Category: Movie: Aladdin

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History of Disney Music in 14 Minutes

2/14/2019

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To pass the time during my cancer treatment, I did a live stream on Twitter about the history of Disney music. Why not, right? :-)

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Alan Menken Loves 3rds!

1/9/2019

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Pop quiz! What's Alan Menken's favorite interval?

Answer: I don't know, but 3rds show up ALL over his Disney soundtracks!

He uses them in ostinatos, sequences, free-flowing melodies, emphatic gestures... have a listen to the examples in this video, and then read on to learn more!

Ostinatos establish a mood and anticipate motion.

Menken uses 3rds-based ostinatos to establish moods and anticipate motion. Ostinatos, in case you don't know, are musical patterns that repeat themselves over and over and over. For this reason, they both ground us in a particular sound-world and build up suspense over when, and how, the music will change.

In Newsies, the syncopations and brass orchestration of a 3rds-based ostinato set the movie in jazzy NYC, in a bustling orphanage where the newsies long for adventure.

In The Little Mermaid, a 3rds-based ostinato is played smoothly and evenly by sweet violins, creating an aura of peace and satisfaction as Ariel lies down to sleep. What will tomorrow bring? We'll find out tomorrow; in the meantime, she basks in her happiness.

In Aladdin, the end-of-bar accents, abrupt rests, and flurries of sixteenth notes in this 3rds-based ostinato create anxiety. Trapped by the guards, unable to escape, he prepares himself to jump for his life, colorfully depicted by a falling glissando.

Here are those same examples in sheet music format:

Sequences create movement and anticipate arrival.

Menken uses 3rds-based sequences to create motion and anticipate arrival. Sequences are like ostinatos, but each time the pattern repeats it's a little bit higher or lower than the time before... like climbing on rungs in a ladder.

In Hunchback of Notre Dame, for example, the villainous Frollo sings a descending sequence of 3rds as his soul descends into Hell.

In The Little Mermaid, by contrast, Ariel sings an ascending sequence of 3rds as the sea witch, Ursula, rips her voice up and out of her throat.

Isn't Disney just lovely for children? Here are those same examples in sheet music format:

Free-flowing melodies are more flexible than ostinatos and sequences.

The challenge with ostinatos and sequences is that they're structurally very rigid. But that's precisely where they get their power: they're incredible at establishing moods and carrying the music in clear directions.

But Alan Menken also often uses thirds to create his own, free-flowing melodies, such as the following gruesome duet from Hunchback and snazzy, finger-snapping bridge from Newsies.

In the Hunchback duo, Frollo and Quasimodo sing short phrases based almost exclusively on thirds. Thirds are useful in duets, because they are very consonant, and they form the most basic building blocks of tonal chords. For these reasons, they're relatively easy to harmonize, which is a load off the shoulders when trying to blend two simultaneous melodies.

This snazzy bit from Newsies uses open thirds, omitting the middle note of each interval. Leaping around from syncopated note to syncopated note, this use of open thirds creates a feeling of lightness, joy, and happy-go-luckiness:

Of course, the happy-go-luckiness of these open thirds can be snuffed in a puff, when used for a rigid, choppy, ostinato such as that in Randy Newman's song "Friends on the Other Side" from Disney's The Princess and the Frog.

Good stuff. Here's the sheet music:

Emphatic gestures add "punch and pizzazz" (quoth the Genie...)

A lot of folks think that music is just about long, flowing melodies and longer, nerdier chord progressions. But that's missing the trees for the forest. Just as hand gestures and facial gestures add extra meaning to vocal speech, so, too, do itty-bitty musical gestures contribute to the flavor and meaning of a song.

Alan Menken is a MASTER of musical gestures, and one of these days I'll write about the multitude of juicy, delectable instrumental gestures in his background music for Aladdin. It's part of what makes the Aladdin soundtrack so expressive and engaging.

But for now, let's have a listen and look at a few 3rds-based gestures in his vocal melodies.

