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music and was impressed he had waxman hired by universal to compose the music for the upcoming frankenstein sequel waxman s resources were limited as to the number of musicians he had his basic core orchestra was 22 players but for certain scenes he had as many as 40 it s not known exactly how many of each instrument he had access to but roughly he used 3 flutes with one doubling on piccolo 2 oboes with one doubling english horn 3 clarinets including a bass clarinet 2 bassoons one doubling on contra bassoon 4 horns 3 trumpets 3 trombones 1 tuba 1 timpani player 3 percussionists 1 harp 1 2 keyboard players for piano celeste and the essential pipe organ used to fill out the harmonies a greatly reduced string section exact numbers unknown musicians would come and go as needed for recording specific scenes waxman used many techniques to help compensate for the low number of players in the strings he had them play double stops even with tremolos woodwinds and brass he used flutter tonguing waxman uses the technique of lietmotif a musical phrase that is consistently used for a character mood or place he uses them throughout the score with 5 major ones the monster s lietmotif played by the brass a 5 note phrase containing dissonant minor 2nds to make it harsh and flutter tonguing to imitate growling waxman varies the speed and volume according to the situation agitation lietmotif played by the strings at a high speed and frantic in mood represents the monster in flight or anger the bride s lietmotif a short 3 note phrase usually delicate and played by strings and woodwinds with harp glissandos but it can also be dissonant foreshadowing the fate of the bride dr pretorius s lietmotif it s in a minor key stepping downward played in the woodwinds especially the bassoon and a celeste creation lietmotif a steady driving beat by the timpani along with high ghostly strings and bells plays in the creation the creation of the bride is the key scene in the picture and it is best to listen to the original sound track from the movie even with its less than pristine sound it begins with deep rumbling in the strings with the monster s theme played over it with sweeps of the harp the woodwinds along with a muted trumpet lead to the agitation theme in the violins dissonant soft chords are played under the theme and the incessant thump of the timpani begins more agitation from the strings leads to a short playing of the bride s theme the themes appear reappear until an extended and developed section of the bride s theme the timpani beats all alone with a slightly varying rhythm until it is joined by woodwinds the agitated strings create the mood of excited energy of dr frankenstein and dr pretorius as they work on the bride the bride s theme is heard on the pipe organ then in the strings the beating timpani beats alone again until a descending figure enters to bass clarinets playing a low theme sustained by string tremolos then there is a motif that is repeated in different speeds and textures that leads to a sweeping section for brass then the brass play the bride s motif in dissonant minor seconds until it returns in it s usual form i then transforms into a glittering shimmering repeat that is interrupted by the monster s theme continual agitation leads to a final dissonance and the bride s theme resounds with the the timpani playing a two note motive as the section leads to the exposure of the bride s alive eyes after bandages are removed she is presented with the ringing of bells the monster theme is heard as the monster approaches he tries to get close to her the bride s theme is heard he takes her hand but she is repelled by him the monster tells henry frankenstein and his wife to leave and the monster pulls the lever that destroys him and dr pretorius i ve included all of the final 16 minutes of the film as the entire scene is needed to resolve the music what is also heard is an orchestration of the scene done by the conductor charles gerhardt which is below there is also an orchestration by kenneth alwyn the gerhardt orchestration runs a little over 7 minutes it s a good representation of the original and uses a synthesizer for some of the sounds it has the advantage of having clear sound and the score to follow when you can i m assuming gerhardt kept most of the techniques used by waxman and the double stops in the strings can be seen here contrary to what has been written about the original film score waxman did not use the ondes martenot an early type of synthesizer in his score waxman did use it in other films before and after bride of frankenstein but not in that film all of his effects were done by masterful use of his limited resources gerhardt takes the creation scene through most of what the original did from when the start of the timpani heartbeat begins up until the mock wedding bells begin for the sake of completeness the orchestration by kenneth alwyn is below his orchestration is for 60 players and also includes a synthesizer it s longer than gebhardts goes from the beginning of the timpani heartbeat to a short coda of the bride s theme in a loud finish both of these orchestrations are very well done in modern sound but there s still much to be said for waxman s original score used in the film hollywood was an assembly line of movie making so most composers like waxman did not orchestrate their work he was more than capable but thestudios always had projects that needed creative composers to write the music and give an extended outline and instructions to the orchestrator to get it all down on paper for the musicians and i m sure that waxman kept an eye on things when he could waxman went on to compose many more film scores and was acknowledged a master by all after his score for alfred hitchcock s 1940 film rebecca he was allowed to write a full orchestral score for the film and the ethereal music was hailed as a soundboard for the subconscious by the film director jack sullivan waxman also composed music for the concert hall waxman was considered at the peak of his talent when he died of cancer in 1967 at the age of 60 part of the creation scene as seen in the film posted by alan beggerow at 4 37 pm 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels waxman bride of frankenstein creation scene prokofiev piano concerto no 3 prokofiev wrote a set of variations for piano in 1913 and over the years continued to expand on it until it took form as his 3 rd piano concerto in 1921 the work is now one of prokofiev s most popular but that wasn t the case after its premiere it took a few years for the concerto to develop in popularity until it became one of the mainstays of piano concerto literature in general and one of the best concertos of the 20 th century i andante allegro the work begins with a soft rendition of a theme first by a solo clarinet that is joined by another the orchestra takes up the theme but briskly whisks it away as it builds in speed and volume the soloist enters with a different theme and this builds to a climax after which the soloist plays a short cadenza that fades away as another theme is played by the winds accompanied by the strings and the clicking of castanets the piano and orchestra comment on some of the material heard until the orchestra takes up the opening clarinet theme the soloist plays an expansive variant of the theme after tremolo strings softly play in