-or- Wagner vs. Brahms Redux: McCreary vs. Giacchino

I’ve blogged alot on McCreary’s BSG score, and talked somewhat about Giacchino’s Lost, but I’d like to spend some time now and ruminate on the differences in their scoring styles on the respective shows.  I must stress that these are not indicative of their style as a whole, though some of the traits do carry over into their other work.  I’ll mention these similarities and differences where appropriate.

McCreary, as I’ve stated before, in BSG uses a large complex of character and concept themes to weave an aural tapestry to compliment the show.  Every major character, character groups, major concepts, and even some minor characters have had some sort of theme associated with them.  And when McCreary uses that theme, it is usually in a very recognizable form orchestration-wise.  There might be subtle variations here and there (larger ensemble, maybe a different instrument playing the theme), but the large idea, especially melodically, is very recognizable.

The one major exception to this is the ‘Passacaglia’ theme that I blogged about previously.  Here McCreary takes the basic harmonic structure and thematic content and through the course of four major cues, sends the material into different time signatures and key areas, and even blending it with a new theme depicting Starbuck and Apollo’s “frakked up” relationship in ‘Violence and Variations.’  To put more traditional musical terms on it, this is the only major occurrence of McCreary really “developing” his previous thematic ideas.

Giacchino, on the other hand, uses a much smaller complex of thematic ideas, by my reckoning between 5-10 major themes, and they are not really associated with any of the major characters.  One can make the argument that there is a “Kate Theme” and a “Jack Theme” and so on, but truly, most of the themes convey moods and ideas rather than a character specific thematic identity.

What Giacchino does, though, is that he develops his themes through the course of a cue, and the course of the series, creating various material to subtlety tweak the affect of the theme.  His themes, in general, are fairly simple and are such that allow for a wide variety of both melodic and (some) harmonic manipulation.

It is in this way, McCreary with his complex themes that change very little, and Giacchino with his simpler themes that allow for variations, that they are like a modern day Wagner and Brahms (McCreary and Giacchino respectively).  Consider Brahms’ Fourth Symphony (which I had to for many weeks in a Tonal Analysis class).  The opening theme is a series of falling thirds and ascending sixths (mostly) built over a harmonic progression (which escapes me right, but really isn’t relevant).

In the course of the first movement, Brahms reuses that opening theme seven or so times, varying it in some way each time.  The interval of a third is also the basic  unit from which the entire symphony is built.

Without the actual physical scores from Lost in hand, I can’t exactly tell you how things are constructed, but I can tell you what my ear tells me (sounds like a movement from Mahler’s Third Symphony, “What My Ear Tells Me,” okay, very obscure joke, look up the titles of the movements of Mahler 3).  Some of Giacchino’s most powerful cue are built from a simple piano harmonic progression from which a simple melody comes in, also on piano.  At this point, the chords are in a closed position on the piano, and the melody played close by, the entire range not taking up much more than two or three octaves.  From here, he usually brings in strings, first maybe a solo string then the section.  He also adds a few embellishments to the melody and expands the harmonic support’s range, eventually bringing in his entire ensemble.  Cues built like this are “Life and Death,” “Locke’d Out Again,” and “Parting Words,” which are all from the Season 1 soundtrack album and “There’s No Place Like Home” from the recently released Season 4 album.  But these are merely the most dramatic statements of their respective themes, there are many other examples of Giacchinousing variations of theme elsewhere.  Also, the basic themes presented in these three cues are used througout the series in different forms.  I also think that there is a basic connection between many of these themes.

What made me realize that this is how Giacchino builds his Lost score is that this is also how he builds the Star Trek score.  He uses a small number of themes (in Trek I believe it to be 3: the Federation/Human/Enterprise theme, the Vulcan Theme, and the Nero theme) from which he can build variations to suit the cue.  This is not to say that he builds all his scores in this manner.  I feel that Ratatouille, The Incredbiles, and Speed Racer are not truly in this style, but do show some hallmarks of it.  More Listening is needed.

So where Giacchino is Brahms with his developing variations (a term coined by Schoenberg and affixed to Brahms in Watler Frisch’s 1984 Brahms and the Principle of Developing Variation, but also describing the technique widely used by Beethoven and other Romantics), McCreary is Wagner, using a large collection of leitmotifs that,while changing in someways, don’t show a large amount of variation between presentations, but are equally impressive in their variety.

This is not to say that either composer sounds like Wagner and Brahms.  What has helped set these two scores apart is the distinct sound that each composer cultivates.  Giacchino has had from the outset a orchestra of roughly 37 strings, brass, and percussion, with a percussion section that is made up of spare airplane parts from the actual wreckage that was part of the season 1 set.  McCreary has had a much smaller ensemble, made up of a number of instruments from around the globe, including: duduk, erhu, taiko drums, string quartet (later expanded to a string orchestra for some episodes), and others.  But each has used those musicians at their disposal to create something not heard on much of modern television, a score that is an integral part of the overall aesthetic of the show.  A score that accentuates the grand, cinematic (dare I say epic in the case of BSG) aspirations of the many modern serial television programs.  And where a score like Sean Callery’s for 24, I feel, does little more than ratchet up the tension of Jack Bauer racing against the ticking clock, McCreary and Giacchino’s scores are just as much a character of their respective shows as are Admiral Adama, Jack Shephard, Kara Thrace, Kate Austen, the Galactica, or that damn mysterious island.

