How the Music Spoils Sweeney Todd (and why that's a good thing)
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- čas přidán 28. 10. 2019
- Attend the tale of the Dies Irae
Twitter: / sideways440
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Sources/Links:
This blog post has most (if not all) of the instances of the Dies Irae:
dropera.blogspot.com/2014/09/s...
Another great article about the characterization in Sweeney Todd, also some Dies Irae:
www.fromscoretostage.com/sing...
Sondheim's breakdown of Epiphany:
• Epiphany Sweeney Todd ...
Sondheim discussing using just a single idea and developing it:
• Stephen Sondheim on “S...
Into The Hoods's Sweeney Todd breakdown (I HIGHLY recommend watching this):
• (Part 1/20) - Sondheim...
Musicals w/ Cheese's Epiphany breakdown:
• Analysis of "Epiphany"...
Kevin Lynch's Epiphany breakdown:
• Breaking Down the Scor...
TheDetectiveSteve's review of Burton's adaptation of Sweeney Todd:
• Detective Reviews #39 ...
Bobby Burns's review of Burton's adaptation of Sweeney Todd:
• Sweeney Todd: How To A...
Full discussion of Sweeney Todd that I completely forgot to credit in the video (sorry!) by Musicals w/Cheese:
• Sweeney Todd is a PERF...
Sondheim discussing the Dies Irae and Sweeney's musical identity:
• Sweeney Todd Rare 1980...
An amazing dissertation on Sweeney Todd (It's where I read about how there are 15 leitmotifs, and that 13 are directly related to the Dies Irae):
uh-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handl...
Another amazing thesis that collected several critical leitmotifs from Sweeney Todd, also, naturally, discusses the inclusion of the Dies Irae at length:
mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/76...
And the third thesis that I looked at in preparation for this video that corroborated everything else that I had read:
citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/...
Dies Irae Excerpt:
• Serpent & Ophicleide -...
Live Epiphany Clip:
• Sweeney Todd | Epiphan...
Finally, "Sondheim on Music" by Mark Eden Horowitz
I can't recommend this book enough, it's such a fun read. - Hudba
Sweeny Todd is a movie about Johnny Depp killing the cast of Harry Potter.
STARPHASE Or the cast of Les Mis
I can't believe J.K. Rowling has been planning that all along! She really thinks of everything.
EXACTLY like literally everyone in this movie was in harry potter at one point, I was legit waiting for David Tennant to walk on-screen
And I oop-
Now I cant help but imagine Sacha Baren Cohen as some sleazy Hogwarts teacher hushing whores out of the castle
I feel like 'foreshadows' is more appropriate than 'spoils'
they used common story tropes such as "setting up the tone" and "foreshadowing" and that spoiled the whole musical for me :c
Clickbait
But then you don't get mad clicks fam
I understood spoil to mean ruin and now I understand he meant spoilers
@@MOLLYDOLLIGHT
I thought that too. Glad it was the latter.
"Once upon a time, there was this guy called Jesus."
Man, when you go back, you go way back.
I interpret Johanna’s black bird line as dodging the dies irae by one note to represent her avoiding death
(edit: spelling)
Mister Mystery And she only just avoids it, really. Sweeney nearly killed her but didn’t.
well, considering she actually does kill someone in the original play, and only once. It makes sense that it appears once.
Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett are constantly surrounded by death. All the people dying to bake pies.
That’s deep
These viewpoints are very interesting to hear! That’s one thing I love about music, that my interpretation is as worthy of consideration (i.e. upvotes) as any number of others, even though I don’t even know the story of Sweeney Todd! Music just... speaks.
That’s amazing
"listen to that flute line" UM SIR I BELIEVE THAT IS TOO HIGH TO BE PROPERLY PLAYED BY A FLUTE THAT THERE IS A PICCOLO SIGNED UR LOCAL FLUTE PLAYER
I will never not love musicians' outrage
You know how you can tell it's a piccolo player?
It's piping hot.
@@UrbanScalawag then blow on it first! Pfft-
So Lucy’s line is flute and joanna’s is piccolo
Yeah, a piccolo, which is short for piccolo flute
Dies Irae: The Musical
lmao
AND ITS GREAT!
