A Comparison of Moon River Breakfast at Tiffany's - Essay Example

Background of Breakfast at Tiffany’s According to Wikipedia, ,[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_at_Tiffany%27s] ‘Breakfast at Tiffanys is a 1961 American film starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. Also in the cast are Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, and Mickey Rooney. It was directed by Blake Edwards and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is loosely based on the novella of the same name by Truman Capote.’ The screenplay was written by playwright and screenwriter George Axelrod, perhaps best known for his play, The Seven Year Itch. ‘Audrey Hepburn is presented as Holly Golightly. who is a naive, eccentric socialite. It is generally considered to be the actresses’s most memorable and identifiable role. She herself regarded it as one of her most challenging parts to play, since she considered herself an introvert who had to play an extrovert. Hepburns singing of "Moon River" helped gain... an Oscar for Best Song for composer Henry Mancini and lyricist Johnny Mercer.’ The film co-starred George Peppard in one of his early appearances in a feature film. He had worked extensively on television drama throughout the 1950s. The light comedy role of Pat “Fred” Varjak in Breakfast At Tiffany’s was an unusual part for him in his career. He became better known for playing more rugged characters in such films as How The West Was Won, The Blue Max and the television series Banacek and The A-Team.. Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn was an English/Belgian actress. She was born in Belgium in 1929. According to Wikipedia [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Hepburn] she ‘lived in The Netherlands during her childhood and for the duration of the Second World War. After the war, she studied ballet and then moved to London, where she studied drama and worked as a photographers model. After making a few films and appearing in a Broadway play, Hepburn played the lead role in Roman Holiday, (1953) winning an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for her performance. She also won a Tony Award for her performance in Ondine (1954). ‘Over the next several years, she was one of the most successful film actresses in the world. She performed with some of Hollywoods most notable leading men, including Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Gary Cooper and Fred Astaire, with whom she danced in Funny Face (1957). She won BAFTA Awards for her performances in The Nuns Story (1959) and Charade (1963) and received Academy Award nominations for her work in Sabrina (1954), Breakfast at Tiffanys (1961) and Wait Until Dark (1967.) She also played Eliza Doolittle in the film version of My Fair Lady (1964).’ ‘Her war-time experiences inspired her passion for humanitarian work, and although she had worked for UNICEF since the 1950s, during her later life, she dedicated more of her time and energy to the organization. From 1988 until 1992, she worked in some of the most profoundly disadvantaged communities of Africa, South America and Asia. In 1992, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Hepburn was married twice, and had a son with each of her husbands, the actor Mel Ferrer, and the psychiatrist Andrea Dotti. ‘From 1980 until her death, Hepburn lived with the actor Robert Wolders. She died of cancer at her home in Switzerland at the age of 63. She was posthumously awarded the the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her humanitarian work. She received a posthumous Grammy Award for her spoken word recording, Audrey Hepburns Enchanted Tales in 1994, and in the same year, won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement for Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn, thereby becoming one of a few people to receive an Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony award. In 1999, she was ranked as the third greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute.’ Andy Williams Andy Williams was born in 1927 in Wall Lake, Iowa. Wikipedia [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Williams] describes him as ‘a legendary American pop singer. He has recorded 18 gold and three platinum certified albums. He had his own popular TV variety shows from 1962–1971. Among those who performed with him on those shows were Bobby Darin, Ray Charles, Elton John, Ella Fitzgerald, Simon and Garfunkel, Cass Elliot and Michael Jackson. When Ronald Reagan was president, he declared Andys voice to be "a national treasure." He had his own popular TV variety show from 1962-71. He also owns his own theatre, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri.’ Henry Mancini Henry Mancini was, as described in Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Mancini] ‘an Academy Award winning American composer, conductor and arranger. He is remembered particularly for being a composer of film and television scores. Mancini also won a record number of Grammy awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. His best-known works are the jazz-idiom theme to The Pink Panther film and Moon River.’ Johnny Mercer Johnny Mercer was ‘an American songwriter and singer. As a songwriter, he is best known as a lyricist but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others. From the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s, many of the songs Mercer wrote and performed were among the most popular hits of the time. He wrote the lyrics to more than a thousand songs, including compositions for movies and Broadway shows. He received nineteen Academy Award nominations. Mercer was also a co-founder of Capitol Records. ‘ [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mercer] Version of Moon River Sung by Audrey Hepburn In Breakfast At Tiffany’s, ‘Audrey Hepburn’s sang the original version of the song.’ [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_River] ‘Mercer and Mancini wrote the song to fit her vocal range. Initially the lyrics started, "Im Holly, like I want to be / like Holly on a tree back home..." However, they were later changed to fit the theme to the movie.. ‘Although an instrumental version is played over the films opening titles, the lyrics are first heard in a scene where Paul Fred Varjak (George Peppard) discovers Holly Golightly (Hepburn) singing them, accompanied by her guitar, on the fire escape outside their apartments. ‘Hepburns version was not included in the original album score of Breakfast at Tiffanys. Hepburn’s version of the song was not released until months after her death in 1993 on an album entitled Music from the Films of Audrey Hepburn.’ Version Sung by Andy Williams ‘Moon River became the theme song for Andy Williams, who first recorded it in 1961 and performed it at the Academy Awards ceremonies in 1962. He sang the first eight bars of the song at the beginning of his television show; he also named his production company and venue in Branson, Missouri after Moon River. ‘Williams’ version was not released at the time because it was vetoed by Cadence president Archie Bleyer, who believed it had little or no appeal to teenagers. As a result of that decision, the record was never charted, except as an LP track, which Williams recorded for Columbia in a hit album of 1962, Music from the Breakfast at Tiffany’s Original Soundtrack. ‘ [en...Moon_River] Version of Moon River in the Original Soundtrack ‘Breakfast at Tiffanys: Music from the Motion Picture is the original soundtrack recording from the movie. The tracks were composed and conducted by Henry Mancini, except for "Moon River" and "Moon River Cha Cha," which were also composed by Johnny Mercer. At the 1962 Academy Awards, in addition to winning the Oscar for Best Original Song, Mancini and Mercer won for Best Original Score.’ ‘Toots Thielemans tremulous, lonely harmonica solo in the opening scene brilliantly establishes the films mood of romance noir. His trademark playing introduces the simple, near-folk tune, neatly evoking protagonist Holly Golightys "secret" country roots.’ [en...Moon_River] Analysis of the score ‘The song opens with the instantly recognizable "Moon River" melody, featuring the distinctive perfect fifth upward leap from the 5th to the 2nd, which is immediately balanced and contrasted by the subsequent graceful step to the tonic, before gliding (as you sail down the river) with four consecutive steps. Another upward leap follows before the five consecutive steps are repeated again, followed by another leap downwards to a step. "You dream maker" features many leaps of thirds and fifths; "you dream maker" sees the melody drop from the third to the tonic before leaping to the fifth and dropping to the third; this is repeated in "you heartbreaker." The dramatic message of "Wherever youre going, Im going your way” is emphasized by the dramatic melody. It accompanies the lyrics in an arpeggio tonic chord ascending melody where the third moves to the tonic which moves up the arpeggio into the third, the fifth and lastly, the octave, creating a nice high climax, before stepping down to the seventh. There is a melodic sequence where the octave-seventh-sixth motive ("going, Im") is repeated one step lower (seventh-sixth-fifth) ("going your") before moving to the sixth. This is matched by the harmonic sequence as well, where the chord progression moves a step higher to a step lower, repeated a step upward again, before moving one step lower. ‘The first part of the melody "Moon River" is then repeated in "Two drifters" in the second part, before moving to a coda in "were after the same rainbows end," which features the same arpeggio tonic chord ascending melody before moving up and down just like the shape of a rainbow. It is formed by a leap up followed by a leap down - an example of word painting - and then moving down to "end", before the "wider than a mile" melody is repeated two times, which is followed by a graceful closure of the song, "moon river, and me." Note the melodic sequence that follows as the interval of a descending third is repeated a step lower again. ‘ [en...Moon_River] Comparison of the recordings Overall style Compared to the versions with lyrics, the theme song from the original soundtrack gives the audience a large area to use their imagination. That is, the audience can get