Welcome back to Scoring For Films; these areVito Lo Re, by Fabrizio Campanelli, and by Enrico Goldoni, who has joined us again. Last time he introduced us to the world of clusters with a particular reference to their use in horror soundtracks and today we'll see another film. Let's look at something Enrico showed us within the folds of a sensational score like that of "Jaws" by John Williams, which shows us a complexity really out of the ordinary, but with an outcome that is easy to listen to but with a really incredible construction. A construction that has a significant difference between what can be played on the piano and what is actually heard in the orchestra. A very interesting example can be found in the "Jaws" suite - measures 28 and 29 - in horns, trumpets, and trombones. It is interesting to see that it is not simply a doubling, but there is something extra that deserves our attention.

When the score by Williams was chosen... Back then there were no samples or demos: the composer would play the piece on the piano, play it for the director and/or the producer and - if the piano theme was liked - then it would be orchestrated. When the "Jaws" score was presented to Spielberg on the piano, what did Spielberg think?... We feel obliged to live again that moment, that's why I am dressing as Steven Spielberg, Enrico who already has a bit of a white beard, will play the role of John Goldoni-Williams. as Steven Spielberg, Enrico who already has a bit of a white beard, will play the role of John Goldoni-Williams. And I will play the role of the guy with the money.

So Steven, what are you and Johnny going to play for me today? Well, I don't know, they called us because there was the presentation - after months of work - let's hear what John Goldoni has come up with. First of all, the theme of the soundtrack. Here, let me play the theme for you. Minimalist, let's say... It's not all here.

Let's move on. Well, maybe we have something for the soundtrack... Guys, keep in mind that Enrico is playing this very difficult piece, not from the piano reduction, but from the orchestral score. Given this difference between something played on the piano and that played by the orchestra, there's another interesting point that we can listen to. When earlier Enrico mentioned those two measures - particularly complex in terms of sound structure, of clusters - let's hear how they sound on the piano. The piano sound is interesting but, in terms of communication it poses a problem: all those elements related to timbre, the choice of sound distribution, the breadth of the ensemble...

All those themes, how were they perceived by those who actually had to choose or at least evaluate the composition? Today there is no presentation of a score without 12,000 comments! Comments made on a demo that still allows us to make all the changes we want. Back then no: you had to have - even in the piano presentation - the ability to imagine something that an average person is not always able to grasp. Sure, there was greater culture on the part of the director and there was also greater respect for the role of the composer; so one would not stick their nose in other people's business. This does not mean that one should not be ready to make adjustments or modifications.

There was greater musical culture; it was known that the piano is an instrument rich in harmonics so what sounds bad on the piano may sound good in the orchestra because it is shifted and orchestrated in various sections of instruments. Can the opposite happen? That something sounds good on the piano and then loses its charm when orchestrated? I think it's harder for that to happen. Sure, because when the music is good you can play it in any way. That's basically what Vince Tempera was saying.

Maybe there was more musical preparation or maybe more respect for the roles. Technique probably gave the awareness of not being able to talk about things you couldn't talk about and so - for better or for worse - this created insurmountable barriers. Then maybe things happen like Kubrick.. And when they see them on screen they say "No!". Sooner or later we will also talk about Joker: Hildur Guðnadóttir said that she worked on "Joker" for a year and a half. Maybe at the time you worked a year and a half then presented the work after the first recordings and the surprise effect could be positive but also negative.

Often if we play the scores of soundtracks, we realize that on the piano they sound extremely more dissonant compared to what we hear in a recording. Because the piano is an instrument very rich in harmonics. Therefore, a second dissonance becomes much harder, much sharper compared to what it can be in the orchestra where - having fewer harmonics - it is softened. So when one prepares a soundtrack on the piano one should not be too frightened by dissonances....with the necessary exceptions! We also have another very famous example: Bernard Herrmann. You told us that Williams particularly loved Bernard Herrmann.

Absolutely, he was a great admirer. admirer. Since you volunteered spontaneously, let's hear how a score we know very well sounds on the piano: Psycho. This gives us a chance to understand how a director or a producer could have heard the soundtrack. When playing on the piano, unfortunately, we have ten fingers... Many of the details in a score have to be omitted, of course.

So you play the main, most important things. As a result, you also have to make an effort of imagination for not everything can be played and heard. You should trust the composer! Psycho: let's hear what Alfred Hitchcock and the producer heard played on the piano by Bernard Herrmann. I think this will become famous! Yes, yes, we like it, we like it.

Plus, consider that this soundtrack is made only with strings and always with the mute - even in fortissimo - because the mute is not only used to soften the sound but above all to change the timbre. The mute above all changes the timbre and so it is as if it were a different instrument. There is one aspect I wanted to point out to emphasize the elegance of Herrmann's writing: measures 69 and 70. Herrmann's writing: measures 69 and 70. We hear as an effect in our ears these notes... He could have simply repeated the notes between the second violin and the viola.

It would have been the same effect. But it would have lost the movement of the parts. So what did he do? He assigned this D C D to the second violins. And instead to the violas the opposite. If I play them together I get this effect.

I don't lose the motion but I still have these seconds. It's very important. You have a cluster that seems fixed but actually consists of inverted motion of the parts. So I don't lose the momentum of the piece played, the character. Well, after seeing what Bernard Herrmann wrote in a normal, classical notation, we'll show you some typical things of contemporary music that have been adopted by film music. And returning in particular to our friend Beltrami, what will you show us?

What does this type of notation mean? So: if you look for example at the flute part, the trumpet part, you see that it starts roughly as eighth notes and then gradually the speed increases because lines are added and the notes become sixteenth notes and then thirty-second notes. But not in a measured way, it is done in a... deliberately free way. And to achieve this you write this symbol. It is also interesting to note that it is in diminuendo.

This is one of many possible figures that indicate more freedom in the way of playing. And speaking of freedom, we have another, perhaps even more interesting one which is this one. I can't see any notes, what should we do? I see tasty things, like "vary and exaggerate bowing". This part without notes means that we are already playing in the extreme register of the instrument, in this case the first and second violins. And it ends with a quadruplet on the "highest possible note", meaning the highest possible note for that individual musician on the instrument.

And we have a frenetic tremolo, divided: half tremolo and half very marked, thus to achieve even more strength. And in the double bass part instead "vary and exaggerate bowing, as well as dynamics" And even - occasionally - to make some Bartók pizzicatos with the string bouncing off the fingerboard. In my next soundtrack, I want to write something like this... Even if it were a romantic comedy, I would put a tremolo with a Bartók pizzicato! We will find a way to insert it. Actually we have already used it, of course in films where it was needed.

But it is no coincidence that we have talked about it, because the subject is still the transition from piano to orchestra; the transition from the demo and mechanics of the sequencer - where you can't hear some things - to the orchestra, therefore that humanization, which actually at an expressive level radically changes everything. Yes, because obviously with a piece like this I don't think they made a realistic demo. Yes, you could do that but it becomes an enormous waste of time. But even if you program it, it will never come out like it does with the orchestra. Enrico is not visiting for the last time, he will be back... and we will step out of the specific world of thriller - or at least intense cluster - to go and see instead something that has always fascinated me: the combinations of timbres, the clarinets with the violas are a typical example.

There are combinations that are an enrichment and should be part of the skills of a composer. So I would say that with Enrico it's definitely a see you later. We thank you for being here with us these two episodes, don't think you can escape. Subscribe to the channel, turn on the bell, and follow our lives, during which you can ask any questions you have about the world of soundtracks. See you next week! Bye!