The choruses to "I See The Light" (Tangled) and "Go the Distance" (Hercules) are loud and exciting and triumphant and heroic... but if you want to know why that is, you have to look at the first three notes. Like a musical fist pump, each of these choruses begins with a sweeping gesture from scale degree 6 up to scale degree 1. They don't just break out into song; they leap into song.

In "Friend Like Me" (Aladdin), the Genie doesn't just sing; he laughs, he make funny sounds, he throws around little exclamations... and all these "extra" details are performed via charming musical gestures. Here are just a couple of them, which are based on the interval of a 3rd:

And here's the sheet music:

Putting it all together: "The Mob Song" from Beauty and the Beast

Ready to see something awesome? "The Mob Song" from Beauty and the Beast combines 3rds-based ostinatos, sequences, free-flowing melodies, and rhetorical gestures, all in a single verse!

- It begins with an emphatic gesture (a rising minor 3rd from scale degree 1 to 3), which immediately sets a dark and hurried tone.

- This gesture is then turned into an ostinato that wavers between two minor 3rds, one between scale degrees 1-3 and the other between scale degrees 2-4.

- The entire first phrase (emphatic gestures + ostinato) is then repeated a step higher, initiating a sequence.

- Then the same 3rds-based emphatic gesture is used as the basis for a free-flowing melody.

- The verse concludes with an ascending sequence based, again, on that same 3rds-based emphatic gesture.

Sooooooo cool!!

Putting it all together again: "Arabian Nights" from Aladdin

The opening song from "Aladdin" also combines 3rds-based ostinatos, sequences, free-flowing melodies, and rhetorical gestures. My analysis below only covers the first half of the song, but I should warn you that the second half is also heavily based on 3rds as well. My gosh, does Alan Menken LOVE to use 3rds, or what?!

Did you like this blog post? Help spread the word!

Disney Music Theory is a brand-new project, and I need YOUR help to spread the word about it! If you liked this blog post, please share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter using the "like" and "tweet" buttons below. If you're a teacher, please share it with your students (and vice-versa!)

In fact, here's a direct link to this entire essay on Twitter - why not just retweet it? :-)

I expanded this thread about @AIMenken's love of 3rds into a full-blown blog post. It's pretty epic! And I can't wait to hear what y'all think of it. □ ❤️ □

Here's the link:https://t.co/F1uVUF5mhX #DisneyMusicTheory #musictheory #AlanMenken @Lyrikris10 @Lin_Manuel https://t.co/A3YvSfYQ4h
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) January 9, 2019

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Analysis Request #2: Why doesn't Hades sing?

12/17/2018

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Well, I didn't intend to reply with a whole thread, but you know... things happen...

So here's a little thread about the music of Disney villains (or lack thereof)!#DisneyMusicTheory https://t.co/bx8VBFaLsn
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

Before Little Mermaid (1989), no Disney villains sang their own solo. There were a few who sang bits and pieces, like Cinderella's stepsisters with their horrendous voices. Musical talent = purity / goodness, while lack of musical talent = evil. (cont...)
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

Menken sort of changed this, setting a trend that lasts to the present. The villains in Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Lion King, all the way up through Princess & the Frog and Tangled have very growly voices that blend the boundaries between singing and speaking. Shows they're evil.
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

This is actually an anti-Semitic trope in opera, literature, art, for 100s of years: that Jews' poor musicianship shows how evil they are and Christians' musicality shows their purity. Few connect this with Jews today, but the musical=good/non-musical=bad idea is ALL over Disney.
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

If you're interested in this sort of thing, there's an amazing book called "Music Libel Against the Jews" by Dr. Ruth HaCohen which details this anti-Semitic stereotype about "evil Jews" being fundamentally unmusical in contrast to "pure Christians." So fascinating.
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

@jbohn_composer mentioned this a little in his book about early Disney music, but he didn't connect it with the old anti-Semitic trope.
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

I've actually got a whole YouTube series planned about this, once I make the time for it...
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

In the case of Hercules & Little Mermaid, knowing this anti-Semitic history is particularly interesting, given that it's very possible to hear both Ursula and Hades as Jewish caricatures. I don't assume that the composers were even AWARE of the anti-Semitic history of this trope.
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

