Although I do understand how you feel, I am nevertheless disappointed and a little sad about the way things have ended. Aside from being one of the nicest people I have ever met, I think you are the best film composer in the world, and if you were prepared to do the film, it I would have been a very good very fortunate thing indeed. I appreciate everything you have done, and how far you tried to bend in order to. I hope that in the future I will do a film where classical themes are not what I want, and that you will still be willing to work with me. Good luck and love from everyone…
Before Kubrick ironed out the details about who would be the musical director of the production, he was busy choosing musical cues for the film. He was aided greatly in this endeavor by executive producer Jan Harlan. In a letter from 29 August 1973, Harlan corresponded with Hans B. Eggers from Deutsche Grammophon:
As we discussed, we will need a large amount of all types of 18th century and 17th century music—dances, folk songs, minuets, gavottes, etc. I think it would be a marvelous idea if Deutsche Grammophon could provide us with a large choice of what’s available along these lines, including all the big master works for orchestra and chamber music of this extremely rich period.
Harlan also asked Polydor Records for a list of early Italian operas, and Hanno Rinke from Polydor A&R wrote back on 21 April 1975 with a list of “Italian Opera Repertoire from Monteverdi Till Early Verdi.” Between 1974 and 1975, Harlan also corresponded with Stan Hibbert, the assistant secretary from the Musician’s Union about the use of certain recordings for the film. About one piece, dances by Mozart (K. 605), Hibbert stated:
The Union does not, as a matter of course, authorise the use of gramophone records for use in the sound-track of films; we prefer that special sessions are mounted for the recording of music for specific feature films. However, we are prepared to accede to your request, subject to a payment of 18 pounds to each of our members involved in the original gramophone recording session.
Dominic Frontiere from Leslie Stevens Productions sent a lengthy letter to the production team of Barry Lyndon (2 July 1973) suggesting music for the film that would be historically accurate and noting that the most popular composers of the historical time period were Handel, Purcell, J. C. Bach, and Scarlatti. Frontiere also suggests that Kubrick might find that the music of composers anachronistic to the story might be equally as effective as those from the time period, including Frederick Delius and Hamilton Harty. He adds, “You have many choices in styles of music to choose from [appropriate for the time period]: harpsichord and organ music was very popular; religious music abounded; thousands of hymns were composed.” He ends with: “Enclosed are some of the songs that were popular at the time of the Seven Years’ War. If there is any specific research you would like done, please write.” Included with this correspondence is the sheet music for the following pieces: “Johnny Cope,” “The Marquis of Granby,” “Why Soldiers Why,” “Hot Stuff,” “Tenth Regiment,” “See the Conquering Hero Comes,” “The British Grenadiers,” “Over the Hills and Far Away,” “Lilliburlero.” Of these songs, Kubrick ended up using only “The British Grenadiers” and “Lilliburlero.”
The archive also contains lists of records they wanted to obtain, and one list (undated) includes Haydn, Johann Melchior Molter, Beethoven’s German dances, Mozart’s dances, Purcell trumpet tunes, Purcell’s Fairy Queen, and Vivaldi’s Trumpet Concerto and The Four Seasons. Another list (from 12 June 1975) includes numerous Haydn symphonies, “Nina Pazza Amore” from Paisiello’s Barber of Seville, Mozart piano sonatas, selections from Gluck’s opera Orfeo, Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, and Donizetti’s Elixir of Love. Because the beginning of the film takes place in Ireland, Kubrick was interested in having authentic Irish songs on the soundtrack. The production team was in contact with arrangers familiar with this repertoire, including Dermot Graham and Patrick J. Power.
As for finding an arranger, Kubrick eventually got in touch with Leonard Rosenman after the film had been completed. Rosenman (1924–2008) had majored in music at UC Berkeley, earning a B.A., and he went on to study composition with twentieth-century masters Arnold Schoenberg and Roger Sessions. Around the time he turned thirty, Rosenman began to write scores for film and television. One of his first assignments was the Elia Kazan film East of Eden. One of his most famous scores was written for another James Dean film, Rebel without a Cause. Occasionally still writing for films, Rosenman moved on to television, much like former Kubrick collaborator Gerald Fried.7 Rosenman composed scores for episodes of The Twilight Zone, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Virginian, and Marcus Welby, M.D. He taught and composed into the 1990s when he was diagnosed with degenerative dementia.
Despite his impressive credentials as a composer, Rosenman’s skills as an arranger were what Kubrick wanted. Certainly one of the high points of Rosenman’s career was working on Barry Lyndon, especially because he won an Academy Award for the film, for Best Original Song Score and/or Adaptation. The collaboration with Kubrick was not without difficulty or friction, but in the final tally Rosenman did an admirable job. He, at one point, expressed concern that Kubrick had perhaps overused one of the cues,8 a sarabande attributed to Handel that Kubrick featured (in slightly different variations) no less than ten times in the course of the film. But when Rosenman was asked if he deserved an Oscar for his efforts, he responded, “I’d have been an idiot to turn it down. . . . My award was for best adaptation, and I was lucky enough to have superb material to work with.”9
This is a list of the “superb material” Kubrick chose, as it appears on the original soundtrack album (two cues missing from the soundtrack will be discussed at the end of the chapter):
Barry Lyndon: Original Soundtrack Album
Side A
Sarabande—Main Title—Handel
National Philharmonic Orchestra; Leonard Rosenman, arr. and cond.
