Monster Music
An Analysis of Monster Music in the Context of Other Monstrous Works
Monsters can take many forms, both physical and abstract. A
monster can be a huge, ugly being or a frightening concept. It can be human
or nonhuman, a personal or societal threat. A monster can be a manifestation
of the mind, or can truly exist, can be evil or completely harmless. Given
this context, and then instructed to create a monster from scratch, it was
difficult to decide which form my monster would take. I finally decided on
portraying this monster in a musical manner- I would compose an original piece
of music that told the story of a monster that was defined by the elements
around him, his surroundings and his treatment by man. This idea was partly
inspired by Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein in that Frankenstein’s
monster is not accepted because of his inhuman looks, which causes him to
become a killer, therefore, society is the real monster because it made a
monster out of him. My monster is slightly different in that he has not turned
malicious, but, just like Frankenstein’s monster, his loneliness and
desperation are an effect of the ignorance of human beings. Mine is a story
of a hideous monster that lives in the tower of a castle and cannot be freed
until he is accepted by just one human being. A man comes to the castle with
the intentions of slaying the monster, but realizes that he would never be
able to defeat his magic. The monster only wants a friend and would like to
hold the man prisoner, but does not have the heart to do so and lets him go.
The music is divided into sections and coincides with the story. I composed
the piece to have an overall sardonic tone to reflect the irony of the situation.
Most importantly, the piece is fashioned to reflect critical sources pertaining
to the monstrous. My Monster Music mirrors Mary Douglas’ idea of margins
and boundaries and Freud’s concept of the uncanny supported by outside
sources, both in the sound and in the narrative.
Douglas writes of external boundaries, expressing the idea that
margins are unstable because they symbolize the weakest areas of an experience.
“Any structure of idea is vulnerable at its margins” (Douglas
121). To expand on this idea she writes of the menace of transitions. “Danger
lies in the transitional states, simply because a transition is neither one
state nor the next; it’s indefinable” (Douglas 96). It is the
passage between two definite states that is the least stable. Douglas’
ideas carry over to my narrative. The monster lives in the tower of a magical
castle, which is like the boundary of society. It’s magic pulls on society
and distorts it, which is why the man, a representative from society, attempts
to rid the castle of its magic by killing the monster. The music at this point
is very chromatic, which tends to have an uncomfortable feel, whereas if a
tonal center were established here it would seem more stable. The notes are
arranged to sound like footsteps, which are symbolic of the transition between
the two states: society and the magical castle, and the chromaticism portrays
the lack of comfort in this transition. Another transition in my story is
the escape of the man from the magical castle back into society. The music
is tonal at this point, in the key of G Major, yet it is written to seem never
ending, and non-varying, with a constant drone, which again makes this transition
uncomfortable, as it has a feeling of suspension. The man gets caught between
these two states for a long period of time, until there is a quick variation
in the melody and he is free, which segues back into the monster song, and
modulates into the minor key. Just as described in Douglas’ essay, the
boundaries in my narrative and composition are unstable, and the transitions
are uncomfortable.
This disparity between two elements and the transition between
the two is present in other places as well. For instance, in Luciano Berio’s
composition, Sinfonia, he illustrates the conflict between the past and the
present and explores the transition between the two. The background of Berio’s
piece consists of musical quotation of well-known works from the common practice
period, sometimes distorted by the composer, and the foreground is selected
recitations of a William Beckett poem. The distortion of the quotation reflects
a pull at the boundaries of the past, bringing it closer to the present by
placing it in a contemporary context. The selected vocal parts close this
gap even more by portraying a feeling of déjà vu, with repeated
phrases like, “I must have said this before, since I say it now.”
The piece leaves the listener in a virtual limbo between the two time periods,
spinning into a frenzy, making the audience somewhat uncomfortable, as it
is not easy to predict what will come next in the piece, or where it will
wind up. Human beings like predictability; without it the boundaries are not
quite as strong.
