Quiet Wizardry
Quiet Wizardry
Of course, shadowing single voices with block triads is nothing new; we have seen that all over the works of the twentieth century, and all over film scores too. But I found it interesting how cadencial it felt when John Williams used this device in the prologue to Harry Potter.
I noticed that, in order to round off the phrase, John Williams would outline a cadence with the top voice, and it didn’t matter that the shadowing triads were completely non-diatonic. Also, a tonic pedal throughout (orchestrated so it remains opaque in colour) helps ground it in a key.
I’ve posted a very similar use of this device, with a more chromatic, meandering line than the original (which admittedly was more simple and elegant), just to test out the idea.
Professionally-engraved version generously copied by Jimmy Lockett:
Friday, 15 May 2009
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