Majesty and Mourning

While it is no longer March, I have one more movie score I would like to share.  The March Madness tournament didn’t end until earlier this week anyway, so I figure one more week of movie music won’t hurt anyone.

I will say though, that my choice for this week is a piece written to pull on your heartstrings.  The message it conveys is one of honor and glory, but also one of mourning and loss.  While it seems that these ideas are initially contradictory, this week’s piece does a phenomenal job of pulling them together.

In 1993, the movie Gettysburg was released.  As the title fully explains, this epic four-and-a-half hour movie tells the story of one of the most influential events in American history.  1863 was the height of the American Civil War, and by the time a battle broke out near Gettysburg, PA, the North and South alike had each lost thousands of men.  Many soldiers still clung to the honor of fighting for their ideals, but every soldier had also experienced loss.

This opening song of Randy Edelman’s score for the Gettysburg movie gets us right into that same mindset.  The power of the initial brass theme conveys a majestic tone without losing an underlying melancholy.  The higher brass and strings play out a triumphant melody, but underneath that, the accompanying winds and strings are playing chords which evoke a solemnity from the audience.  The accompaniment is full of dissonant and suspended chords which create a bit of tension in the music as the listener awaits the resolution of the chord. The first chord of the official melody (0:09) for example, is dissonant sounding and is immediately followed by a resolution of the chord in the next beat.  The back and forth between the dissonance and resolution in this theme gives it its melancholy and mournful tones.

Another notable aspect of this theme is the continuous use of the military sounding snare drum. The drum keeps the piece moving and gives the melody a feeling of inevitability.  The drums march on, just as those who fought in the battle knew their fate, but had no desire to turn back.

The initial theme comes to a close around 1:12 as the music quiets down to a serene string melody.  Before the battle, Gettysburg was a quiet town in Pennsylvania, and this portion of the song conveys that peace which would soon be broken.

A third theme is introduced at 2:07, and the solitary stringed instrument plucking out this melody is one which returns many times in the movie as a whole.  It reminds me of what the soldiers may have heard as they sat around the fires in their camps and the army musicians played to keep the men’s spirits up.  This same theme does take on a more joyful tone at 2:38 as the full orchestra sings out this moving melody.

This joyful rendition continues until about 3:08 when the fourth and final theme begins in the brass.  This last theme has the same sort of somber majesty that the rest of the piece conveys.  These last bars are reminiscent of the soldiers finally approaching battle.  The joyous march to the battlefield was triumphant and exciting, but suddenly, as the idea of battle looms over their heads, the soldiers become very serious.  There is still a sense of adventure, but the somber reality of battle has set in.

The ending of this piece is especially ominous.  The last note tolls at 3:59, and the music ends, but the lone snare drummer continues on in an incessant march.  In the movie, this drumming carries the viewer from the opening credits into the main plot.

As an 8th grader, when first watching this film, I was immediately drawn in by the depth of the story, the grandeur of the scenery, and of course the inspiration of the music.  While this is an extremely long movie, I can’t emphasize how well done this movie really is. If you have the time, I highly recommend you find it and watch it.