Throwback soundtrack: Is classical music staging a comeback?

Editor’s Note: Classical music of any kind often feels boring and inaccessible—but not with Narendra Kusnur. He offers an accessible and fun guide to Western classical music—which has shaped movie soundtracks and top 40 hits alike. 

In this month’s guide, Kusnur looks at whether classical music is staging a comeback on big and small screens—from Stravinsky in Wes Anderson’s ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ to Vivaldi in Netflix’s ‘Four Seasons’.

Written by: Narendra Kusnur has been a music journalist for over 40 years—including a decade-long stint covering the beat at the Mid-Day newspaper. He currently writes for The Hindu, Free Press Journal, Hindustan Times, and Rolling Stone India—besides the in-house magazines of prestigious institutions—such as NCPA and Shanmukhananda Hall.

Has there been a resurgence of Western classical music used in films and OTT series? Maybe, maybe not. But, in the past few months, there have been examples of such a trend. If it will lead to an actual revival remains to be seen.

The first example is Wes Anderson’s espionage comedy ‘The Phoenician Scheme’. After its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and its limited theatrical release in the US last month, there has been a buzz about the film. Besides discussions on the storyline and ensemble cast, one of the talking points is the use of Western classical music. Though the main score is composed by the brilliant Alexandre Desplat, music aficionados are discussing the use of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s music. Here’s the official trailer of the film which is scheduled to release in India on June 20.

Though the specific music scenes aren’t yet available on YouTube, the film’s soundtrack playlist is accessible on streaming channels. From the Stravinsky repertoire, there are excerpts from his ballets ‘Apollon Musagète,’ later named ‘Apollo,’ and ‘The Firebird.’ Below are two recordings that are part of the soundtrack: ‘Apollo Tableaux 2’ and the ‘The Firebird Introduction.’

And this is the Firebird Introduction:

‘The Phoenician Scheme’ does not stick to Stravinsky. The film also uses the rondo (one with a recurring theme) portion of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s ‘Piano Sonata No 2’, an extract from Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantata ‘Herz Und Mund Und Tut Und Leben’, and a segment from Modest Mussorgsky’s suite ‘Pictures At An Exhibition.’ Here, let’s hear a recording of the Beethoven rondo, played by the great Daniel Barenboim.

Classical music in the realm of OTT series

If ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ is an instance of the use of Western classical music in a theatrical film, the OTT world has its examples too. On May 1, Netflix released the mini-series ‘The Four Seasons’—starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell. Apart from its title, the comedy drama is inspired by 18th-century Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi’s violin concerto compilation ‘The Four Seasons’. 

The series is divided into eight episodes, with two apiece dedicated to the four seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, which formed the basis of Vivaldi’s opus. His music is also used intermittently. The first two episodes use portions from Spring, and the finale has the melodies of Winter. Here’s the series trailer. 

And this is a rendition of the opening movement of Vivaldi’s Winter featuring violin soloist Ray Chen.

Then there is the comedy-drama series ‘Etoile’ on Amazon Prime, released in April. It’s about two ballet companies, one in New York and one in Paris, who swap their stars. While much of the soundtrack has pop songs by Sons of Raphael, Blondie, Tiesto, and Charli XCX, it also uses Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev’s ‘Dance Of Love’ from the ballet ‘Romeo & Juliet.’ Here’s a rendition by the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dmitri Kitajenko.

Classical music in movie soundtracks

From these examples, it appears that there is a sudden trend of using Western classical music in films and OTT series. But that is not the case. The use has always been there, though periodically. From Alfred Hitchcock and Ingmar Bergman to Francis Ford Coppola and the Walt Disney movies, filmmakers have always used snatches from the Western classical world. 

Here, we are not talking of biopics of known musicians like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Milos Forman’s ‘Amadeus’) and Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper’s ‘Maestro’) or films like ‘Tar’ and ‘The Pianist’ which tell the stories of classical musicians. They naturally make predominant use of classical music.

Earlier columns have featured many examples of the usage of classical music, including the films ‘Platoon’, ‘Out Of Africa’, and ‘Titanic’. We will repeat only one—Coppola’s 1979 war film ‘Apocalypse Now’. While the background score is by Carmine Coppola, the filmmaker’s father, one highlight is the use of The Doors song ‘The End’ in the beginning. One also hears the Rolling Stones hit ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’ in one scene. 

But, the classical contribution comes from German composer Richard Wagner’s ‘The Ride Of The Valkyries’, used in the helicopter raid scene, where Lt Col Bill Kilgore (played by Robert Duvall) descends on a Vietnamese village. The cinematography and the music go together so perfectly. Here’s the famous scene.

