Monday, June 25, 2012
Richard Strauss among the Vampires
Normally I do not pay too much attention to the music on True Blood. It always seems to be
appropriate to the setting, and nothing more strikes me as particularly
relevant. Last night, however, we got to know the character Salome Agrippa;
and, sure enough, she was the Salome.
Her version
of the story made for a fascinating departure from Oscar Wilde, not to
mention the rather more mundane account that emerges in Robert Graves’ Claudius the God. Nevertheless, this was
the first time I found myself consciously aware of what Nathan Barr had
composed for the soundtrack. This was because Salome’s lines were backed with
the same kind of sinuous chromaticism that Richard Strauss conceived for the
“Dance of the Seven Veils” scene in his opera based on Wilde’s play. Barr
reworked Strauss just enough to define his own originality, but there was also
just enough suggestion to recognize Strauss as the influential source. It was a
clever bit of composing, making for the first time in which the soundtrack
really contributed a useful perspective to the narrative!
Labels:
dramatism,
history,
music,
narratology,
Richard Strauss
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