Polyphony - many yet one

You read about polyphony in the last article and you are much smarter about it. Polyphonic music is used in films to act against the images on the screen. Remember, here the music itself is not polyphonic. The effect is. If the images are happy, sad music is used and vice versa. This effect is the polyphonic effect. The music needs to just oppose the emotions of the images. The viewer is made to take notice of the dichotomy of emotions. Films can also use actual polyphonic music as a standout piece. Here's an example from the remarkable film 'All About Lily Chou Chou'.

You already know about polyphonic music

You definitely know about polyphonic music in films. It's when the background music does not complement the action on screen. The music, as well as the images, has an independent line of thought.

Imagine a scene wherein the city is under destruction. People are yelling and dying, and definitely in that order. You can put in homophonic music (homophony) that complements the images; sad music or anything that complements the doom on screen. Or you can put in happy music, that does not complement the images but 'does its own thing', that is, it is independent of the images on screen. Happy music and destruction on screen, that would be polyphonic music. Also vice versa. (Here's a violent example from Reservoir Dogs. One minute mark onwards.)



Polyphonic music was first written around the year 900 in London, as per recent discoveries. Let's step out of the

Ideal classical music for film?

English composer William Walton said this of film music:
"Film music is not good film music if it can be used for any other purpose."

He was excused from military service during the second world war to make music for war propaganda films and drive ambulances.

He was not enthused with the music he made for the film 'The First of the Few'. However his 'Spitfire prelude and fugue' became immensely popular and he extracted it from the film to release it as an orchestral piece. (Spitfire was called the most famous plane of World War 2)