“Listen _closely_”
me: Ah, yes, the Dies Irae. I cannot hear it AT ALL but I know it’s there, I guess
Don't worry I'm a music student and I can't listen to all of them without the score, I don't think anyone can listen it without studying it a lot :)
Yeah I think he's slightly overanalysing it. I've played the musical myself(cello in the 9-piece version) so it's kinda weird to me how he mentions places where the reference (if it even is one) is very unnoticable (come on, upside down in Worst Pies?) but when they're blatantly obvious (the complete first two bars being played by brass in Epiphany) he doesn't mention them.
Also the bass line in epiphany isn't dies irae as far as I'm concerned. Derived maybe, but not more than that.
i could hear it a handful of times (usually when someone was singing, whenever he was talking about the actual instrumental i couldn't hear shit) but even then, thats only like.. 2 or 3 times out of the 99 times he brings it up lmao
@@TovaHolmberger wellll im sure he only noticed it a lil through watching then went over the scores, did his research n connected the dots to present, much like a thesis/essay/dissertation. So dw
@@nahbirdie4773 I've played the bass line in epiphany according to the original 9-part score, I think that makes me entitled to have an opinion on the matter
And I said it could technically be derived from if if you stretch the rules. And as I also mentioned, if he went over the score he would've noticed the full inclusion of the dies irae in epiphany almost unchanged except for a the length of a single note, which he didn't
Been seeing a lot about the Dies Irae recently. Started not being able to miss it in film. It's like the Wilhelm scream.
I didn't even realise it till now but it's in the orcs of Mordor motif from lord of the rings :) makes a lot of sense now
Even Vox did a video about it a month ago: czcams.com/video/-3-bVRYRnSM/video.html
We’re playing a song in concert band about Vesuvius, the volcano that destroyed Pompeii, and the whole middle section is based around Dias Irae!
TheSpacecraftX The beginning of The Shining uses it I believe.
@@AudioGardenSlave123 I noticed it near the start of Joker most recently.
Take a shot every time he says dies irae
I did. I died.
i asimov was the dies irae playing
Why not watch the movie and take a shot every time you hear it play in each song 🤣... I’m sure you’ll die from alcohol poisoning almost fitting to the Dies ireae
@@iasimov5960 play dies irae for our fallen comrade
Pronounced incorrectly as well
"You see this part of the Macarena is just the Dies irae with the 3rd note duplicated and put 5th, the 1st and 4th notes inverted and shifted up, the 2nd note put 15th, and then the 3rd note which is now the 5th note put as the first note shifted up 2 octaves and repeated 12 times"
Do you have a diagram
Because Macarena has antibiotic resistant syphilis so all her beaus descend into madness and die.
Best comment ever hahaa
esotericVideos LMAO!! 😂😂😂😂
"Now listen closely. What do you hear?"
Me knowing jackshit about music theory: THE DIES IRAE!
Me: has heard Dies Irae a bajillion times from studying music history
Sideways: there! did you hear it?
Me: huh
Jasmine the Noob I also get confused with Dies Irae because there are so many versions with the same words but different tunes and rhythms.
I had a chuckle thinking about this Dies Irae motif because in the musical Beetlejuice they explicitly break the 4th wall by singing that "this is a show about death", and while Beetlejuice sings this he is accompanied by a choir of people singing, you guessed it, Dies Irae. It's a funny little treat for Sondheim fans and overall music nerds.
Anyway, loved your analysis. Perfect for spooky season.
this is made especially fun by the fact that when the chorus is singing 'Dies Irae!' behind him, Betelguese is singing his own rendition of it himself in the lines "I have mastered the art | of tearing convention apart". there are some added notes, but it fits the tune perfectly
that. is. awesome.
Dont they actually like,,, SAY dies Irae as they sing it bc that fuckin hilarious
@@kennymosier9357 yes, i belive so
@@kennymosier9357 yup. at the end of the song:
[BETELGEUSE, (ENSEMBLE)]
I have mastered the art (Dies Irae)
Of tearing convention apart (Dies Irae)
So, how about we all make a start (Dies Irae)
On the whole "being dead" thing!