So Chuckdid it once again Monday night.  The writers, music production team, everyone, showed just how brilliantly the show melds music into its aural landscape, along with gunshots, knife fights, and its trademark witty banter.  This time pulling out all the stops for for the season – hopefully not series – finale.  For a climatic shootout at Chuck’s sister’s wedding, we have the dulcet tones of “Jeffster” (a band consisting of two of Chuck’s co-workers) singing Styx’s 1983 hit, Mr. Roboto, from the album Kilroy Was Here. 

But the brilliance of the segment is not simply limited to the kitsch of having such a wonderfully geeky song in the episode.  The way the song is arranged within the segment shows a keen ear in how to set the music with the image.  The song actually comes in three versions for the sequence (a fact already stated in the song’s Wikipedia article!).  First we have the intro section plus first verse played entirely by Jeffsterand set against the players of the show moving into place: the groom, who is in the know about Chuck’s double life, finding out that something more is going on, the bride freaking out, and Sarah getting ready to confront the bad guys.

For one who doesn’t know the lyrics, the song may just seems to fit the aesthetic of the show (Chuck’s love for 80s geek culture as epitomized by his Tron poster), but a quick look at the lyrics reveals the brilliance of the song choice.  The lyrics up to this point are:

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto,
Mata ah-oo hima de
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto,
Himitsu wo shiri tai

(Translation: Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto / Until we meet again / Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto / I want to know your secret)

You’re wondering who I am-machine or mannequin
With parts made in Japan, I am the modern man

I’ve got a secret I’ve been hiding under my skin
My heart is human, my blood is boiling, my brain IBM
So if you see me acting strangely, don’t be surprised
I’m just a man who needed someone, and somewhere to hide
To keep me alive – just keep me alive

A man with a secret?  Brian IBM?  Wanting to stay alive, needing someplace to hide?  Paging Mr. Chuck Bartowski.  From here the music moves into a vamp of the main backing part, played mainly by Jeffster, but slowly adding in more orchestral sounds, namely timpani, and also filling out the sound with more guitars.  The arrangement, though, kicks into a higher gear as Super Spy extraordinaire Bryce Larkin walks in, and we hear the vocal line for “You’re wondering who I am,” etc. played in the low brass, an arrangement used for much of Chuck‘s score.  By going back to this line, though, it essentially moves the song back to its starting point.  As the tension in the room builds, the manipulated vocals of “Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto” comes back.  The fight finally starts and the song starts to break down as the backing track continues, but vocals, instruments, and other elements drop in and out, mirroring the overall chaos.  We also get to see what else is going on in the church: a stunned crowd, the bride trying to hold it together.  Finally, the orchestral elements come back as Sarah, Bryce, and Chuck are captured.

The Pre-Chorus for the third verse starts to come back (simply, “Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto…Domo” repeated), first in a new version for the show, but then the actual Styx version starts to come in as we hear a plane overhead and see shadows…and paratroopers.  And as Casey and his commandos drop in through the convenient glass ceiling, the final verse comes in:

Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto
For doing the jobs that nobody wants to
And thank you very much, Mr. Roboto
For helping me escape just when I needed to
Thank you-thank you, thank you
I want to thank you, please, thank you
to hide to keep me alive

Essentially describing the on-screen action.  For those keeping score at home, that’s two fits of lyric to story.  This music segment, and its transition back to a recap of the intro, plays under the gunfight and Casey’s rescue of our spies, while also cutting back to the wedding and Jeffster’s performance, though we are clearly hearing Styx’s vocalist Dennis DeYoung.  From here, though, the arrangement goes back to Jeffster’s performance, and we skip ahead to the last three lines, as the live performance reaches its climax:

So everyone can see
My true identity…
I’m Kilroy! Kilroy! Kilroy! Kilroy!

And in doing so, they set of some flares or something, the fire alarms go off and the wedding is ruined.  In all, the sequence takes right around 5 minutes, actually coming in about 30 seconds UNDER the album length of the song.  In doing so, they cut out the second verse, and vamped mainly on the material of the third verse, which itself is a vamp the material from the Introduction.  But they also cut out a line that could have been very fitting for the show:  “The problem’s plain to see: too much technology / Machines to save our lives.  Machines dehumanize.”  It could very well be a motto for Chuck’s life as all the advanced spy technology has ruined his life.  To the CIA and NSA the information in his head (the Brian IBM) make him an “asset” instead of a real person, he has been dehumanized.  But maybe that’s a little heady for a show that derives most of its charm by not taking itself too seriously.  A shootout at a wedding set against Mr. Roboto?  I don’t think they have a problem of taking themselves seriously.

Another great moment happens right before the song starts as the Jeff of Jeffster turns to the string quartet playing the wedding and echoes Michael J. Fox and his instructions to the dance band in Back to the Future as he says, “This is in 4/4 time.  It’s in D, watch me for the changes.”  Classic.  And of course, later on in our many cuts to the performance, we actually see the string quartet playing.

In all, this is another example of just how musically astute this show is, something that probably starts with the show’s creators and producers, and extends to the writing staff, music producers, composers, and editors.  Everything about the sequence was carefully controlled to achieve maximum sync of music and image, proof positive that everyone involved cared not just about the on-screen performance, but also the musical performance.
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