# Extramusical elements in the appreciation of Music



## brianwalker (Dec 9, 2011)

It is often said that "this ruined it for me", "this" being an element essentially unrelated but circumstantially tied to "it", an actor you hate in an otherwise great film, a weird association that arouses your disgust, etc.

I ignored the sage advice of Alex Ross and watched Melancholia anyways.  The results were catastrophic. I couldn't listen to the prelude to Tristan without the hideous images of the suicidal pair of Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kirsten Dunst (both actress that I tend to grossly underrate, if you know what I mean), both depressed and sepulchral looking, out of my head! It was terrible! It was mostly gone after 2 weeks but traces of it remains.

Another example: my first experience with opera was a video of Carlos Kleiber conducting at the Vienna Opera with Domingo. The sheer theatricality of it all turned me off from Opera for about 3 years. Finally I came around and decided just ignore the plot and the words entire and enjoy it as if it were a symphony.

On the other hand extramusical elements can help the music "get through" to you in some cases. This was the case for me with Siegfried's Idyll, a piece I had hitherto relegated to the dustbins. For me Wagner was either bombastic, intensely beautiful as in the Ring, lasciviously seductive as in Tristan, or had the element of sublime longing, as in Parsifal. Siegfried Idyll failed to fall into any of my preconceived categories for Wagner and was left unappreciated for years. Until three days ago. I watched "A Dangerous Method" and near the end of the film there was a piano piece playing and I wondered "What is this gorgeous, intimate music?"

It was the Siegfried Idyll, played by Lang Lang! The performance stretched the music almost twice its natural length, giving me more time to dwell on the melodies. I still prefer the original, orchestral version, but it was only through the combination of the images on the screen that "set" the mood through which I could really understand this music. I thought my appraisal of Wagner was already very high, but it just soared higher!

It is a sad truth that had I not watched "A Dangerous Method" (yes, you should all watch this film, the trailer is deceiving, there's almost no sex in the film) SI would have languished forever in my backup Wagner playlist.

Any similar experiences?


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I'll make a note to not watch that movie! 

I would suggest Schubert lovers to not watch the new Sherlock Holmes movie (A Game of Shadows) unless you want to never hear The Trout the same way again; the evil villain is a Schubert lied lover and his music is featured prominently. This movie also features the Commendatore Scene from Don Giovanni used for its own petty dramatic purposes, and with a film composer's updated orchestration too!


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

brianwalker said:


> I ignored the sage advice of Alex Ross and watched Melancholia anyways.  The results were catastrophic. I couldn't listen to the prelude to Tristan without the hideous images of the suicidal pair of Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kirsten Dunst (both actress that I tend to grossly underrate, if you know what I mean), both depressed and sepulchral looking, out of my head! It was terrible! It was mostly gone after 2 weeks but traces of it remains.


I had a similar experience with some beautiful Wagner and a disturbing movie - Un Chien Andalou uses the Liebestod. We watched the film in my French class (I don't know why, as there's no speech) and it _creeped me out_ and the next time I listened to the Liebestod I thought of whatever was happening in the film when it played. I don't remember exactly what that was - rotting donkeys, eyeballs being sliced open? (These are things that appear in it.) The effect wore off, though, fortunately. It probably helped that I had played the music before, and so had that association as well.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

With me it's the other way around. John Boorman's Excalibur was ruined for me because they kept using the wrong leitmotif in the wrong place. Love scenes would have the sword motif and sword scenes had the Tristan Liebstod. Irritated me no end.


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