[ALL]
God, I hope you're ready for a show about death!
Hey Sideways! Thank you for the shoutout! My series has been my baby and a work in progress! I’ve not released new videos for awhile because of being extremely busy with other projects and interests, and losing steam. And I had over a dozen more videos in the works (including one that finishes the Sweeney Todd series)! I think your video has given me renewed energy to revisit making more content for my channel, so thank you!!
PLEASE PLEASE DO YOUR CHANNEL GAVE ME LIFE
I LOVE that series. Watched it twice already. I would be very pleased to see it finished
Awesome because that is something I am going to check out
Once I have rewatched Sweeney Todd yet another time haha
You have a great channel. I used to watch it all the time. Any chance of a new upload?
We want MOAR!
Back in my day we called it “foreshadowing” 😂
Can anybody tell me what FORESHADOWING is?
Yes, Miss Granger???
Macaroni and Cliches Foreshadowing is a dramatic device in which an important plot point is mentioned earlier in the story to return later in a significant way.
@@meluuunia6949 Excellent! Ten points to Gryffindor
Ahhhhhh my dickrat people! ( if u don’t get this you will probably be *_very_* confused, I’m sorry 😂)
Mystic Flower77 Jack Bauer Dikrats
Calling the Rapture the world's greatest slumber party wins all the internet points
My born Catholic ass died laughing at that part!
To be fair, Johnny Depp had never sung before.... like NEVER. They called him up and they were like, "by the way, can you even sing?" Johnny Depp was like "I don't know. I can try." This is not an easy musical score to do, and he didn't really have the ability to learn it through hearing it. He had to take the musical notes to a professional and learn what to do and how to do it in very little time. He was bound to mess up, and it's not because he couldn't do it.... it's because he didn't have enough time to get it all right.
Or at least that's what they said in the bonus features to Sweeney Todd.
Well he was in a band but I doubt he sang he sings now though! With the Hollywood Vampires search up "whos laughing now"
Feige Katarina he was in the musical Crybaby where is sang a lot
Wait, what do you mean he's never sung before...like in a film? Yes he has. It seems you're trying to be an apologist for his singing in this movie but there's no one to blame here except Burton. He's the one who chose Depp to be the lead and sing Sondheim, he's the one who directed it musically. He also really should have given Depp time to train for it musically. I don't blame Depp one bit for not being prepared for such a musical beast that is Sondheim. I think he looked and acted brilliantly in this movie but that was the trade-off made when they cast him.
JenJo I know that. I don't blame him either. The director could have chosen to give him more time. I only say that, because some people do regard him as less good than he should have been. You don't need to be antagonistic. And to the other people: I got this information from the bonus features in Sweeney Todd. I think at the time when he was doing Sweeney Todd, there wasn't much out there of him singing. If you wish to challenge that info, then do your own research, because you're not fighting me on it, you're fighting the people who made Sweeney Todd.
@@shawproductions4048 Depp didn't sing in crybaby. It was someone else's voice, James Intveld. He lip synced.
The tune under “And my Lucy lies in ashes” is also a direct reference to the tune of the most famous line in Pagliacci, in the closing aria of Act I, Vesti la giubba (“put on the costume”): “Ridi, Pagliaccio, sul tuo amore infranto! Ridi del duol, che t'avvelena il cor!” In English: “Laugh, clown, at your broken love! Laugh at the grief that poisons your heart!” Pagliacci is also the story of a man driven to madness by lies, infidelity, and broken love. The opera ends with the lead, Canio, the one who sings Vesti la giubba, killing his wife and the man who stole her from him in a fit of unbridled rage. So when Sweeney sings of his wife, Lucy, to the tune of Pagliacci, we see another embedded musical clue to the plot: that Sweeney’s madness will not only take the life of Judge Turpin, but the life of Lucy as well. And Sweeney, like Canio, here resolves to “put on the costume”: to put on the façade of a charming, friendly neighborhood barber, when behind that false smile he’s filled with nothing but sadness, despair, and insane murderous fury.