the feeling of this song purely from the notes without the lyrics. On the other hand, Hepburn’s version is followed by speaking words, in order to make sense of the role and scene. Her singing of the song tells a story and there is no need for the repeat. The Williams’ version sounds more lively and lovely with the inclusion of other female and male voice in the middle part. In the original sound track, there are also voices singing the chords in the middle of the song until the end. These features make the song more energetic and cheerful. Tempo In a 2002 work, (Settling the Pop Score: Pop texts and identity) Stan Hawkins describes the contrasting ways in which the listener experiences tempo : ‘The lack of correspondence lies in the difference between objective measurement and subjective experience of duration,’ he says. ‘In objective measurement, rhythm and form are considered as articulators, time-markers and time-organizers—that is, factors which can measure duration to a reasonable degree of accuracy by objective methods, for example, by counting off pulses.’ The tempi of the three versions of Moon River can all be considered andante. Hepburn’s version is slowest at about 78 beats per minute. Williams’ version is about 90 and the original soundtrack is about 89. Dynamics In the sound graph above, it is clear that the Hepburn version has much less dynamic change than the other two versions. The graph of the Williams version shows his strong phrasing throughout the song. The original soundtrack also shows much dynamic change, but much of this is caused by the increase in the number of instruments and voices in that version and that keeps the dynamic at a high level. Instrumentation In addition to the vocal, the Hepburn version also includes two instruments, guitar and violin. The guitar is used throughout the song, while the violin starts with the lyrics, “Two Drifters” then continues until the end of the song. Williams’ version includes 3 instruments-guitar, violin and harmonica. There are also both female and male voices. At the end of the song, a xylophone is also heard. For the original soundtrack, there are three instruments (guitar, violin and harmonica) with an ensemble mix of male and female singers. The harmonica plays the medley part throughout the song. Expression In Hepburn’s version, the sad and depressed mood is expressed through the lack of changes in the dynamics and the virtual absence of emotion resulting from the slow tempo. In Williams’ version, the faster speed produces a brighter and happier mood. His version sounds more like a love song than the other two. The Williams version also contains a special ending which is sung an octave higher. This creates a climax which last for 20 seconds. Discussion of the recorded performances Among these 3 different versions, I believe the Williams version is the most successful. It begins at a more lively speed than the others, and the performer sings the lyrics strongly and meaningfully. He continues that way until the conclusion. He follows the description of a satisfying finish to a song as described by Deborah Stein in a 2005 essay(Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis, pp3-12, New York, OUP): ‘The strongest ending ,’ she says, ‘is the full, or authentic cadence.’ Williams’ version is also full of colour, as described by Barbara R. Barry (Musical time: The Sense Of Order, New York, Pendragon Press, 1990): “If attention and processing are the individual filters of subjective duration and pacing, then it is through affective experience that they acquire their expressive quality or ‘colour.’ Moreover, expressiveness, conveyed by melody, tempo, sonority, and harmony, contributes to subjective time –experience rather than to the objective assessment of duration.” Another reason for the distinctive quality of Williams’ version is the lower pitch. This is described in the book, Empirical Musicology (New York, OUP, 2004.):’ The most important...transformations involve the idea of periodicity, since this is intimately linked to the perception of pitch—a primary feature of most musical sounds. ‘ Bibliography Barry, Barbara R.,(1990) Musical time: the sense of order. New York: Pendragon Press Bowen, H., ‘Finding the music in musicology: performing history and musical works’, in N. Cook and M. Everist, eds., Rethinking music (OUP, 1999), pp.424 -451. Burkhart,Charles., (2005)‘The Phrase Rhythm of Chopin’s A-flat Major Mazurka’ in Stein, Deborah ., (ed.)Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis,pp.3-12.New York: OUP Clarke, Eric., Cook and Nicholas.,eds (2004)Empirical Musicology: Aims, Methods, Prospects. New York: OUP Furia, Philip., Lasser,Micheal.,(2006) America’s Songs. New York: Taylor & Francis Group. Hawkins,Stan.,(2002) Settling the Pop Score : Pop texts and identity Politics.England: Ashgate. Meyer, Leonard B.,(1989) Style and Music: Theory, History , and Ideology. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Monelle, R., ‘The criticism of musical performance’, in J. Rink, ed., Musical performance: A guide to understanding (CUP , 2002), pp.213-224 ‘Moon River’ Lyrics by Jonny Mercer and music by Henry Mancini Read More