Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Assignment 2 stuff

Atm I'm deciding which version of the accompanying notes I should use ( 1845 or 1855 version) as they both differ slightly. However I don't think it will matter too much.

I've also been trying to decide exactly which story archetype Symphonie Fantastique fits into. I think it's basic archetype is that of a tragedy. However I think that it could be interpreted into a few different archetypes ( romance and maybe even satire/irony?). But yes. More thought needs to be put into this... It's got a bit of a 'voyage and return' (without the return (but I could always add one?)) feel to it. Anyway...
ONWARD!


I decided to see if I could fit the story into the Basic tragedy meta-plot for the 1845 version:

The Symphony's 5 movements almost perfectly fit with the meta plot with each of the 5 movements fitting with the 5 stages in the meta-plot.

1. Anticipation stage - Movement 1 : Meeting the woman and falling in love. The idee fixe.

2. Dream stage - Movement 2: Going to the ball and seeing the woman again

3. Frustration stage - Movement 3: Becomes lonely, and suspects that the woman has betrayed him.

4. Nightmare stage - Movement 4: OD's on opium in his despair, dreams that he has killed his beloved and is witnessing himself being marched to the scaffold for his execution

5.Destruction or death wish stage - Movement 5: Attends his own funeral at a witches sabbath surrounded by monsters and sorcerers. His beloved appears and joins in the celebrations of his death.


Plot types:
Symphonie Fantastique could fit with 'tragic flaw'(being that he's a drug addict), 'trap or maze'(while in drug induced state), 'vision of hell'(last 2 movements) and even possibly 'death of an innocent'(death of his beloved).

----Moar?-----


1. The work - author, date + some background. What IS this work? What is the ESSENTIAL theme of the work? HOW is this theme presented.

The Symphonie Fantastique is a classical symphony and was written/ composed in 1830 by Hector Berlioz. However it was not published until 1845. It is the work with which Berlioz’s name is most closely associated. The composition of this revolutionary masterpiece marked a breakthrough in the composer’s career and the starting point of his mature work as a symphonic composer.
I think that the main theme of the work is romance/ tragedy with a bit of horror thrown in there. the theme of the work is represented not only through the program notes, but also through the use of the instrumentation and the intensity of the music which helps to create the mood/ tension etc.

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