Sondheim is a genius.
Oh shit!
Dang, I thought that sounded familiar!
😮😮😮👍🏼
aka the music when Harold from Hey Arnold gets dramatic lol
"We kinda see her leitmotif branded with this ancient chant that has come to represent death" is absolutely the most metal thing I have ever heard.
My favorite Sondheim leitmotif is in Into The Woods - "No It's Your Fault" has exactly the same underscore as "Ever After." Their happily ever after is falling apart and Sondheim is making fun of them for their foolhardiness. Brilliant.
"no it's your fault" is one of my favorite pieces of musical theater
Another interesting leitmotif (?)-- I admit, idk if you'd call it that, between two of my favorite Sondheim musicals is when the assassins in Assassins sing, "What about my prize? I want my prize!" near the beginning of Another National Anthem, sounds similar to The Wolf singing "There's no possible way, to describe what you feel. When you're talking to your meal!" near the end of Hello Little Girl from Into The Woods.
NOW IM JUST ANNOYED THAT I NEVER NOTICED ALL THE DIES IRAE.
AND I WILL NEVER UNHEAR IT EITHER
Finally, it’s spoopy song analysis time
spoopy?
Spoopy.
Isn't that Dies Irae also the Overlook theme from The Shining? That's so cool!
Laurnelle Beukes I was so confused why he didn’t put a clip of that in? The second I heard the Dies Irae, I thought of the Shining
@@gabriellaberman maybe it was a copyright thing?
gabriella berman well he said he just took the examples from an old video so maybe he just couldn’t be assed to edit it in lol
That’s the first thing I heard when he played it for the first time
This is his earlier video where he explains the Dies Irae- czcams.com/video/SGVqPP-52No/video.html - and yeah, the first film he brings up is The Shining
right when i heard the Dies Irae I thought "yeah the song at the beginning of The Shining", i had no idea how culturally significant that song was. im not well versed in music like that. learn something new every day!
Nothing to do with the music, but the "Johnny Depp plays himself" bit: I think that's pretty fair to say for Sweeney Todd, as his daughter fell very ill while he was filming this and he probably couldn't "create a whole different character" at work. I don't find it detrimental for the movie though, the raw depression works in a weird way. Like Sweeney and Depp melted together.
👏👏👏👏
Agreed, especially with his opening line, hearing it bluntly seems more in line with a broken man who lost everything he cherished, and being unable to act on it, simply built his rage such that it grows to simply subsume everything about him.
Some of those mentioned other Depp roles he mentioned aren't exactly unknown for seeing or speaking lyrically about death anyway. Willy Wonka treats it very offhandedly as well for example. The idea of him singing about it isn't much of a stretch.
yay! i’ve been dying for you to talk more about musicals- the reason i grasped the idea of leitmotifs so easily in your earlier videos was bc i’m a theater nerd and loved when a show would repeat parts that represented a theme, and i was so happy you gave it a word.
You didn't touch Toby's song "Nothin's Gonna Harm You". I sing that to my cat sometimes.
I used to sing it to my children at bedtime. My daughter, when grown, called me up after the Depp movie came out and said "OUR LULLABY WAS FROM SWEENEY TODD???!!!" We still laugh about it. :)
I sing this all the time
Why did this make me laugh for so long
@@Ddrhl I will now do this to my pets. Thank you
@@Ddrhl Ha, that reminds me of a friend of mine, he sang as a little kid and the voice teacher gave him Life is a Cabaret to sing. He told me that and my first thought was... "but that's about a dead prostitute from a show set in nazi Germany!" lol I told him what the song was from and showed him Cabaret, he was so confused lol. Turns out, he only sang the first half of the song, which is the pg and less depressing part.
I’m almost certain that when Sondheim refers to Sweeney’s madness as the Stravinsky motif, he’s referring to a short phrase that pops up in the Rite of Spring. You can hear it in the build up to and throughout the Augurs of Spring section
I am still deeply salty that we never got an Alan Rickman version of Judge Turpin's variation on "Johanna" (also known as the "Mea Culpa", drawing upon a different bit of liturgical music), which is *terrifying.* Seriously, why do so many productions cut it?
