# What is Contrapuntal Music ?



## H.R. (Jul 26, 2014)

A very interesting video about contrapuntal music in films.

http://vimeo.com/95030117


----------



## amordechai (Jul 26, 2014)

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting video!


----------



## Walid F. (Jul 26, 2014)

I think Howard Shore pulls the contrapuntal effect off very nicely in a few shots of Lord of the Rings.

This is my favorite one (too bad it god damn cuts off in the good contrapuntal part)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acTlEucunRY&feature=youtu.be&t=3m14s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acTlEuc ... be&amp;t=3m14s)

W.


----------



## TGV (Jul 26, 2014)

I'd say pseudo-intellectual babbling. And I thought that before they started quoting obscure East Block philosophers. Words like "dialectal unity" from a Polish author in the 60s are not really surprising. If these students had known their modern history, they would have known that dialectical materialism is the corner stone of Marxist philosophy.


----------



## Nick Batzdorf (Jul 26, 2014)

Music from the contrapunctum (#7).

http://mentalfloss.com/article/52339/35 ... -600-years


----------



## re-peat (Jul 26, 2014)

H.R. @ Sat Jul 26 said:


> A very interesting video about contrapuntal music in films. (...)


There are, as I see it, two things wrong with that sentence, H.R.. First of all, it’s not a video about contrapuntal music in films ― it is more about “writing against the scene (or apparently so anyway)” ―, and secondly, it is anything but interesting.
Totally superficial, attributing disproportionate weight to what is, basically, an elementary instinct and craft of any decent (film) composer, and very poorly illustrated with truly awful examples (even almost suggesting that pop songs are the only way to provide anti-thesis to a scene's visual thesis). 

Pseudo-intellectual nonsense, yes.

And if you’re doing something about the usage of music in films and then proceed by overlooking to credit nearly every composer (everything gets credited in this video, down to the most insignificant image, except … the composers), that only confirms the shallowness and lazyness with which this project, and the music in particular, was approached.

_


----------



## Walid F. (Jul 26, 2014)

re-peat @ Sat Jul 26 said:


> There are, as I see it, two things wrong with that sentence, H.R.. First of all, it’s not a video about contrapuntal music in films ― it is more about “writing against the scene (or apparently so anyway)”



"The contrapuntal aspect - When music and film are combined, they interact contrapuntally." This is what the video is referring to, the reciprocal interaction between the auditory (music) and the visuals (film), so _your_ assessment is wrong, unfortunately. 



> and secondly, it is anything but interesting.



Why on earth would this even be worthy of discussion what H.R. thinks is interesting or not? Please, drop that attitude, mate.



> Totally superficial, attributing disproportionate weight to what is, basically, an elementary instinct and craft of any decent (film) composer, and very poorly illustrated with truly awful examples (even almost suggesting that pop songs are the only way to provide anti-thesis to a scene's visual thesis).



So as soon as something is of "elementary instinct" to some entity, it shouldn't be examined or discussed? Their essay was to try and develop a discussion and explanation to what can be seen as contrapuntal relationships between the music and the film.



> Pseudo-intellectual nonsense, yes.



Ok.



> (everything gets credited in this video, down to the most insignificant image, except … the composers)



This was pretty much the only part I agreed with you on, they should have credited the composers for their respective music.

W.


----------



## AC986 (Jul 27, 2014)

The actual line 'contrapuntal music in films" is a bit of a nonsense. What it should be is contrapuntal music occasionally gets used in films.

All you need to know is, basically contrapuntal music is just 2 or more lines, of lets say different melodic statements, moving together at the same time. In other words, it does not sound static.

Here's a fairly good example of contrapuntal music in a film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7kLSk9-TRg

Not to be confused with counterpoint.


----------

