overwhelm dialogue.

Question 28

fanfare

Answer 28

very bold music written for brass instruments (trumpets, trombones, etc.), typically thought of to announce the arrival of a king.

Question 29

form

Answer 29

how musical ideas are presented over longer periods of time

Question 30

fugue

Answer 30

like a canon on steroids. A fugue is a musical genre based on strict contrapuntal procedures, including an opening exposition where a musical theme (subject) is introduced and set against itself in increasingly dense canonic imitation. An example from classical music is Bach’s wonderful “Little Fugue in G Minor”. The word fugue comes from the Latin word “fugare”, meaning “to chase”. Fugues in film music are usually used in action scenes

Question 31

hagiography

Answer 31

any telling of a story of a person in saint-like terms. Hagiography is the extreme version of saying nice things about him. Spielberg likes to do this, particularly with presidents of the United States

Question 32

harmony

Answer 32

combination of simultaneous notes

Question 33

historiography

Answer 33

the study of historical writing

Question 34

hymn

Answer 34

a singable, typically religious, song

Question 35

idiolect

Answer 35

refers to the specific voice of an individual person that allows their voice to be distinguished from another. This also refers to a composer’s particular fingerprints and quirks that allows their music to be distinguished.

Question 36

idiom

Answer 36

“style”. Refers to musical genre. There is no one “film musical style”. It is, by its very nature, eclectic. Film musical doesn’t adhere to a single idiom.

Question 37

interval

Answer 37

the distance between two notes

Question 38

major/minor

Answer 38

major music feels “happy”, whereas minor music is “sad”. This is a gross oversimplification.

Question 39

melody

Answer 39

Williams is probably most famous for his memorable melodies: recognizable statements of music that could be sung by a single person. This is incredibly useful for branding, as a melody is a good way to get it stuck in the viewer’s head. That central theme is present in all the Harry Potter movies.

Question 40

Mickey-Mousing vs. Overall Scoring

Answer 40

Mickey-Mousing is writing music that punctuates every event on screen. This was considered a derogatory term about Hollywood music (Max Steiner, etc.) Overall scoring is music that doesn’t feel obligated to catch every gesture or event on screen.

Question 41

mode

Answer 41

a certain organization of notes/pitches

Question 42

monologue

Answer 42

a long speech by one actor in a play or movie, or as part of a theatrical or broadcast program

Question 43

music contractor

Answer 43

Music contractors connect clients in the film, television, theater, and live music industries with the musical talent they need for their recordings and performances.

Question 44

musical authenticity

Answer 44

whether or not music is "authentic" to a certain group of people

Question 45

musical desecration

Answer 45

the "desecration"/ruining of a musical idea/theme

Question 46

musical nostalgia

Answer 46

nostalgia but music

Question 47

musical point of view

Answer 47

the idea that any musical underscore can attempt to sway you, as a viewer and take the side of one of the characters in the story.

Question 48

musical populism

Answer 48

music designed to appeal to the ordinary person

Question 49

musical universalism

Answer 49

“An octave on a Stradivarius is one thing. An octave on a little wooden flute in the New Guinea jungle is the same thing. It is universal.” (John Williams, 2019 interview with CBS Sunday Morning)

Question 50

mythopoetics

Answer 50

the deliberate creation of myths

Question 51

neo-baroque

Answer 51

Styles which emulate or recapture the aesthetic of the period of European music from 1600-1750, marked by rise of instrumental forms, consolidation of functional tonality, emphasis on complex, ornamentation, and contrapuntal sophistication, especially in the 20th century

Question 52

occasional music

Answer 52

music written for a non-musical occasion, the opening of a concert hall for example (e.g. Bernstein’s MASS)

Question 53

orchestration

Answer 53

How to write for specific instruments, both digital and acoustic. Most of the time in film scores, there is an orchestrator who takes the sketch of a composer and fleshes it out. Williams is unique in that he writes incredibly detailed sketches, possibly because he was an orchestrator many decades ago.

Question 54

ostinato

Answer 54

a short musical pattern that recurs in proximity to itself; obstinate, repetitious, etc.

Question 55

pedal

Answer 55

a low sustained note over which other material happens of its own accord

Question 56

program music

Answer 56

music that has a program: some sort of narrative or story or reference to any non-musical idea

Question 57

rhythm

Answer 57

the temporal aspect of music; how sound is organized in time. Williams has identified this as the most important aspect of a cue is, and he thinks about rhythm before he thinks about melody, instrumentation, or anything else.

Question 58

scherzo

Answer 58

a fast-moving stand-alone piece of instrumental music, characterized by elements of surprise in dynamics and form, originally with a comedic or light tone. In modern usages, showcases brilliant instrumental and orchestrational technique. Often in a triple (3/4) or compound-duple (6/8) meter. The word “scherzo” comes from the Italian for “joke”. Scherzos (scherzi?) are usually associated with chase music, and have a fantasy element. Examples from classical music include Mendelsohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Shostakovich’s “Symphony no. 10”. Examples from Williams’ music include his “Scherzo for Today” and the “Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra” from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

Question 59

spiritual

Answer 59

a song, usually performed a cappella, that is often connected with faith and associated with black America

Question 60

spotting

Answer 60

what happens when the composer and director sit down after the film has been mostly shot, and identify places where music is needed, and what kind of music

Question 61

stinger

Answer 61

an industry term that refers to a sudden burst of music that is loud, sudden, and punctuates an action

Question 62

stretto

Answer 62

rapid fire successive imitation of a melody in multiple instruments or voices. This is used to intensify a moment, and often accompanies action moments (the two examples we were shown came from Indiana Jones).

Question 63

synchronization

Answer 63

The aligning of the visuals and the music

Question 64

texture

Answer 64

the way music is presented. E.g. block chords being repeated vs an arpeggio

Question 65

temp-track

Answer 65

an existing piece of music or audio which is used during the editing phase of television and film production, serving as a guideline for the tempo, mood or atmosphere the director is looking for in a scene

Question 66

theme vs. motif

Answer 66

a theme is something longer (a melody), something that takes some time and has a beginning, middle and end. A motif, however, is much shorter. The motif could be three notes, or a component of a theme

Question 67

third-stream

Answer 67

genre of music named and promulgated by composer Gunther Schuller (1957) that aims to synthesize jazz and classical styles, particularly the rhythmic and improvisatory qualities of the former and the formal and orchestrational qualities of the latter. Characteristic of 1950s-60s. Has had a complex and ambivalent historical influence, historiographical reception. An example from Williams’ music is “The Knight Bus” scene from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Question 68

timbral associativity

Answer 68

what we associate certain timbres/instruments with (e.g. the “music box” in Jurassic Park or the use of the trumpet to symbolize heroism, etc.)

Question 69

timbral palette

Answer 69

instruments/combinations of instruments that are used in a score/work

Question 70

timbre

Answer 70

(pronounced tam-ber), what makes the sound of a piano different from a violin; the distinct sonic quality of an instrument.

Question 71

tonal/atonal

Answer 71

tonal music has a musical “home” that you can return to. Atonal music can be really useful for scenes with thrilling aspects

Question 72

underscore

Answer 72

the playing of music quietly under spoken dialogue or a visual scene. It is usually done to establish a mood or theme, frequently used to recall and/or foreshadow a musical theme important to the character(s) and/or plot point, onstage or onscreen.