Certification, is probably the answer for the film. It would have bumped them up at least one rating.
@@kitwhitfield7169 True- that scene is creepy as hell! But so good at the same time
LarsPeterA same for stage. Even the production they filmed years ago with George Herne and Angela Lansbury cut that bit.
Gosh, I've only ever seen one production who did it. Very creepy, very good.
There's a performance of it somewhere on CZcams. I often forget it's there! I saw a high school production of Sweeney Todd once that excluded it (but kept everything else), so I thought it was something they only cut in the school versions. I didn't know it was commonly cut out!
"its in the walls, its in the street, its in the toilet"
my mind: *imagines cjugames looking into the toilet, searching for the dies irae*
Well now all I can imagine is sideways looking in all those specific environments and then once it reaches the toilet, Sweeney appears with his razor, angered
I think this is more of a foreshadowing rather than a spoiler, don’t you think?
The only difference between those two things is the level of subtlety, but I would tend to agree with you because I don't think most of the people watching the movie picked up on it. Obviously spoiler is a better youtube algorithm word though, so I can't blame him for using it.
@@tristanwilliford9099 semantics. lol
Dies Irae the Musical
with Johnny Depp as himself
And the cast of the original harry potter as the cast of the original harry potter but in grayscale
*casually watches video*
*17:33** happens*
“Oh look. It me”
Thanks for the shout out, you have fantastic content!
Does the music spoil Sweeney Todd?
The only person ever to ask this: No.
I really want Sideways to do a video essay on “The Bean Theme” Into the Woods. Or- better yet a video series called uses “Main Theme: How music makes the story”
YES!!! I was really surprised when Sondheim didn't mention in that ITTW educational video that Stay With Me is The Bean Theme.
Here, you want a bean?
Step down, step up, m3 up, step down
(I )think
HollowedJes I sent that to my choir teacher to help her convince the theatre department, that we should do ITW. But- we ended up doing a pop music adaptation of Dracula 🧛🏽♂️
T G my school is doing into the woods this year!
One thing I could never tell was whether or not Sweeny *genuinely* returned Mrs. Lovett's feelings for him or if he just saw her as a "Willing accomplice" that he could have replaced at any given time
Video breakdowns like this give me life. Both because I love learning this sort of thing, and because I appreciate anyone who's fighting against this anti-spoiler culture in any way. We've gotten so obsessed with twist endings and diverting expectations that I think people have forgotten how satisfying it is when a narrative plays out exactly like you expect it to. If people are able to interpret the flow of a film or play by paying attention, that's not bad writing. It's excellent writing, in fact, because it means what you're doing has an internal logic that they are able to pick up on. This is a pretty good analysis of Sondheim basically hitting you over the head with that internal narrative logic, and it paying off at the end is what makes the musical so good.
*Video starts*
Me (chanting): Leitmotifs! Leitmotifs!
6:07: "This is her leitmotif."
Me: YAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSS
"My arm is complete again", is really remeniscent of Merleau-Ponty's theory of the body schema... yeah i have been studying for too long
Is that the one with how it's been shown with brain scans that show we see tools as part of our body?
@@TheCinderfang im not sure if Merleau-Ponty used brain scans, but yeah it is about how objects can function as an extension of our body if we have gotten used to them as such.
OOh, Sideways posted a new video!!
*Sweeney Todd mentioned in the title*
HOOOOOO
This dude still has a pfp from spore whoa
Be cool to see a vid on Over the Garden Wall's music♡
Yes
Yes!
Yes, my god, yes!
Somehow the exposure of smaller channels makes me admire you even more, man.
Please talk about Jekyll and Hyde!!! There were sooo many original songs cut from it that reeeally shouldn't have been! The Girls of the Night, I Need to Know, The World Has Gone Insane, etc... Such an underrated musical!!!!!!!!
Oh my gosh yes!!! It deserves much more attention than it gets!