Women of Ireland—Sean Ó Riada
Chieftans
Piper’s Maggot Jig—Traditional
Waterford Glass Band
The Sea-Maiden—Traditional
Chieftans
Tin Whistles—Sean Ó Riada
Paddy Moloney and Sean Potts
British Grenadiers—Traditional
Fifes and Drums, Rosenman, arr. and cond.
Hohenfriedberger March—Frederick the Great [attrib.]
Leonard Rosenman, cond.
Lilliburlero—Traditional
Fifes and Drums, Rosenman, arr. and cond.
Women of Ireland—Sean Ó Riada
Derek Bell, harp
March from Idomeneo—Mozart
EMI Records
Sarabande—Duel—Handel
National Philharmonic Orchestra, Rosenman, arr. and cond.
Side B
Lilliburlero—Traditional
Leslie Pearson, arr. and cond.
German Dance No. 1 in C Major—Schubert
National Philharmonic Orchestra, Rosenman, arr. and cond
Sarabande—Duel—Handel
National Philharmonic Orchestra, Rosenman, arr. and cond
Film Adaptation of the Cavatina from Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Paisiello
National Philharmonic Orchestra, Rosenman, arr. and cond
Cello concerto in E-minor (third movement), Vivaldi
Pierre Fournier, Cello, Festival Strings, Lucerne, Ralph Baumgartner, cond. Deutsche Grammophon
Adagio from Concerto for 2 Harpsichords and Orchestra in C minor, J. S. Bach
Karl Richter and Hedwig Bilgram, harpsichords, and the
Munich Bach-Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon
Film adaptation of Piano Trio in E-flat op. 100 (second movement), Schubert
Ralph Holmes, Violin; Moray Welsh, Cello; Anthony Goldstone, Piano; Rosenman, arr.
Sarabande—End-Title, Handel
National Philharmonic Orchestra, Rosenman, arr. and cond.
Making the Chosen Music Fit
Once Kubrick had a rough idea of the music he wanted for the film, the
challenge was fitting the cues into the shots without compromising the integrity of each cue. As Jan Harlan explained, Kubrick did not want a cue that had to be awkwardly cut or faded.10 For those works that were arranged, Kubrick had more control over the length of each cue; however, in some cases, Kubrick used the cue in more than one place in the film, each place requiring different timings. Many of the papers in the Barry Lyndon files of the Kubrick archive in London deal with the challenge of making the music fit. There are packets of papers discussing the cues, where they will start and end in the film, where the arrangements should be recorded, and other considerations. The following are some excerpts from these notes.
After the duel between Redmond and Quin, notes read, “After Quinn [sic] is Dead 1 min 4 2/3 second; This would be a bigger version of the Sarabande, starting after ‘Is he dead?’ and ending on the long shot kissing Mother.” For the appearance of “Lilliburlero” the note reads:
Tony [film editor Tony Lawson] has to work the length back to the front of the ship shot, to make sure the beat falls correctly on the first shot of the marching. There should be a ruffle of drums on the first cut of the prow of this ship. SK [Stanley Kubrick] to discuss with Leonard. The music should last 20 secs. longer than the scene requirements.
One note refers to a “Love Theme—Violin Version.” Although it is not clear what this “Love Theme” is, the note explains that “The Sea-Maiden” could be used instead:
Version of March 10, 1975 has, for 8 M 4 [reel]—Love Theme—Violin Version
1. Starts while Chevalier is reading the letter, and ends at the end of the scene.
2. Tony and SK to select exact place and check it against the music. We are well covered with the music
3. An alternative piece of music would be to use the “Sea-maiden” if the Love Theme sounds corny.
For the appearance of Idomeneo that accompanies Redmond’s escape from Prussia, the notes explain how precisely the cue must be timed:
