Stanley Kubrick’s Music… The impact of a well-placed tune.

The Music

The Words

Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the ‘Classical For Everyone’ Podcast… five hundred years of incredible music. My name is Peter Cudlipp and… If you enjoy any music at all then I’m convinced you can enjoy classical music. All you need are ears. No expertise is necessary. If you’ve ever been curious about classical music… or explored it for a while once upon a time… or just quietly wondered what all the fuss was about… then this is the podcast is for you. And because there’s a lot of music out there each episode has something of a theme. And for today it is… what I’m calling Stanley Kubrick’s Music. Which to be more exact is a selection of the music that the American film director Stanly Kubrick used in some of his movies.

So… what does that have to do with ‘Classical For Everyone’? Well, music plays a massively important part in the effectiveness of film and television. Most filmmakers commission new scores from working composers like probably the best known film composers working today… John Williams and Hans Zimmer. But there are many instances where amongst the music used in a film is an existing piece of music. Often a piece of classical music. And I would argue the absolute master of choosing music was the American director Stanley Kubrick… in particular with his films 2001: A Space Odyssey from 1968, Barry Lyndon from 1975 and The Shining from 1980. And I would go as far as to say that for a number of composers; their reputations were either created, enhanced or resuscitated by the inclusion of their music by Kubrick in his films. So on the strength of that idea I am going to play you a pretty eclectic selection of music… Music by Richard Strauss, Gyorgy Ligeti, Johann Strauss II, Georg Friedrich Handel, Franz Schubert, Hector Berlioz, and Krystof Penderecki.

Now there is a bit of a chance that you might get more out of this episode if you know the films but I am of the opinion that it might work the other way. If you enjoy this pretty remarkable and varied collection of music you might get more out of the films should you choose to track them down.

Alright some background about the first piece. In the 1880’s the German writer Friedrich Nietzsche wrote what might be best described as a philosophical poem / narrative novel he called ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’… or ‘So Said Zaroaster’. Using the ancient Persian prophet Zaroaster as his mouthpiece, Nietzsche argues that mankind must overcome itself to reach a higher state (what he calls the Übermensch or the 'Superman'), rejecting traditional morality and religious values... in favour of life-affirming self-creation and the drive to realise one's fullest potential. This book had a very big influence on, perhaps not surprisingly, the young and excitable intellectuals of the newly formed German nation and in particular on the 32 year old composer Richard Strauss. In 1896 he wrote a nine part orchestral work that was a musical response to the journey of Zarathustra. In his day Strauss was extraordinarily successful but after World War Two and his death in 1948 his music had fallen out of favour. And I’d say that there was a good chance that the trajectory of his reputation would have continued slowly downwards.

But then Stanley Kubrick, sitting in an editing room in London in 1967, needed some music that was appropriately epic and confident… something as musically massive as the conception of his and co-author Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001:A Space Odyssey… which is the supposed impact of an alien civilization on the evolution of our species. He needed it for the very beginning of the film and he found the opening two minutes of  Richard Strauss’s ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’. Here it is performed by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan. It starts very quietly.

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That was the opening of ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ or ‘So Said Zaroaster’ by Richard Strauss. It was performed by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan. Now I think it is undeniable that that piece of music fits perfectly with the opening of Kubrick’s film but some critics suggest that it is there because of the parallels between the themes of  Kubrick’s film and those of Nietzsche’s book… both somehow proposing the advancement of humanity to a higher state. I’m more inclined to think that was a happy accident but it’s an interesting argument.

Alright, some more music from 2001. In the sequence of the film subtitled ‘The Dawn of Man’ a group of ape-like ancestors of the human race encounter an alien monolith. So, how does a filmmaker imbue this static, shiny black rectangular object that’s about ten feet tall with the idea that it is powerfully mysterious and somehow ‘not of this earth’?

Well, Kubrick did it with a piece of music by the, at the time, relatively obscure Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti. He took a small section from the ^2nd part of his Requiem written in 1964. Ligeti became a leader in the post WWII central European university-based movement to discover new musical languages in the wake of the WWII. I won’t get into the relative merits of the music but I think it is fair to say that none of it was reaching large audiences. I’ll talk about the music a bit more after I’ve played it but here is performed by the London Voices and the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Jonathan Nott. This is the Kyrie from Gyorgy Ligeti’s ‘Requiem’. It is about 6 minutes long.

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That was the London Voices and the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Jonathan Nott. With the Kyrie from Ligeti’s ‘Requiem’. So, if you are familiar with the Kubrick film or perhaps even from the way I earlier described the scene the Kubrick used the music for… then it is perhaps hard not to think of that music as somehow 'otherworldly’. But it was a setting of the thousand year old catholic ‘Mass For The Dead’. Nothing to do with space travel… but, one can only assume, a sincere response to that most earthly of experiences… our inevitable deaths. And this gets to one of the more problematic issues surrounding the use of existing music in movies or any screen content. Sometimes the movie is so successful that the original intention of the music is totally lost. But this is a bit of a devil’s bargain because the upside… at least for a living composer… is exposure and for admittedly one in a thousand a degree of wildly unanticipated popularity. Ligeti apparently was irritated that Kubrick used his music… apparently because it shared the screen with music of Richard Strauss (though that might be apocryphal) AND because the licensing of the music for the film was not exactly above board. But… Millions of people heard his music. And some royalties from the sales of the soundtrack LP might have made their way to him.  And it was not just his Requiem that Kubrick used. He also used his pieces Lux Aeterna (Eternal Light) and Atmospheres. I’m just going to play you a few  minutes from each but you can hear the complete works on the Spotify Playlist for this episode for which there is a link on the page for this episode at our website classicalforeveryone.net. Here first up is Lux Aeterna performed by the North German Choir conducted by Helmut Franz.