The mash-up of the Lucy/Joanna bit at 20:00 also reminds me of the climactic "Ridi, Pagliaccio!" from Vesti La Giubba, Pagliacci, also a show of complete loss and internal torment losing all love and breaking
Sidways, knows a whole lot about Dies Irae and musical themes, hasn't heard of the term foreshadowing before though.
I love that you included all your sources for this one, I am absolutely going to go through those!
Always happy to see you upload dude, and seeing a video where you talk about Sondheim makes me even happier.
Actually, Burton was originally going to have the opening musical number sung by Christopher Lee.
Kinda regret we never got to see that.
And now I’m sad.
Aw man that would have been epic
"This alpha stoner by the name of Hector Berlioz" xD
Johnny Depp did alright in this film, especially considering he straight up just said to Tim Burton that he didn't know if he could sing Lol. I mean they could've picked a better actor probably, but Depp's madness fit the character.
Anyway this was freaking awesome! I love the movie even more now
@ 14:15
It's in Hunchback of Notre Dame: when Frollo sings about Esmirelda, the tune is there.
I actually loved Sweeny's first line. It showed his sarcastic, vile, distaste for the land he once called home. A land in which he once felt safe with his family, only for it all to be ruined. Truly despising it but trying to play it off with a "I hate this place, but I'm coming back. Why? Keep it a secret or die." type of vibe.
Last time I was this early, Ling Ling . . . wait wrong channel
sacrilegious
Alia Ebbert What are you doing not practicing?!
You played it slow and you thought you could play it fast
Wow. The last time I was this early, Benjamin Barker still had a glimmer of a bright and happy future ahead of him.
Damn, I’m sad now.
"I figured, what better than Demon Barber of Fleet Street?" Well there *is* Assassins, but not many people know about that one sadly.
Oh i thought I was just behind the curve... By 12 years...
Unworthy of Your Love is one of Sondheim's best ballads, change my mind.
"Bobby Burns"
I used to love his stuff, before he had his mental breakdown.
2:26 - Thanos???
Also I remember going to see a production of Sweeny a couple years back and up until that point I had only ever watched the movie, and then When they started singing the Opening Number (i had never heard it before) I was actually terrified and started to question what exactly was i getting myself into (I was fine with the film, but once you hear the Choir live and crawling out of the fake sewer grates on the set you finally understand THE FEAR). But that plus the Finale and the one where the Asylum people are running loose were actually really REALLY good, on a technical side as well as the choreography and energy of the performance A+ would recommend seeing live if you get the chance. Great vid!!
This musical is so haunting- we watched it once in theater class and I never want to have anything to do with it again, and yet here I am.
Thank you for this! Sweeney Todd is my favorite musical, but i have never heard it analysed like this (and i am a musical performer, not a proper musician, so i could not hear these things myself), and it really added an extra layer to my love for this musical, which i really appreciate!
Had an ad at the end of the video for the new ‘Doctor Sleep’ movie trailer and it literally had Dies Arae as the music! It’s like it knew what video I’d just watched! Great vid as always :)
As usual, I guffawed 30 seconds in. This video, though, was an interesting one for me - it's the first musical I know that you've talked about, and my mind was blown right from the start. Great piece, Sideways.
Depp is amazing in this movie one of my favourite movies ever I prefer this type of singing realistic it keeps you intrigued and add an element of possibility to the story
*Sideways mentions Dies Irae*
Oh um so like am I gonna need to grab popcorn for this or something?
3 years and back for a rewatch because this video is awesome. Party on Sideways!
I liked the part when you talked about the Dies irae
Oh good, you're not dead. Been a while, man. And you're covering one of my favorite spooky musicals? Nice.
Your video essays are fantastic! I always get excited when I see a new vid of yours is out. Keep it up dude :)
This was AMAZING, hope you do more of these musical analysis
So I caught a glimpse of the Dies Ire and I’m like “Wait a minute...” so I looked up the lyrics... THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME USES IT!!! I sang that part of The Bells of Notre Dame and had a total nerd moment aaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!! Go listen to it now! The Disney version!
