Batman vs the Circus

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Batman vs Circus Instrumentation (6)

• p opening low strings (as Batman= antihero) with Batman’s theme on brass over a long cresc as Bat signal is sent to alert Batman (Gotham City in danger).  

• Harp gliss just before ff at b7, “shocking” sfz violin glisses b25

• Madcap xylophone solo from b26. “Chaotic” extreme lip trill in trumpet (b50 +51) and oboe’s extremely wide vibrato (b57-58) as instruments pushed to their limits.  

• Horns play stopped at 37 creating a comical feel. “Alarm- like” horn glisses b42   

• Pizz strings at 49 represent tiptoeing 

• Unusual instruments like fairground organ, temple blocks and swannee whistle= wide colour palette in music. Fairground organ= childhood innocence, but organ’s dissonance= distorted and unsettling= implicit reminder of how Penguin’s childhood stolen from him because he’s got flippers not hands. 

Batman vs Circus Melody (6)

• Starts with syncopated Batman leitmotif in bsn and b clarinet b4.  

• Rapidly passed between instruments (eg fragmentation b18-19)  

• Motif 4 introduced in xylophone + piano (disjunct and played in octaves, starting at b26)  

• Motif 5 (4 notes of a descending scale) b42 played by violins.  

• Woodwind sextuplet at b69 echoed by harp and upper strings at b70. 

• Low brass play augmented version of Batman leitmotif at b82. “Unresolved” as misses out last note.  

Batman vs Circus Texture (2)

• Sudden “dramatic” tutti at b7 + 10

• Mostly “chaotic” polyphonic texture but brief moments of thin texture (eg snare roll at bar 35)  

Batman vs Circus RMT (6)

• B13 “less sinister, more cartoonish” rhythm because “oom-cha” trombones (motif 3) 

• “Unsettling” trombone rhythmic displacement (b15) - suddenly lose clear pulse, + “unsettling” hemiola at b67 (in 3 4 but motif 5 = 4-note figure)

• “Unsettling” frequent time changes (b23-25 2 4 → 3 4 → 4 4) throughout

• “Chaotic” cross rhythms (eg b13 in trb + tpt) + polyrhythms used lots

• Woodwind sextuplet b69 

• 5 4 at b73, with stabs in perc + lower strings.  

Batman vs Circus Dynamics

• pp to ff cresc at b7- builds tension.  

• Mostly “chaotic” sudden dynamic changes (eg mf to ff at bar 89)  

• p at b24 to sfz violin gliss at 25 shocks audience 

• Ends with p to fff (1 quaver played fff) cresc in 1 bar.  

Batman and Circus Harmony/Tonality

• Starts with tonic pedal (B)  

• “Dramatic” tutti ff C# chord b7 

• “Unsettling” highly dissonant chords + frequent modulations

• “Uneasy” trumpets play muted dissonant chords at b18, b25 violin gliss