In fact, it's REALLY interesting in the context of Little Mermaid, because there are actually people on the internet who think that Ursula is the devil, King Triton is Jesus, and Ariel is humanity: so Ursula (coded as Jewish) is like the devil tempting humanity away from Jesus.
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

In that reading Ursula (coded as Jewish) is not just tempting Ariel (humanity). She's silencing Ariel's voice, b/c, according to this anti-Semitic trope, Jews hate music. It's like in the Canterbury Tales when Jews slit the throat of a Christian singer b/c they can't stand music.
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

That's probably not the answer you had in mind when you asked why Hades doesn't sing... it's so fascinating and surprising. But it explains so, so much about why Disney villains either don't sing at all or else sing with a "non-musical" voice.
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

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Rising and falling gestures

11/28/2018

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[THREAD] Everyone talks about chords, but music is also made of gestures. Just as hand gestures express ideas, so, too, do musical gestures. Here's a thread of examples from @Disney music!

#1: small, rising gestures often indicate confidence and excitement.#DisneyMusicTheory pic.twitter.com/1d7rKZaDIS
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 28, 2018

#2: big, leaping gestures often express hopes and dreams. pic.twitter.com/avKyrAPYGA
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 28, 2018

#3: falling gestures often communicate loss, fear, and hopelessness. These examples are downward scales, decorated a bit for emotional punch. But you can have shorter gestures, too, like the drops on "Savages, savages!" in #Pocahontas and "What is wrong with me?" in #Moana. pic.twitter.com/FDON8iER9S
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 28, 2018

[4] Musical gestures don't just work in isolation, though. Later this week, I'll post another thread with examples of how musical gestures combine to tell stories and express emotional journeys in music from @Disney's #Frozen and #Tangled. Can't wait! This stuff is so cool! □
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 28, 2018

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Motivic transformation in Aladdin

11/26/2018

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Did you ever notice how the melodies for "One Jump Ahead (Reprise)" and "Whole New World" from @Disney's #Aladdin are so similar? Check out those identical notes in green... (I made the rhythms the same so it's easier to compare.)#DisneyMusicTheory #MusicTheory pic.twitter.com/LLrdQ5lZJF
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 26, 2018

Of course, they're NOT identical... this bit from One Jump Ahead is in minor, while Whole New World is in major. The former has a very boring rhythm (all quarter notes) while the latter is full of syncopation. The motif is transformed just as Aladdin himself is transformed!
— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) November 26, 2018

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Welcome!

History of Disney Music in 14 Minutes

Alan Menken Loves 3rds!

Ostinatos establish a mood and anticipate motion.

Sequences create movement and anticipate arrival.

Free-flowing melodies are more flexible than ostinatos and sequences.

Emphatic gestures add "punch and pizzazz" (quoth the Genie...)

Putting it all together: "The Mob Song" from Beauty and the Beast

Putting it all together again: "Arabian Nights" from Aladdin

Did you like this blog post? Help spread the word!

Analysis Request #2: Why doesn't Hades sing?

Rising and falling gestures

Motivic transformation in Aladdin

Categories

Author

Archives

Welcome!

History of Disney Music in 14 Minutes

Alan Menken Loves 3rds!

Ostinatos establish a mood and anticipate motion.

​Sequences create movement and anticipate arrival.

​Free-flowing melodies are more flexible than ostinatos and sequences.

Emphatic gestures add "punch and pizzazz" (quoth the Genie...)

Putting it all together: "The Mob Song" from ​Beauty and the Beast

Putting it all together again: "Arabian Nights" from ​Aladdin

Did you like this blog post? Help spread the word!

Analysis Request #2: Why doesn't Hades sing?

Rising and falling gestures

Motivic transformation in Aladdin

Categories

Author

Archives

Sequences create movement and anticipate arrival.

Free-flowing melodies are more flexible than ostinatos and sequences.

Putting it all together: "The Mob Song" from Beauty and the Beast

Putting it all together again: "Arabian Nights" from Aladdin