Music in Film Adaptations of "The Tempest" by Shakespeare: to the Problem of Stylistic Variety

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Yaroslava A. Kabalevskaya

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of embodiment of the play “The Tempest” by Shakespeare in the world cinema, one of the most musical Shakespeare’s works which contains many references to music, musical instruments, songs, dances, as well as a musical and theatrical performance in the English mask genre. It is given the chronological table of selected film adaptations of “The Tempest”, from XX century “silentˮ films to the video recordings of online performances that are a phenomenon of recent years caused by 2019–2021 coronavirus pandemic. It has been made an attempt to classify films by types and genres. The article considers various trends in film interpretations of the final play by Shakespeare. Some techniques of working on film soundtracks are systematized: using previously created music (classical or contemporary); creating authorʼs music; opera films (film operas or filmed operas). In the field of view are: D. Jarmanʼs avant-garde film “The Tempestˮ with music by
B. Hodgson and D. Lewis (1979), the fantasy drama “Prospero’s Bookˮ by P. Greenaway with music by M. Nyman (1991), the animated film “The Tempestˮ by S. Sokolov with music by Yu. Novikov (1992) and others. It is drawn the conclusion: the authorʼs film musical means of expression, even if they are not able to compare with the recognized masterpieces of musical embodiments of “The Tempest” (Tchaikovskyʼs symphonic fantasy, Berliozʼs fantasy, opera by T. Ades), nevertheless they achieve their goal: to create a single artistic image of the film. They demonstrate a wide stylistic palette, perform not only commenting function, but also affect the viewerʼs perception of the film
as a whole.


Keywords: Shakespeare, the Tempest, music, art, cinema, cinematograph

Article Details

How to Cite
Kabalevskaya Я. А. (2023). Music in Film Adaptations of "The Tempest" by Shakespeare: to the Problem of Stylistic Variety. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 50(1), 122–134. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/1433
Section
Film Music
Author Biography

Yaroslava A. Kabalevskaya, Moscow State P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow, Russia

PhD (Arts), Associate Professor at the History of Russian Music Department