A more philosophical example of these ideas is the transition between natural
sound and electronic sound. Before the emergence of electronic music, there
was a well-specified definition of music: organized, naturally produced sounds.
Now, with all the new possibilities available, the definition is changing.
“No longer content with a highly limited, ‘specialized’
body of specifically musical material, composers began to conceive of composition
as the organization of all possible sounds, especially those made newly available
by twentieth-century technology” (Morgan 462). With the boundaries pushed
and misshapen due to technological developments, the margin of this traditional
artistic definition is being attacked (by technology). This transitional state
between the obliteration of certain accepted values and the reinstatement
of others is quite dangerous because one cannot measure just how far the boundaries
will be pressed, just how unstable society is. If artistic values can be altered,
are any values safe? Powerful sources like technology, which are ever-growing,
are a menace to the overall societal experience. The boundaries are pushed,
vulnerable at their margins, and the transitions are especially dangerous
due to the concept of the unknown. These examples are quite abstract, and
not directly coinciding with Douglas’ original statement, but they are
along thesame lines, and are issues that are represented in my narrative and
composition.
Another critical description of the monstrous that is present
in my narrative and composition is an element of the uncanny as described
by Sigmund Freud. Freud describes the uncanny as that which “arouses
dread and horror” (Freud 193). One of his main examples of the uncanny
is “when the distinction between imagination and reality is effaced...
It is this factor which contributes not a little to the uncanny effect attaching
to magical practices” (Freud 221). In my narrative, there is a definite
magical element, surrounding the idea of the monster in the castle. The whole
experience takes on an “uncanny effect” if the situation is thought
about too much. The music itself is very mystical too and is written to sound
non-realistic, with the intention of the listener’s imagination running
away with them, and getting caught up in the magical element, subsequently
frightened by their own imagination. Another element of the uncanny existing
in the composition is the concept of the reoccurrence of the same event, that
being the monster’s song. This is the light, bouncy, yet eerie melody
that accompanies the introduction of the monster, and then sounds again at
the end of the piece, slower and in the minor key. The common listener recognizes
the theme, but is not sure if it is the same, due to the slight musical alterations.
This gives the listener either an intense feeling of déjà vu,
which is always uncanny, or just an eerie feeling from having heard the same
theme in an even darker tone. Some elements of Freud’s uncanny are apparent
in my project, that being when imagination becomes reality, and the idea of
reoccurrence.
The uncanny is apparent in outside sources as well. We see similar
issues in popular culture. The song Imagine, by John Lennon, consists of soothing
guitar chords, rather simple and repetitive in nature, which provokes comfort
for the listener. The ideas presented in the lyrics, however, are much more
complex, such as the existence of religion, war, and politics. Lennon instructs
the listener to address these serious issues with their imaginations, which
may seem like a calming idea, but is actually rather frightening because it
blurs the distinction between these experiences and the listener’s reality.
Just as this blurring effect contributes to the uncanny effect of magic, it
also seems to contribute to the uncanny effect of abstract ideas that seem
untouchable.
Douglas’ ideas of margins and boundaries, and Freud’s theory of the uncanny both fit well into my narrative and composition, and parallel outside sources, both cultural and philosophical. It is interesting to note how the elements of such a general theme, the monstrous, can fall together. My narrative was written under the influence of the critical works, yet it was written after the musical composition. Therefore, the text was inspired by the art, rather than the art by the text. The outside sources were a slight help in gaining an inside into culture and philosophy as it pertains to this theme, but they seemed to fall into the analysis after the creation was finished. Whatever the case, it was especially interesting to create a work that fell so well into an already existing context.
Works Cited
Berio, Luciano. Sinfonia. New Swingle Singers and Orchestre Nationale de France.
Cond. Pierre Boulez. Editions Costallat, 1986.
Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution
and Taboo. New York: Routledge, 1966.
Freud, Sigmund. Writings on Art and Literature. Stanford: Stanford University
Press, 1997.
Lennon, John. Imagine. 1978.
Morgan, Robert P. Twentieth Century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern
Europe and America. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1991. 461- 480.