The original Wagner composition is the popular name of the prelude from ‘Die Walküre’, the second of four epic dramas that constitute his opus ‘Der Ring des Nibelungen’ (The Ring Of The Nibelung). It was also used in the 1915 film ‘The Birth Of The Nation’, and the car chase in the 1980 film ‘The Blues Brothers.’ Here’s an operatic performance by the Metropolitan Opera, featuring soprano Christine Goerke.

 Another well-known use of classical music is in the opening credits of Martin Scorsese’s ‘Raging Bull’ (1980), starring Robert DeNiro. The intermezzo from Italian composer Pietro Mascagni’s ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’, premiered 90 years earlier in 1890, has been used in style. Here, we see the opening credits of ‘Raging Bull’:

And here’s a rendition by Taiwan’s Evergreen Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lim Kek-tjiang of Hong Kong.

In the psychological horror movie ‘The Shining’, filmmaker Stanley Kubrick used Hungarian composer Bela Bartok’s ‘Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta’ to chilling effect, showing the scene of protagonist Danny’s child character discovering dead residents of a haunted mountain resort. Kubrick also used classical music in his 1968 science fiction film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. While Austrian composer Johann Strauss II’s ‘Blue Danube Waltz’ makes it to one scene, German composer Richard Strauss’s tone poem ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ appears in the opening credits. Listen to Bartok’s piece in ‘The Shining’:

And this is the ‘Space Odyssey’ opening:

The 2010 film ‘The King’s Speech’, directed by Tom Hooper and starring Oscar-winner Colin Firth as King George VI, also used Beethoven and Mozart in relevant scenes. Though the main score was by Alexandre Desplat, it was felt that legendary classical tunes were appropriate for some scenes. A mélange of Mozart’s overture to ‘The Marriage Of Figaro’ and ‘Clarinet Concerto First Movement’ were chosen. Then there was the second movement of Beethoven’s ‘Piano Concerto No 5’. But most relevant was the use of the second movement (allegretto) of Beethoven’s ‘Symphony No 7’, played during the 1939 radio speech during the film’s climax. It was originally used as a temporary track while shooting, but the director and film’s editor felt it suited the scene perfectly. Here’s the audio.

Examples abound, but we’ll end with two. The 2010 psychological dance drama ‘Black Swan’—directed by Darren Aronevsky and starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, used music inspired by Pyotr Illich Tchaikovsky, especially his ballet ‘Swan Lake’. However, composer Chris Mansell made many changes, and violinist Tim Fain played special pieces. Because of the prominent use of Tchaikovsky, it was considered ineligible for the Best Original Score entries at the Oscars. The tune used in the scene below is one of the main themes of Swan Lake.

We end by returning to the OTT circuit, with ‘Mozart In The Jungle’ (2014). Though it is based on the memoirs of an actual musician (oboist Blair Tindall), it was released as a fictionalised comedy drama series spread across four seasons. Mozart appears in imaginary talks with the main character, Rodrigo, conductor of the New York Symphony, played by Gael Garcia Bernal. Rodrigo’s character is based on real-life Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel. The series soundtrack is filled with classics by Mozart, Beethoven, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Jean Sibelius, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and others. The trailer gives a brief idea of what the series is about.

While films have been using classical music off and on, it remains to be seen whether it will be a prominent medium on OTT. Everything depends on the subject of the series and its relevance to the situation. Let’s wait and watch.

Finally, like we always conclude the column, with a handy playlist of all the tracks on splainer’s YouTube channel. They have successfully made their way to celluloid.

PS: If you need a list of all the amazing music shared by Naren:

• ‘Apollon Musagate, Tableaux 2’ by Igor Stravinsky 
• ‘The Firebird, Introduction’ by Stravinsky 
• ‘Piano Sonato No 2, Eondo’ by Ludwig Van Beethoven
• ‘Piano Concerto No 5, Movement 2’ by Beethoven 
• ‘Symphony No 7, Movement 2’ by Beethoven 
• ‘Herz Und Mund Und Tut Und Leben’ by Johann Sebastian Bach 
• ‘Pictures At An Exhibition’ by Modest Mussorgsky 
• ‘Winter, Movement 1’ by Antonio Vivaldi
• ‘Romeo & Juliet, Dance Of Love’ by Sergei Prokofiev
• ‘Ride Of The Valkyries’ by Richard Wagner from ‘Apocalypse Now’
• ‘Ride Of The Valkyries’ by Metropolitan Orchestra
• 'Cavalleria Rusticana' by Pietro Mascagini 
• ‘Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta’ by Bela Bartok
• ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ by Richard Strauss 
• ‘The Marriage Of Figaro, Overture’ by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• 'Swan Lake, Theme' by Pyotr Illich Tchaikovsky