The Music of Who part I: Rose and The Doctor
The music is one of my favourite things about Doctor Who. Murray Gold has been writing it since the reboot started and I think he's doing a wonderful job, despite the fact that for the first 3 seasons he didn't have an orchestra to work with (The BBC National Orchestra Wales plays for Doctor Who now). The music is very sensitive to the different kinds of drama on the show--this sounds obvious but I've heard some movie music that was mega inappropriate (Like that movie Alexander. What a shit show). When there are intimate moments, the music is simple, often vocal. There's super fun and exciting action music. And when the Weeping Angels are there the music heightens the terror.
Gold writes with leitmotifs. You can hear them everywhere throughout the series. If you're a big nerd and a musician like me, you start to hear these things and recognise patterns. You also start writing about it on your blog. The Doctor has a theme, each companion has a theme and so do the prominent villains. When series 7 started up my ear was looking for Clara's theme and there it was, in her very first episode. Genius.
Now, I haven't delved into each theme, analysing it and such--I'm not a theory major or a Wagner enthusiast--but as far as I can tell, each theme is original and doesn't seem to borrow from anything well-known. I could be wrong though, I don't know everything. Maybe you musicians who know more rep than me can help me out.
Let's start at the beginning:
The Doctor's theme is very mysterious-sounding. It also borrows those big melodic leaps from the main theme of the show, which I'm sure, isn't a coincidence. It appears right from the first episode of the reboot and is played purposefully when Rose is watching the Doctor from afar, wondering who this man could be. Here's me nerding out. Big time:
Rose's theme is very beautiful, heartbreaking and vaguely dancing. It makes me cry like a baby sometimes. The first time we hear Rose's theme is in episode 1.2. It's when she goes through two very shocking moments: She's just witnessed "The Fury of a Timelord"; the Doctor letting someone die because he feels they deserve it. She realises that he isn't the hero she thought he was. Sometimes, he's a monster; a scary dude with issues. In the next moment she sees the destruction of Earth 5 billion years in her future. The sun has expanded, the solar system is slowly dissolving, and her planet is lost forever. In a way Rose is contemplating, maybe for the first time in her young life, her own mortality.
I'd say that calls for a leitmotif, bitches! (Wagner would be so proud...) Here's the original version from the soundtrack (sans orchestra, but well done all the same, I think):
Stay tuned for part II!
Gold writes with leitmotifs. You can hear them everywhere throughout the series. If you're a big nerd and a musician like me, you start to hear these things and recognise patterns. You also start writing about it on your blog. The Doctor has a theme, each companion has a theme and so do the prominent villains. When series 7 started up my ear was looking for Clara's theme and there it was, in her very first episode. Genius.
Now, I haven't delved into each theme, analysing it and such--I'm not a theory major or a Wagner enthusiast--but as far as I can tell, each theme is original and doesn't seem to borrow from anything well-known. I could be wrong though, I don't know everything. Maybe you musicians who know more rep than me can help me out.
Let's start at the beginning:
The Doctor's theme is very mysterious-sounding. It also borrows those big melodic leaps from the main theme of the show, which I'm sure, isn't a coincidence. It appears right from the first episode of the reboot and is played purposefully when Rose is watching the Doctor from afar, wondering who this man could be. Here's me nerding out. Big time:
Rose's theme is very beautiful, heartbreaking and vaguely dancing. It makes me cry like a baby sometimes. The first time we hear Rose's theme is in episode 1.2. It's when she goes through two very shocking moments: She's just witnessed "The Fury of a Timelord"; the Doctor letting someone die because he feels they deserve it. She realises that he isn't the hero she thought he was. Sometimes, he's a monster; a scary dude with issues. In the next moment she sees the destruction of Earth 5 billion years in her future. The sun has expanded, the solar system is slowly dissolving, and her planet is lost forever. In a way Rose is contemplating, maybe for the first time in her young life, her own mortality.
I'd say that calls for a leitmotif, bitches! (Wagner would be so proud...) Here's the original version from the soundtrack (sans orchestra, but well done all the same, I think):
Stay tuned for part II!
Excellent post. You display both aptitudes (singing and being a huge nerd) with aplomb!!
ReplyDeleteYes, nice way to merge your two disciplines!
ReplyDelete