Abi Fitz I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS OMG
Thank you for providing for the content-starved Sweeney Todd fandom, you have revived me-
I just watched Sweeny Todd on stage like a couple weeks ago and I'm so happy you posted this. Fantastic videos!
wow, i had so many moments where my mind just exploded. great video, you've got a new subscriber.
"At last... my arm is complete again..."
That line always hits well. Even when 14 and saw this for the first time I loved it. :P
Swing your leitmotiiiiiif sideways, hold it to the skyyyyyyeeeeeees ♫♫
God I love this video. I discovered your channel literally 2 days ago and have watched this video multiple times since, and several of your other videos. Never watched the movie, or knew much about it, but I find this video mesmerising!
WHAT A GOOD ANALYSIS! It was so interesting to hear you break everything down, I really enjoyed it. You also reminded me how much I love this movie and the score and now I really need to watch it.
YES YES YES YES YES I LOVE ANALYZING SWEENEY TODD’S SCORE
I did a stage production of this in Liverpool in July, you smacked it right on the head!!
. . . . . .God I love this.
THis is such an AWESOME Breakdown on this and history of Dies Irae and I am SO glad I found you ^.^
Your explanations are just brilliant!
The fact that you didn't mention "The Shining's" main theme for the dies irae makes me sad
Take a shot every time he says “Dies Irae” it’ll be pretty poetic.
Your end-of-the-video metaphors/connections with the material about life are always so good.
Just found this channel in my recommended, and I think it's my new favorite. The blend of comedy and serious analysis has me HOOKED.
I have never once referred to Berlioz as an "alpha stoner" but you can bet that it's the only thing I'm going to be doing from now on.
One of my favorite channels made a video on one of my favorite musicals
Never clicked a video so fast in my life, literally
literally? omg
literally three and a half minutes in and i’m enthralled and subscribed
I'm so happy I found this in my recommended! I've been in music all my life and took music theory when I was in school (though I wasn't particularly good at it) This is exactly the kind of stuff I find myself thinking about and paying attention to when watching movies and theatre. Love the video and definitely gonna subscribe!
XD I finished this movie yesterday, and all so suddenly you upload this video
Sondheim is like the Bob Ross of music in the way he speaks, carries himself, and make amazing masterpieces
Happy birthday Sideways!!!
This is such an amazing breakdown, I love your work!
All of the death themes swirling around and heard throughout basically everyone that talks to Sweeny reminds me of a description I heard of schizophrenia (or at least on aspect): the inability to differentiate inner thoughts with external stimulus. Basically, you can't tell when you're thinking about something. For instance, if I were imagining the opener for Sweeny Todd, I might know I'm thinking about it, or I might hear it like someone we're playing right behind me, or like hidden loud speakers.
So Sweeney's pissed and thinking about revenge (which, let's be real, is fairly understandable). But if he can tell *he's* the one thinking about it, it might manifest itself as literally everyone he talks to subtly telling him to kill everyone. So subtly that only he can hear it, but it's so clear as day that everyone else definitely hears it too and are just ignoring it (at least to him). Mix in a severe emotional event and what was probably years or emotional, mental, and physical abuse in a Victorian era prison camp and it's a great recipe for a bigass psychotic break!
All of those super subtle death themes literally everywhere are the musical manifestation of his schizophrenic episode. I've decided.
i thought you meant "spoils" as in "ruins" but im glad that its not and you've also educated me in this video too
So, this was an amazingly timely post. I just closed on a performance of sweeney Todd on Monday Oct 28th. In all my music theory studies I've come across the Dies Irae A LOT. Now having actually performed in this musical I've obviously sung these motifs somewhere. But I never knew where I heard it from before being in the show until you posted this! Expect a new patron from patreon in the coming weeks.
Thanks for listing all of your sources!
First time viewer, loved the greeting!
Man, I can't disagree more about this movie being another where you just see Johnny Depp. To me he IS Sweeney Todd in this.
jesus christ I love this channel so damn much why are you THIS good. Would love to had been in music school with you man
Clicked as soon as I saw the notification, love your videos :)
just wanna point out you're a real cool guy sending people over to those small channels