Magical Music

Now, as an English & History graduate and an MA student, alongside being an aspiring journalist, I like words. I like speeches and poems. One of the things I really like are TV scripts, simply because they are fascinating. But one of the most underrated things on TV and in cinemas is the music.

Shows have to have good scripts – if it isn’t good, no matter how brilliant the acting is, the show will suffer. Look at David Tennant’s final few adventures as the Doctor, and some of those scripts were dodgy, even if his portrayal of the last of the Time Lords was excellent.

Music gives things an added dimension. Happy or sad, climatic or a prelude, music can give a sense of being in the moment. I’ve being listening to the Doctor Who Prom on I-Player, and one remembers adventures through the music. There is Rose’s heartbreaking exit in ‘Doomsday,’ the Master’s four knocks and David Tennant’s final scene as the Doctor. The music adds something. Murray Gold, the composer, deserves a medal. He has helped make the modern Doctor Who what it is, adding rousing pieces which elevate the show to beyond ‘good’. See David Tennant's Regeneration.

Music has always been crucial in cinema. Everyone can think of a theme tune which has become memorable to them. From The Third Man to Star Wars, films have often become known by their music, a language universal to all. The first few seconds of the Imperial March lets everyone know they are watching Star Wars.

Musicians have always been interested in films. See Simon and Garfunkel’s presence in The Graduate for that. But musicians are becoming increasingly involved in video games. The Final Fantasy series, one of the pioneers of music in video games, has used pop stars (Leona Lewis in its latest incarnation).

The music for the games themselves (just the incidental and situation pieces) has also made stars of its composers. Nobuo Uematsu has become a star in his own right for his compositions to the ‘Final Fantasy’ games, setting up his own band, ‘The Black Mages’ who perform concerts around the world, showcasing both his music and more classical pieces. ‘Liberi Fatali’, a piece from Final Fantasy VIII, was used during the 2004 Olympics in the Women’s synchronised swimming, highlighting both a strong base audience, but also a growing one.

One of my favourite things in music is Latin. There is something special about its presence. See ‘Vale Decem’ above (of which I can translate parts) or the piece below. There is something rousing, unknown but ultimately epic to the use of Latin, It is probably for that very reason of it being alien which makes it so epic and memorable.

Liberi Fatali, as performed by FF voices in Concert

Music in television has been very different. It is either fantastic, or simply incidental. One of my abiding TV music memories was the finale to Cold Feet where the characters are dispensing with ashes to the crashing chords of Coldplay’s ‘The Scientist.’ But shows have been made around music. Heartbeat has been an excuse to use 1960s songs, whilst both Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes have used music from their respective periods.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer always had a distinctive musical theme. Conveying the music of the young, it also had its own musical episode which won plaudits from around the world and has led to other shows having musical episodes. There was also a show where the characters lost their voices (Season 4’s ‘Hush’), meaning that it relied on the music alone to terrify and relax viewers. However it is Buffy’s death in the Season 5 finale ‘The Gift’ that will always haunt this writer, capturing a sense of loss at her death, but having a sense of peace that went with her sacrifice.

Music is something I will never be able to truly grasp. My attempts to play instruments have always failed – and that include the recorder. But it offers a world into which I have fleeting glances through the medium of the screen. Long may it continue.

Decisions, Decisions

Life is full of decisions. I mean, in M&S the other day, I had to choose between Victoria Sponge or a chocolate muffin (I went for the sponge by the way, and wonderful it was too!), but it highlights the decisions that go on in life.

Amanda goes on about the indecision I've just spent the last 3 years involved in. My degree was Joint Honours, therefore highlighting an inability to make a decision.

Decisions are tough to make. One of the most agonising things I find in a game of chess is the impasse when I don't have a plan, or there is an impasse in the game when we (the players) seem to be starting again, with no move apparent.

But chess is important. It helps us make decisions, which is important for the brain and the functions within it (and yes, I expect someone to get The West Wing reference).

I have decisions to make. I've made some. I decided to stay at Leeds to do my Masters. I'm trying to make decisions on where to live. I'm starting to make decisions on what I want to do extra-curricular next year. I want to be involved in LS and sit on Union Council, as well as be more involved with the Conservative Party in Leeds. This would be in addition maybe to being a subwarden.

We make decisions based on so many things - lifestyle, upbringing, what we fancy for tea. But they can be difficult to make.

Now, should I end this blog now or continue for a while longer...