1. To be backed in from the coach drive-away, and to start as Ryan gets in.
2. This is a dubious music cue, and will have to be heard to be believed.
3. If we use it, we will use the EMI recording.
G. F. Handel: Sarabande11
Appearances:
0:00:04–0:00:55 Opening credits (strings and continuo version)
0:21:09–0:25:06 Duel variation—for the Duel with John Quin
0:25:07–0:25:55 Harpsichord variation—Barry rides away from his home after duel
2:20:27–2:25:03 Barry teaches Bryan fencing; Barry buys Bryan a horse
2:26:55–2:30:29 Low strings variation—Bryan dying after the accident
2:30:29–2:31:41 Variation with drums—Bryan’s funeral (slight alteration at the end)
2:31:41–2:33:26 Quieter variation—Barry’s drinking problem and Lady Lyndon’s devotion
2:39:40–2:50:44 Duel variation—Lord Bullingdon demands a duel with Barry
2:53:32–2:54:25 Injured Barry plays cards with his mother
3:01:15–3:04:36 Big version, solo string version, full orchestra and drums—continues over credits
Handel composed numerous suites for keyboard. A suite is simply a collection of stylized dances, and the sarabande is a dance in a triple meter. The particular sarabande in Barry Lyndon is part of Handel’s Keyboard Suite in D Minor, which was published in the 1730s, though, as is common of many of Handel’s keyboard works, it is difficult to determine an exact date of composition. Most of his keyboard works were written before 1720, likely meant for teaching and intended for private use. The Suite in D Minor has five parts: Prelude, Allemande (a duple meter dance supposedly from the German tradition, hence the name), Courante (a slow, triple meter dance), Sarabande, and Gigue (a lively triple or compound meter dance). Handel composed the theme of this sarabande with two variations, using the so-called folia chord progression as a basis. This succession of chords is often attributed to French Baroque composer Jean Baptiste Lully (although of Italian descent, he reached his greatest fame as the court composer for King Louis XIV). The folia structure certainly predates Lully, but his version in 1672 is one of the most famous. An earlier folia exists, but it was the later version that was used by many of the best-known composers of the Baroque period: Corelli, Scarlatti, Geminiani, Vivaldi, and, of course, Bach. Later composers who revisited the folia are Liszt in the nineteenth century and Rachmaninoff in the twentieth century.
Handel’s sarabande is a simple tune, just sixteen measures long, but through Rosenman’s different arrangements achieves a number of different emotional states. Variations of the piece occupy more than thirty minutes in the film. One single cue lasts eleven minutes. The opening credits and closing credits are accompanied by the sarabande, providing a dramatic opening and close to the film. In the first half of the film, we hear the sarabande three times: the opening credits, the duel with Captain Quin, and Redmond’s departure from home. It does not appear again until almost two hours later, as Redmond teaches his son to fence. It draws the beginning section of the film to the end section of the film, bookending them. This bookending feature is something Kubrick exploited with Schubert’s Piano Trio as well.
One version, featuring low strings (playing pizzicato) and tremolo accents, is used twice in the film, in both cases to accompany the scenes of duels. In a way, the scenes are mirror images of each other, and the music draws them together. In the first, at the beginning of the film, Redmond Barry demands satisfaction from the Englishman Captain John Quin. The issue at hand is Quin’s proposal to Redmond’s cousin, Nora, with whom Redmond is in love. The tremolo accents seem to underline the nervousness of the participants, especially Quin, who is visibly shaken and does not seem to want to go through with the duel. Redmond seems braver and in fact successfully shoots his opponent. What Redmond does not know is that Nora’s family rigged the duel in order to ensure the financial support of Captain Quin. Redmond hits him not with a musket ball but with a plug of tow—flax or hemp fibers. Convinced by Nora’s brothers that he has killed Quin (who faints upon being “shot”), the sarabande plays through one more cycle, although in the harpsichord version.
In the mirror duel scene at the end of the film, Barry Lyndon (as he is now known) is the one challenged, this time by his stepson, Lord Bullingdon (an event that does not occur in the original source material). Again, Barry seems less shaky than his opponent, who is not only visibly nervous but vomits when it is time for him to stand his ground. Again, the tremolo accents in the sarabande cue provide a musical analogue to Bullingdon’s nerves. Bullingdon’s first shot misfires, but Barry does not shoot him, instead firing into the ground. Rather than allowing that act to settle the matter, Bullingdon takes a second shot, this time hitting Barry in the leg, which must be amputated below the knee.
The sarabande is heard in a scene in which Barry is teaching his beloved son, Bryan, how to fight with a sword. The appearance of the cue in this context may perhaps be a reference to Redmond’s duel with Quin as a young man. This version of the sarabande, with the cello as soloist, lends a sense of foreboding to the otherwise lighthearted scenes of Barry doting on his son. The narrator confirms this feeling of foreboding by saying, “Fate had determined that [Barry] should leave none of his race behind him. And that he should finish his life poor, lonely, and childless.” The music continues as Bryan asks his father for a horse. A violin solo takes up the tune and the cello returns as Lady Lyndon tells Bryan not to ride unless he is with his father. Barry further warns him that he will be flogged if he goes to see the horse before his birthday. The cue ends as Mr. Runt enters Barry’s room presumably the next day to tell him that Bryan was not in his bed in the morning. The music begins again, violin and low strings together as Bryan lies injured, paralyzed except in his hands. Barry assures him that he will recover from the accident, but the child seems to know that he is dying. He asks his parents not to quarrel so that they can all be reunited in heaven.
A passionate version of the s
arabande, with full orchestra and timpani, accompanies the scene of young Bryan’s funeral procession. His white coffin rides in the same golden carriage that carried him at his birthday party. A quieter version accompanies the aftermath of the tragedy: Barry’s drinking problem and Lady Lyndon’s fervent religious devotion. The use of the sarabande over the end credits ties the film together, and we understand that the elements of this story have formed a dramatic, tragic tale.
Listening to Stanley Kubrick Page 21
