structure - batman vs the circus

Question 1

bars 1 - 12

Answer 1

tempo crotchet = 66

opening describes bat signal being lit and bruce wayne seeing it

• low B pedal begins
• batman motif played in brass them passed to low wind and then horns
• loud full tutti C#maj chord b 7 (as bruce stands in front of bat signal)
• tempo increases
• chords from b 9 are used in b 10&11 with long crescendo (Emin & C#maj)

Question 2

bars 13 - 25

Answer 2

tempo crotchet = 104

second section has comical feel tp represent ‘circus gang’ causing chaos - music represents this through cross-rhythms, frequent metre changes, syncopaton & fragments of ideas

• b 13 starts Emin
• ‘oom pah’ ostinato in trombones (idea 3) - circus motif
• cross-rhythms
• rhythmic displacement b 15 (by one beat)
• b 18 tempo increases and unprepared modulation to Cmin. dynamics become pp - enhances rhythmic side of music
• three-note giant motif appears in bass - becomes fragmented b 19&20 and is accompanied by brass chords which unsettle piece harmonically
• time signature changes form 4 to 2 to 3 to 4 (b 22-25)
• section ends with high violin glissando and muted triplet figure in trumpets

Question 3

bars 26 - 46

Answer 3

tempo crotchet = 170

• new ostinato in octaves in piano (idea 4) & xylophone starts next section with snare drum and temple blocks
• b 30-34 bassoon joins ostinato and trumpet adds accompanying figure (idea 1)
• diminished 7th b 31 to represent chaos gang is causing on street
• quick crescendo leads to change in time signature (b 35) & following a quiet snare drum roll music returns to quadruple time with ostinato from b 26 and new countermelody on xylophone
• b 35-36 - very vesatile horn playing (including quick change to stopping)
• b 43 whole-tone scale in harp followed b 45-46 with ostinato from b 26 combined with circus motif (idea 3) played on fairground steam organ

Question 4

bars 47 - 55

Answer 4

• another unprepared modulation to C#min
• fragments of batman motif b 47 as he appears on screen interspersed with ostinato from b 26 at b 50
• new musical feature appears b 55 in left hand of piano - descending 4 note phrase

Question 5

bars 56 - 66

Answer 5

• music returns to Bmin when batman motif is taken over by bried oboe phrase (which ascends and descends - later developed bar 60&63) played with extreme vibrato
• b 59 has descending figure in strings - extended b 61&62
• b 60 contains cross-rhythms with quaver triplets against two semiquavers and quaver, woodwind ‘flurry’ appears on top
• b 64 main batmab motif enters over chord of Eb played in strings

Question 6

bars 67 - end

Answer 6

• music has changed to Emin - elfman uses a cross-time signature idea - music written in triple time but sounds quadruple, with harmony changing donstantly to represent action
• bars 67 - 77 are most ‘chaotic’ in terms of music - b 70 low intruments play diminished 7th descending arpeggio followed by quick flouring in Emin (contraty motion to descending bass phrase)
• b 73-77 change to 5/4 with sustained chords (including augmented 4th b 74) accompanied by rhythmic ostinato in temple blocks and stabs on beats 1&3, finishing b 77 with mixture of whole-tone scale with C7 sextuplet in piccolo
• bars 78-81 music keeps driving forward with descending 4-note ostinato in lower strings, hint of xylophone idea used b 85 appears b 78, at b 81 on bar of 2/4 extends phrase with xylophone idea in bass
• b 82-84 batman motif i augmented to longest version of first 4 notes played by low brass, accompaned by 4-note ostinato to keep scene driving forward
• b 85 time signature changes to 5/4 to match action, xylophone has quick -note quaver idea - inverted on beart 4&5, sustained note in horn leads to b 88 one-bar batman moti accompanied by percussion
• b 89-90 contain full orchestral version of ‘oom-pah’ ostinato with temple blocks, muted brass fanfare snipet and harp gliss
• b 91-93 sudden shift of dynamics to p (from ff) which quick cresc back to f by beat 3, at end of bar is 4-quaver intro into variation on ostinato from b 26 (2 beats long) - extended to 3 beats with one beat rests, muted trumpets & horn accompany switching from strong to weak beats o unsettle pulse
• music starts to decrescendo until penultimate bar (low E) which crescendos from p to fff - piece ends on low E, not harmony played