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That was Gyorgy Ligeti’s ‘Lux Aeterna’ or ‘Eternal Light’ performed by the North German Choir conducted by Helmut Franz. If it reminded you of a mysterious room in which a lonely space traveller lives out his days… then you know Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey very, very well. Here is another piece of Ligeti for you. His ‘Atmospheres’ from 1961 performed by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado. Again, I’ll just give you a few minutes.

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That was a section from Gyorgy Ligeti’s ‘Atmospheres’ from 1961 performed by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado. I have one more piece from 2001 for you but first a technical note and a story about Stanley Kubrick that I love.

When people are editing movies or really any form of screen content, the pictures have to be finished before the score is written. If you think about it, it makes sense… the composer needs to know how many minutes or seconds long is the section they are writing for… when to allow the gunfire, explosions, dialogue or car engines to be heard etc. But when editing… before the sequencing of images is completed, the impact of scenes is greatly enhanced by adding temporary music… music that can be added scenes when they are being assembled into rough form. And one of the fun parts of this process is you can use any music from anywhere because, as you never intend to use it for the final work, you never need to pay anything for it.. apart from, in the 1960s, the modest cost of some vinyl.

Now here is a story from my friend the writer and conceptual artist Nigel Richardson. I honestly don’t know if it is true but it has what the American humorist Stephen Colbert calls 'truthiness'. So, Kubrick had hit a creative brick wall. He was editing a sequence in 2001 where a space shuttle is slowly docking with a rotating space station which is orbiting the earth. And he was struggling finding the right music. He and his editors had tried a mass of stuff… no doubt including some Ligeti and all sorts of other ‘spacey’ music. But none of it felt right. In desperation he sent a young assistant out to London’s biggest record store with the instruction to just buy anything that looks like it might work. Get the stuff with the craziest covers… from the most obscure labels. Time passes. The young person returns laden down with LPs. One after the other Kubrick slaps them onto the record player, drops the needle down and asks the editor to hit play. Nothing works. But near the bottom of the pile Kubrick comes across an LP of Viennese waltz music. He is furious. Nothing could be further from what he imagines. His rage is directed of course at the young assistant but once it cools… in a moment of utter despondency and with, for the moment,  no other choice.. he puts on the Waltz LP. The music plays. The editor starts rolling the pictures. And Kubrick quietly says… ‘They’ll call me a genius’.

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That was Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic with ‘The Blue Danube’ by Johann Strauss II. If you have not seen the film 2001 then please trust me that one of the many great moments is the sleek Pan Am space shuttle docking with a rotating space station… to the tune of a waltz from 1866.

The next Stanley Kubrick film I want to look at the music for is ‘Barry Lyndon’ from 1975. This was a period film based on the William Thackeray novel from 1844 set in the previous century. It follows the fortunes of an impoverished young Irishman trying to make his way in the world. It is one of the most sumptuously designed and photographed films ever made. To capture night interior scenes lit only by masses of candles Kubrick used camera lenses designed by NASA to photograph the dark side of the moon during the early Apollo missions. And even though that little detail might remind you of 2001, the music of Barry Lyndon is the very opposite of futuristic. Again Kubrick largely used existing classical music. For the opening credits he reworked a piece by Georg Friedrich Handel from about 1705. Here is the original played on the harpsichord by John Kitchen. It is about 2 minutes long.

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That was the third section of Handel’s Keyboard Suite with the number 437 if you are interested. Handel gave the section the name ‘Sarabande’ after the slow dance rhythm he used for the piece. Now for the opening credits and closing titles of the film I assume that Kubrick wanted something with more grandeur so he asked the American composer Leonard Rosenman to arrange it for orchestra whilst still retaining an 18^th century feel. Here is the result… performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paul Bateman. It is about 4 minutes long. Georg Friedrick Handel’s ‘Sarabande’.

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That was Handel’s ‘Sarabande’ arranged by Leonard Rosenman and performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paul Bateman. And I’d argue that for many people back in the 1970s that grand, stately music for the opening of Stanley Kubrick’s film ‘Barry Lyndon’ was probably the first time they heard anything by Georg Friedrich Handel.  Throughout the film Kubrick also uses a piece by Franz Schubert from 1827 for piano, violin and cello. It is his Piano Trio No. 2. Now if this is strangely familiar to you it might be because since Kubrick used it, the piece has been used on screen again and again.

But he was I think the first. Here are Jos van Immerseel, Vera Beths and Anner Bylsma with the second section of Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2. It is about ten minutes long.

