I watched this for the first time, after recently reading Thackeray's novel. I mostly enjoyed this miniseries, but the music! It was reminiscent of a few circus performances I recall attending. The music was hideously distracting, bufoonish at times, atonal, and mostly irritating. Too bad, since the adaptation itself was excellent.
shareSince watching it when it was first shown, I had been haunted by it, in particular, but not solely, by the boldness of the music. So appropriate for the brassy boldness of Becky. I admired the BBC's artistic honesty by being so loud with it (while at the same time recognizing that it might put others' teeth on edge). Finally, after all this time, I've bought the series (via iTunes) to watch and listen whenever I feel a need for a "Becky Fix" to reinforce my assertiveness. (One of these days, I should read the book. In that respect, I do have Mr. Defoe's Moll Flanders within reach on my Kindle.)
shareI just watched this over two days with my headphones on because of my laptop's crap speakers, and have to say I LOVED the score. From the very beginning, it made me really happy and I have to say I don't think it was overused and I didn't tire of it. It's really interesting to see the polarised opinions but I must admit that when I first heard that main part, I thought it might be one of the most praised aspects of the adaptation. Just so different, love it.
shareIt's not that the music was bad unto itself--it was interesting drunken horn stuff that I think I could actually listen to on its own. At times it was used with wit, but just as often it was just there, slopped over the visuals with no purpose. Kind of like it was really composed for the concert (or beer) hall and then pasted in like library music instead of composed for the action on the screen.
AND, I have to add, that the music was invariably WAY too loud--too high in the mix. Incrediby overbearing. We had to turn the sound down each time the horns began to blare.
The music was godawful. I realize they were going for that ridiculous circus/carnival music, to showcase the "Vanity Fair" the characters were living in, but still... terrible.
"Peter, is your social worker in that horse?"
For me, it was too Brechtian. I expected Mack the Knife to appear at any moment. Otherwise, this was a brilliant series.
shareA pretty astute observation. In fact the writing is quite Brechtian (though of course Thackeray came first with the deadly cynical wit). But it was Weill who wrote the music to Threepenny Opera. Interestingly the play that Threepenny Opera was originally based on, Beggar's Opera, had many themes in common with Vanity Fair. Mack the Knife was Captain MacHeath & not unlike Rawdon Crawley in his escapades though more lawless.
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