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Volume 20 Issue 3 - November 2014

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Kubrick (left) on theset

Kubrick (left) on theset of Barry Lyndonhiring a composer who, however good he may be, is not a Mozart or aBeethoven, when you have such a vast choice of existing orchestral musicwhich includes contemporary and avant-garde work. Doing it this waygives you the opportunity to experiment with the music early in theediting phase, and in some instances to cut the scene to the music. Thisis not something you can easily do in the normal sequence of events.”Purcell’s Queen Mary: The choice to use Henry Purcell’s Music for theFuneral of Queen Mary in seven separate scenes of A Clockwork Orange(1971) was an inspired one. Even more inspired was to begin the film withthe “March” from that work arranged for Moog synthesizer by WendyCarlos, who according to the director “has done something completelyunique in the field of electronic realization of music – that’s the phrasethat they use. I think that I’ve heard most of the electronic music andmusique concrète LPs there are for sale in Britain, Germany, France andthe United States; not because I particularly like this kind of music, butout of my researches for 2001 and A Clockwork Orange.”British patriotism is evoked sardonically with the use of the first andfourth marches from Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance. Rossini’s Overtureto the Thieving Magpie makes a great partner to Alex’s ultra-violencewhile the same composer’s Willliam Tell Overture supports a sadder partof his story. Less than two minutes of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazadeare used to accompany Alex’s Biblical prison fantasies. The unconventional,brilliant use of “Singin’ in the Rain” was a sudden inspiration onKubrick’s part after three days of rehearsal of the difficult rape scene:“Then suddenly the idea popped into my head – I don’t know where itcame from or what triggered it off.”As for the crucial excerpts of Beethoven’s music, the Ninth Symphonyis Alex’s theme song and different parts of it appear in several scenes. Butfor pure irony it’s hard to beat the first four notes of the Fifth, the Fatemotif, that Alex hears as he rings the doorbell of F. Alexander’s house.Handel and Schubert: For the music in Barry Lyndon (1975) Kubrickfirst wanted André Previn, who was too busy, then Nino Rota, who wasconcerned – rightly – that the director would want little or no originalcomposition, bowed out amicably. Typically, the hiring of LeonardRosenman as musical arranger, turned out splendidly. Not only did hetweak the classical score to make it fit every crevice of Kubrick’s cinematiclandscape, he won an Oscar for his efforts.Kubrick famously wanted nothing in his 18th century drama to beanachronistic, down to the candles that lit the sets after dark. His use ofSchubert, the sublime second movement from the Piano Trio Op.100,the German Dance No.1 in C and the first five bars of the ImpromptuOp.90 No.1 (to end the first half of the film and begin the second), raisedmany eyebrows. He had no qualms explaining it to Ciment: “Initially,I thought it was right to use only 18th-century music. But sometimesyou can make ground-rules for yourself which prove unnecessary andcounter-productive. I think I must have listened to every LP you canbuy of 18th-century music. One of the problems which soon becameapparent is that there are no tragic love-themes in 18th-century music.So eventually I decided to use Schubert’s Trio in E Flat, Op.100, written in1828. It’s a magnificent piece of music and it has just the right restrainedbalance between the tragic and the romantic without getting into theheadier stuff of later Romanticism.”The rest of the score conformed to Kubrick’s original criteria withmaterial ranging widely from Frederick the Great to Mozart, Paisello,Leclair and Bach, with traditional music supplied principally by theChieftans, all anchored by the Sarabande from Handel’s Suite for HarpsichordNo.4 in D minor (which appears ten times). Kubrick had originallythought that Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons would play a prominent role,but he dismissed that idea because he thought the piece had too muchbaggage and would unduly colour the audience’s perception of the film.He chose Pierre Fournier’s version of the third movement of Vivaldi’sCello Concerto in E minor instead. It was, of course, from his own collectionand illustrated (along with choosing Karajan’s versions of the twoStrauss works in 2001) the mindset of someone who would settle onlyfor the best and work obsessively to get there.continues to page 7886nov 7–8, 2014, 8pmt h e p o e m /the songMargaret Atwood and Ensembleperformers explore the liminalspace between poetry and music.production sponsorJames & Margaret Fleckdecember 15, 2014, 8pmmadeleine peyrouxand the artof time ensembleBack by popular demand,the chart-topping chanteusesings her favourite tunes.co-presenterlocation: harbourfront centre theatre, toronto | tickets: –visit artoftimeensemble.com or call 416 973 4000 to orderseason sponsorgovernment supportseason supportseason patronsEli & Phil Taylor10 | November 1 - December 7, 2014 thewholenote.com

KOERNER HALL IS:“A beautiful space for music ”THE GLOBE AND MAILFrank Morelli& FriendsSUN., NOV. 9, 2014 1PMMAZZOLENI CONCERT HALLBassoonist Frank Morelli plays chamberworks by Schumann, Villa-Lobos,and Weber along with the BeethovenQuintet in E flat for piano andwoodwinds. Special guests includeSusan Hoeppner, Joaquin Valdepeñas,Sarah Jeffrey, Gabriel Radford,James Anagnoson, and Jeannie Chung.Jeremy DenkSUN., NOV. 9, 2014 3PMKOERNER HALL“Mr. Denk, clearly, is apianist you want to hearno matter what he performs.”(The New York Times)He will perform works byJanáček, Schubert, Mozart,and Schumann.Generously supported by Doug Bodley.Lu Jia conducts the China NCPAOrchestra and Xiaoyu LiuTUES., NOV. 11, 2014 8PM KOERNER HALLMaestro Lu Jia leads one of China’s most dynamic orchestrasin a performance of works by Tchaikovsky, Chen, and Ravel.Presented in association with the National Arts Centre of Canada.Leonidas Kavakos and Yuja WangFRI., NOV. 14, 2014 8PM KOERNER HALLPiano virtuosa Wang forms a dynamic duo with Kavakos, oneof the world’s top violinists and Gramophone Awards 2014 Artistof the Year, to perform works by Brahms, Schumann, Stravinsky,and Respighi.Taylor AcademyShowcase ConcertSAT., NOV. 15, 2014 4:30PMMAZZOLENI CONCERT HALLFREE (TICKET REQUIRED)The Phil and Eli TaylorPerformance Academy forYoung Artists presents concertsby the leading young classicalmusicians in Canada. Hearthe stars of tomorrow!Richard GoodeSUN., NOV. 16, 2014 3PMKOERNER HALLPiano virtuoso Goode willperform works by Mozart,Beethoven, Brahms,Debussy, and Schumann.Presented in associationwith Music TORONTO.TICKETS START AT ONLY ! 416.408.0208 www.performance.rcmusic.ca273 BLOOR STREET WEST(BLOOR ST. & AVENUE RD.)TORONTOthewholenote.com November 1 - December 7, 2014 | 11

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