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That was Jos van Immerseel, Vera Beths and Anner Bylsma playing the second section of Franz Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2 used in Stanley Kubrick’s film ‘Barry Lyndon’.

Alright, if you have another twenty minutes there’s one more film I want to play some music from and that is Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s horror thriller, ‘The Shining’. If you’ve had enough fun this is as good a spot as any to hit pause in this episode.

[Pause] Ok, for those who are still listening… back to The Shining. The film opens with the Torrance family driving through magnificent alpine scenery of the Rocky Mountains heading to the isolated Overlook Hotel where Jack Torrance, a writer in need of some peace and quiet, is going to be the caretaker for the winter. The music Kubrick used is the Dies Irae or ‘Day of Wrath’ section from the Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz written in 1830. This part of the 50 minute work portrays, in Berlioz words, a horrible troop of ghosts, sorcerers, and monsters of all kinds gathered together for a funeral. What you might ask has this got to do with a happy family motoring around the alpine lakes of the north-western USA. Well, you’ll need to read the book or watch the film to get the answer. For the film the excerpt from the Symphonie Fantastique was actually slightly reworked by the composers Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind but I’m afraid I don’t have a copy of that so here is the original music of Berlioz. It is about eight minutes long and is performed by the Lamoureaux Concert Orchestra conducted by Igor Markevitch.

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That was the conclusion of the Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz performed by the Lamoureaux Concert Orchestra conducted by Igor Markevitch. Alright, if Gyorgy Ligeti was Kubrick’s go to for otherworldly music in 2001 A Space Odyssey then the polish composer Krystof Penderecki (Krishtof Penderetzki) was the man whose music he needed to score the horrific events at the Overlook Hotel. In fact Kubrick asked Penderecki to compose a complete score but the composer declined but suggested some of his pieces that might work. Amongst them was his composition from 1971 called ‘De Natura Sonoris No. 2’… ‘On The Nature of Sound No. 2’ written to explore the extreme range of music an orchestra can make. I’m going to play you just the first three minutes. You can hear the rest on the Spotify Playlist for which there is a link on the page for this episode at our website classicalforeveryone.net. Here is the beginning of Krystof Penderecki’s De Natura Sonoris No. 2. Performed by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer.

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That was the beginning of Krystof Penderecki’s De Natura Sonoris No. 2. Performed by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer.

My name is Peter Cudlipp and you have been listening to the ‘Classical for Everyone’ Podcast. I have a couple more pieces coming up but before I get to them I want to give you 60 seconds of information that I hope you find useful… If you would like to listen to past episodes, of which there are more than a dozen, or get details of the music I’ve played please head to the website classicalforeveryone.net. That address again is classicalforeveryone.net. There you will also find some mini-episodes that address some of what I want to call the vexing questions for a listener new to Classical Music like… ‘Are conductors actually important?’; ‘Why does the word ‘sonata’ keep turning up?’ and ‘Why is almost everything in Italian?’. I hope you have enjoyed this episode of ‘Classical For Everyone’. If you want to make sure you don’t miss the shows as they are released then please Subscribe or Follow wherever you get your podcasts. That would also mean the search algorithms will smile more benignly on the show and it might reach a few more people. For that I would be very grateful. And if you want to get in touch then you can email… info@classicalforeveryone.net.

To finish this episode of Classical For Everyone featuring music used by the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick here is what I would be pretty safe betting was the first piece of music by the Hungarian composer Bela Bartok that most people in the 1980s ever heard. It is the slow section from his ‘Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta’ composed in 1937. The celesta is a sort of smallish piano where the keys connect to hammers that hit metal plates as opposed to strings but this section is dominated by the xylophone and the timpani. And Kubrick used parts of it as another ingredient to ratchet up the tension in his film ‘The Shining’. Curiously, I played this in the Percussion episode of the podcast about six weeks back in the Percussion episode so apologies for the repetition. Frankly it was either that or more Penderecki and I’m not sure that wouldn’t have been a dissonance too far.Here is Ferenc Fricsay: conducting the RIAS Symphony Orch. Berlin with the slow section from Bela Bartok’s ‘Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta’.

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That was Ferenc Fricsay: conducting the RIAS Symphony Orch. Berlin with the slow section from Bela Bartok’s ‘Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta’. Thanks for your time and I look forward to playing you some more incredible music on the next ‘Classical For Everyone’.

This podcast is made with Audacity Software for editing, Wikipedia for Research, Claude for Artificial Intelligence and Apple, Sennheiser, Sony, Rode and Logitech for hardware… The music played is licensed through AMCOS / APRA. Classical For Everyone is a production of Mending Wall Studios and began life on Radio 2BBB in Bellingen NSW, Australia thanks to the late, great Mr Jeffrey Sanders. The producers do not receive any gifts or support of any kind from any organisation or individual mentioned in the show. But, never say never.

And if you have listened to the credits… here is a little bonus for you… This is a little cello concerto by Antonio Vivaldi that Kubrick used in Barry Lyndon. Here it is performed by Anner Bylsma playing the cello and Jeanne Lamon conducting the group Tafelmusik. Thanks for listening.