Welcome back to Scoring for Films with Vito Lo Re and Fabrizio Campanelli. We continue the journey we already started last time with great themes. So we continue with a new love theme, an important love theme from a very important film. Because we love love... Last time we talked about Once Upon a Time in America, today we explore a very different love theme. Blade Runner.

So, it's 1981 and Vangelis has just won a little thing called an Oscar. With the famous Chariots of Fire. Blade Runner began filming in 1981; it was a project that started long before, based on a story by Philip K. Dick. Dick would never get to see the film in theaters because he passed away before its release, but he was shown 20 minutes of special effects and world-building. And was he satisfied?

Yes, incredibly so, and he said that was the world he had envisioned... in his mind. That doesn’t happen often, especially considering the circumstances: Dick had harshly criticized previous adaptations attempted before, many failed attempts, but in this case... After all, the battle between writers and screenwriters is always relentless. The film was released, a great movie... Yes, but it wasn't a success.

Not at first, of course. ...it would become a cult classic later. In this case, the protagonists of the love scene are Deckard and Rachael. The thread of their relationship is highlighted by a beautiful theme, performed by jazz saxophonist Dick Morrissey. And it fits because the sound of this theme has a slightly jazzy feel. So my question has always been: why - in a theme for a sci-fi film - even though the sounds are quite futuristic, is there this reference to something very traditional?

It's a theme that almost seems like a 1950s noir film with Humphrey Bogart... Why do you think they made this choice for a sci-fi film? Because the whole film is based on the contrast between the artificial nature of the replicants and their ability to blend in, their interchangeability with a human being. The entire film is based on this ongoing ambiguity between human and machine. So you’re saying that, from a sonic perspective, this translates into an environment filled with synthesizers—the artificial, the ultimate machine— but with the human element of the saxophone, which is one of the most expressive instruments. Is that the idea?

Absolutely. The soundscape created by Vangelis is strikingly synthetic, yet strikingly deep, completely out of time. You can listen to it at any time and it will always have its own timeless dimension. So, don’t you think that from a strictly sound perspective, this soundtrack is outdated? No, it's like listening to something new every time. The synthesizers used by Vangelis were truly numerous in this score.

Now we are going to listen to the theme in the scene with the score. We have reduced the score to its fundamental elements, so the notes refer to the saxophone which presents the main theme. But underneath, there is a whole sonic world made of synth layers, electric pianos like the Yamaha Grand Piano CP80, Rhodes, even a real Steinway... Processed, I suppose... And then Vocoder, the CS80, Drum Machine, Jupiter 4, in short, lots of synths. But the interesting thing is that while listening to the film, we realize that the sounds are not just the typical foley sounds, but he actually created diegetic sounds...

Were they made by him and not by the foley artists? Exactly. Did they pay him extra since he also took part of the foley artists' salary? Listen, but this is very interesting: was he a pioneer of sound design?... This act of populating the world with sound... was a next level moment and made music feel organic to the sound of the world.

Before we watch the scene, let’s give a quick introduction. A little context. This moment we are about to watch and listen to happens after Rachael starts looking at photos, playing the piano, and remembering. Deckard reveals to Rachael that what she believes to be her memories are actually the memories of Tyrell’s niece. This creates a crisis in Rachael. Deckard prevents her from leaving, and from there, the climax is born, the peak of their romantic tension, which leads to what we are about to see...

Here comes the saxophone we all know... Underneath, we hear the punctuation of different synths that make up the harmonic fabric. Here the melody repeats, slightly varied. The atmosphere is a bit noir, isn’t it? Very. Noir, incredibly noir, and incredibly romantic.

This scene and the one from last time are treated differently, but they share fundamental elements. Let’s analyze them. Let’s start right away with a harmonic analysis. Do you remember the tension that Morricone created with the pedal of the fifth degree in the bass compared to the tonic? Here, we don’t have a pedal, but we have a similar mechanism: the initial chord of G-flat major seventh, is actually a chord that leads to the tonic. So, we’re not talking about a dominant, but a subdominant, which is still a very strong degree.

The most attractive degrees among them are the first, the fifth, and the fourth. A chord does not have an absolute value, it gains its value only when it interacts with others. The beginning on the fourth degree makes sense when we slide into the tonic (D-flat). If we look at the melodic structure of the theme, we notice a question-and-answer pattern... do you remember how Morricone’s theme was developed? Of course.

It had this repetition of a motif that then expanded, and we see the same here. The expansion happens after the introduction of this AB, AB which represents doubt, the unknown, tension, dissonance, uncertainty in Deckard’s outcome, dictated by the contrast between these two strong degrees; which, in this case, are not sustained by a pedal note with the theme developed over it, but rather by the alternation of the fourth and first degrees. Exactly as we saw in the Once Upon a Time in America theme, here too, there is a repetition: the triplet that then leads to a long note; triplet, triplet, long note. And if we think about it, this fermata is not so different from the suspension we saw there... So we are enhancing our Scoring for Films love theme manual... These tricks emerge precisely from this kind of analysis.

The presentation of a motif and then its suspension is one of the fundamental languages for creating a theme that has an uncertain communicative nature that eventually opens up. Vangelis managed to craft a nice theme with just two notes. Here, we hover around B and A. It's a theme with a repeated note, essentially. And the saxophone—precisely because it is such an expressive instrument— executes this part wonderfully. And here in the second part, triplet, this repeated note, this passing tone.

