The music IS 'The Shining'

Rating: 9/10 (20 January 2000)

Throughout Kubrick's creative life as a filmmaker he was drawn to using pre-existing music as an ingredient to heighten emotional effect. Most strikingly his use of Johann Strauss and Richard Strauss in "2001 Space Oddessy" amongst others has given this element popular appeal and been a memorable aspect of his works power. In "The Shining" Kubrick use the music of Bella Bartok, Gyorgy Ligeti and Krzysztof Penderecki in a more precise and detailed way than in his previous films. The music here cannot in any way be regarded as a film score in the traditional sense. The music by the three composers aforementioned are well established and parts of the contemporary orchestral repertoire, and were written with no connection what so ever to Stanley Kubrick's film. It is unlikely that anything other than a small minority of filmgoers would be familiar with the music of Ligeti or Penderecki, and so would not recognise immediately, if at all. that this work exists successfully in itself in its own right. It sounds very much like an ordinary successful film score with the usual subliminal and emotional effect that a composed score is designed to produce. Kubrick's use of Bartok is however a little more risky in this effect. Though not a popular piece of classical music it is one which a good many people would be familiar with. It is a masterpiece of 20th century musical composition. It is probable that Kubrick was aware of this in his credit of the pieces full title at the end of the film, which he fails to make with regards to Ligeti or Penderecki. The Bartok piece here in question is his "Music for strings, percussion and celesta". It was written in 1936 and has no programmatic element. As a music lover, it is likely that Kubrick would have been very familiar with this piece. Bartok's music has a particular sound world which comprises a number of elements, particularly in the third movement of this piece which is a fine example of what is known as his "Night Music". The Night Music often made up the intense slow movements of his most important works, particularly his string quartets, regular features of which are atmospheric special effects produced by string instruments (Glissandi, Pizzicato, Harmonics and Tremolos) which contribute to a feeling of dreamlike unreality. This music has often been described as "nightmarish" or "supernatural" in its effect. It is likely that Kubrick was drawn to this expression of psychological darkness as part of his creative process. Ligeti and Penderecki have also developed the use of these musical techniques in their own work using Bartok as an antecedent thus making their music relevant and organic as the score to this film. The composition of a film score is normally the very last creative part of a project. A film composer would compose music timed, frame by frame, second by second, to an existing edited version of the completed film, which impose particular limitations upon the artists creative expression. No such limitations however were imposed upon the composition of the music already mentioned, which reflects in its complex quality, so in choosing particularly the Bartok, Kubrick would have to reverse the process and create much of his film around an already established dramatic concept. In a documentary film "The Making of The Shining" by Vivienne Kubrick, there are examples of rehearsal and shoots where the actors are audibly aware of the music that they are acting with. In this sense Kubrick could be described as a choreographer and his actors as dancers. It is likely that Nicholson and Duvall would have familiarised themselves with the music in order to better time certain actions and lines and rehearsed intensely in order to achieve the precision required. There are several examples of this precision which could not have been achieved in any other way and are beyond coincidence: the swiping out of paper from Jack's typewriter; Jacks waving of hands through the hotel corridors; the punctuation of Danny's question to his father in the bedroom; Danny's ice-slide from the bathroom window (illustrated with help from Penderecki's Glissando, itself a slide on string instruments). These are just some examples of the relationship between the actors and the music. In other parts of the film the relationship is between film editor and music and would have been achieved in the editing studio. The whole general effect of these techniques is one of precision and power and must certainly have been a fundamental element of Kubrick's entire creative process in this project. It was a unique and original way of working with film. As a result of this process Kubrick was able to produce scenes in relation to particular sections of music which look very much like tableaux, like scenes from ballet. The emergence of the ghostly nude woman from the bath in room 237 to Penderecki's music is a particularly fine example of this choreography. Kubrick's choices, understanding and directional mastery with regards to the music make these techniques absolutely successful in their effect. Without this musical element "The Shining" could not have had its full effect. The music chosen has a surrealism all of its own. When it is heard the viewer knows that something supernatural is about to develop. The narrative steps out of reality and enters its own dream world. Kubrick owes a debt to the genius of his composers.