accompaniment to the piano the piano descends in a delicate figure that ends with the orchestra beginning to chug out the opening of the fat paced material heard in the beginning and orchestra and soloist rapidly bring the themes back from the exposition the whirlwind of piano and orchestra returns one more time and brings the movement to a close with a bang ii tema con variazioni the theme is played by flute and clarinet and is followed by 5 variations 1 the piano broadens the theme and is joined by the orchestra that repeats the theme as the soloist plays high in the treble 2 a trumpet plays the theme as soloist and orchestra play a rapid accompaniment 3 the theme is barely recognizable as it is torn asunder by the soloist as the orchestra tried to get things back on track but not for long 4 the theme has transformed to an ethereal dream as the orchestra and soloist slowly unwind the mystery 5 the music quickens as orchestra and soloist pound out parts of the theme as it builds to a climax that quickly dissolves into a more recognizable appearance of the theme a coda helps the music wind down further until a low e minor chord ends the movement iii allegro ma non troppo bassoons and pizzicato strings play the a minor first theme while the soloist interrupts periodically with a theme of its own these two themes are developed until the tempo and dynamics slacken with the second theme in c sharp minor the piano interrupts this theme as well with another of its own before the c sharp minor theme returns with the mood taking a late romantic turn as it is developed shifting harmonies change the theme as the soloist plays rippling scales a climax is reached and the quiet return of the first theme begins the soloist s part becomes a virtuosic tour deforce as the pace is quicked along with very difficult maneuvers such as double note glissandos for each hand prokofiev s piano technique must have beene impressive for he premiered the work in chicago in 1921 as soloist the piano and orchestra continue to battle each other until the final c major chord posted by alan beggerow at 12 10 am 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels prokofiev thursday april 23 2026 rimsky korsakov russian easter overture this composition was based on russian orthodox liturgical themes found by rimsky korsakov in an old book his idea was to highlight the pagan origins of the easter festival and how the more modern orthodox festival and tradition had its roots in the old pagan ways rimsky korsakov was a non believer but he seems to have had an interest in the music of the church rimsky korsakov wrote his own program notes for the work as written in his autobiography this legendary and heathen side of the holiday this transition from the gloomy and mysterious evening of passion saturday to the unbridled pagan religious merry making of easter sunday is what i was eager to reproduce in my overture the rather lengthy slow introduction on the theme let god arise woodwinds alternating with the ecclesiastical melody an angel cried out solo cello appeared to me in the beginning as it were the ancient prophecy of isaiah of the resurrection of christ the gloomy colors of the andante lugubre seemed to depict the holy sepulchre that had shone with ineffable light at the moment of the resurrection in the transition to the allegro of the overture the beginning of the allegro the theme let them also that hate him flee before him led to the holiday mood of the greek orthodox service on christ s matins the solemn trumpet voice of the archangel was replaced by a tonal reproduction of the joyous almost dancelike tolling of bells alternating now with the sexton s rapid reading and now with the conventional chant of the priest s reading the glad tidings of the evangel the obikhod theme christ is arisen which forms a sort of subsidiary part of the overture appears amid the trumpet blasts and the bell tolling constituting a triumphant coda the work was composed in 1887 1888 and the premiere was lead by the composer late in 1888 it was one of his last works for orchestra as he devoted his time almost exclusively to writing opera the work is full of orchestral color and shows rimsky korsakov a master of the orchestra it opens with the very different time signature of 5 2 and in the last section of the work time signatures of 3 1 and 2 1 are used posted by alan beggerow at 12 36 pm 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels rimsky korsakov wednesday april 15 2026 liszt totentanz dance of death franz liszt began planning the work as early as 1838 after he saw the triumph of death fresco by francesco traini in the campo santo in pisa italy but until he dedicated himself to composing over traveling europe as the most famous virtuoso of his day the first version was not completed until 1853 liszt revisited the work in 1859 and completed the 2 nd version the version most often heard in 1864 the romantic era in general had a certain amount of interest in the subject of death but liszt took it even farther he composed a number of pieces that dwelled on the subject to the point of morbidity totendanz is a set of variations or as liszt put it a paraphrase on the gregorian chant dies irae or day of wrath words that were taken from the bible that depicted the day of final judgement the original latin text and music for dies irae date back to the 13 th century the chant is most frequently heard in the catholic requiem mass and liszt is just one of many composers that used the melody in their compositions the triumph of death fresco by francesco traini opening theme dies irae the music begins with the soloist playing deep in the bass of the piano in marked tone clusters while the orchestra plays the theme the piano then plays the first of three cadenzas that span the compass of the keyboard with the orchestra contributes short chords after each the orchestra then takes up the theme while the piano hammers out chords in the treble range of the piano in rapid tempo that makes it sound like a huge 8 note tremolo a climax is reached and the music grows quiet the piano has a solo that leads to variation i allegro moderato the bassoon and violas play a variant of the melody and the piano repeats it clarinets and bassoon play the second part of the melody and the piano repeats it and leads to variation ii the left hand of the piano plays a variant of the theme low in the bass as the right hand plays runs higher in the bass a horn and pizzicato strings add to the texture the next part of the variation has piano glissandos in the right hand the bass plays a dotted rhythm while trumpets and low strings are added the drama increases as the piano plays glissandos in both hands as the woodwinds and strings lend accompaniment this leads to variation iii molto vivace the soloist goes back to the deep bass for an agitated section that eventually climbs into the high treble a full stop comes upon a d minor chord that leads to variation iv lento for piano solo this gentle canon gives some rest after the preceding drama after it has played out a cadenza in b major the only section of any length in a major key in the piece gives repose the music then goes back to the minor with a solo clarinet playing a simple variant of the melody with a light piano accompaniment another section of transformation begins abruptly with the piano increasing the tempo to presto with octaves in each hand leading to variation ...