And again, we hover around A. From a Schenkerian analysis perspective... it’s just two notes... What lies underneath?... We have a particularly distinctive element. You mentioned this somewhat retro, noir aspect of the saxophone, also emphasized by this extensive use of major sevenths.

But later in the development, we also see the use of minor sevenths. What is this major seventh? The major seventh—also known as the fourth-species seventh— is the one that has a major seventh above its root. It’s curious because a major seventh, if played alone on a piano, sounds harsh... but as a full chord—C, E, G, B— a whole world opens up. Let's hear the difference between the major and minor seventh...

The B natural goes towards the C, while the B flat doesn't Usually the major seventh is associated with emotions, with heart and with nostalgia... So, where does this nostalgia originate? There are various theories, some of which trace back to the generation of natural harmonics. The entire tonal system is based on a physical principle. When we play a note, along with it, other notes resonate at different distances. However, in this sense, from C to B natural, there is quite a significant gap: the B is the fifteenth natural harmonic, generated far from the tonic.

What does this aspect suggest in our discussion? It suggests the concept of absence, the idea of memory and remembrance. And you may ask: what does love have to do with memory? Go ahead, ask! I was wondering: what does love have to do with memory? Coincidentally, in this very film, we see the strong connection between Rachael and Deckard's love story and Rachael's memories.

So, memory... We said that the major seventh is a synonym for nostalgia. Nostalgia comes from Greek and means "the pain of returning." And at the same time, it is a tension towards something to be achieved. It is desire. The desire to return home and the desire to have something beyond oneself. Memory is the foundation of self-construction.

Memories are essential to Rachael for her perception of herself. Few chords, like the major seventh, are truly suspended, undefined, unclear. The B natural relative to C creates a strong tension towards C, and what better metaphor for our perception of something that seeks to fill a void... seeking the way home, making it synonymous with nostalgia. So, if I understand correctly, you're saying that Vangelis started first with this kind of harmonic foundation, and perhaps for this reason, the melody is relatively simple? He tried to put himself in Rachael’s or Deckard’s shoes and search for that urge of love based on memory.

Memory comes from Latin: "to return to the heart." Recalling that Aristotelian concept which saw the heart as the foundation of memory. It’s the same in English, right? Learning "by heart". So, the link between memory and love is an indissoluble one that brings us back to the resurfacing of sensory experience. Rachael’s sensory experience is challenged by Deckard, but a new chapter opens: the tension of love and the desire of Deckard And the object of desire is the elusive beginning – the major seventh – which intertwines with the game you mentioned about Morricone, between the pursued and the pursuer. Rachael is the one being chased, of course, and Deckard is the chaser.

So, here we see once again the alternation between the fourth degree of the chased (Rachael) and Deckard, the chaser. Where does the composer position himself in all of this? He places himself in both. Now we can read with a clear perspective the fourth degree and the first. Pause, the uneasiness returns, the doubt (fourth degree) and the response of the chaser. The discourse evolves and this time it opens up through the use of minor sevenths, to create that descent that moves the narrative and harmonic arc towards home: D-flat.

I was a bit surprised that he concluded with a clean D-flat, even though there's the addition of the ninth: E-flat. Let's also look at the progression of this return home, which, in a way, is the conquest. The evolution happens at the kiss, here as well. Just like Morricone. Let's construct our ideal theme. We will set premises.

These premises will have a key moment in their development. The development will be entrusted to a dynamically faster evolution. In this case, a tighter chord progression, and thus greater intensity in the musical exposition. We have a wonderful path that, from E-flat minor seventh, evolves into F seventh which leads us to B-flat minor. In this case, the dominant seventh leads us exactly where it needs to, but with a minor chord, which makes us finally hear E-flat in a major context. So we start from E-flat minor seventh and arrive at E-flat major seventh.

It's as if there’s a kind of relaxation: the tension in this evolutionary path of the story linked to the kiss feels like a small victory; a little milestone reached. Then the C flat which thorugh a glissando leads to A flat 7th and finally we gor home: D flat The journey is complete. We've experienced the full emotional involvement of the two protagonists. We've internalized, through this musical journey, the mental journey that originates from the lover's expectations leading to the conquest of the object of love. The narrative arc is the psycological tension which characters live and which we identify with. This is the incredible power of great themes, especially great love themes, that make us feel, that make us emotional every time as if it were the first time.

But we have the chance to play a little game. Yes, let's see what would happen to our theme. If, instead of the major sevenths it uses, we made a small change... and used minor sevenths instead. This is our session with the theme... What happens if we place - instead of a major seventh - a minor seventh?

It changed quite a bit!... I hope Vangelis doesn’t take it personally that we played this little trick on him. So the message is: be careful with the sevenths you use... We have the same melody, the same underlying harmony, but by changing the seventh, it has completely transformed. Everything you've said so far has collapsed miserably!... Still, we’ve taken away some good tools, in my opinion...

The Construction Kit for the great theme. Now we expect that sooner or later, one of you will send us a great love theme. Send it to us in any format you prefer, and I’d say we’ll meet again for the next theme... a surprise! Bye.