[Smt-talk] augmented 6ths in film scores

[Frank Lehman]

Dear Matt (and list),

This sounds like a terrific class you're preparing! Off the top of my
head...

Augmented sixth chords, and the Ger+6 in particular, are fixtures of the *
mysterioso/burgler/villain* musical topic that was enshrined in stock-music
anthologies for silent films. Two major photoplay compilations come to mind
that contain short pieces sprinkled with those sonorities": J.S. Zamecnik's
1913 *Sam Fox Motion Picture* *Anthology*, and Erno Rapee's more
encyclopedic 1924 *Motion Picture Moods*. Both of these are available in
pdf form on various websites. The usage of augmented sixth chords in these
contexts tends to be fairly straightforward--cliched in the best sense of
the term--though on occasion you might find inverted forms, such as the
Ger+6(4/2) in the very famous "Mysterioso Pizzicato" from Rapee.

The harmonic associations with secretive or comic villainy that are
solidified by these anthologies (and derived, of course, from prior
European programmatic and melodramatic practices) persist throughout film
scoring history. For the "mystery" association, special credit is owed, I
suspect, to Saint-Saens, and his  "Aquarium" in particular. A fine example
of the augmented sixth (esp. Fr+6s) infusing a score is Waxman's *Bride of
Frankenstein *(1935). One can hear ripples of that usage in horrific films
as recently as the *The X-Files *(Mark Snow) and especially *Harry
Potter*(John Williams). The headlining theme for the
*Potter* franchise is thoroughly chromatic, and incorporates a [iv-Ger+6-i]
cadence at the end of most phrases. The progression is even more pervasive
in the first sequel. It appears to grow out of Williams's penchant for
b6-5-#4 melodic motions to suggest malevolence, which dates back perhaps to
*The Fury* (1978), going through *Witches of Eastwick* (1987), and present
in his most recent adventure film, *Tintin* (2011).

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Bernard Herrmann, who exploited
practically every stacked-third sonority at some point in his output. His
famous score to *Vertigo* is better known for what Royal Brown dubs the
"Hitchcock chord" (m-M7th) and its permutations, but it is also populated
by some terrific Fr+6/Dom7 tritonal oscillations. Antony John's article
"The Moment I Dreaded & Hoped For" in *Music Quarterly 85.3 *explores this
harmonic axis in some detail. While not specifically on aug-6th chords,
Scott Murphy's work on chromaticism in film should furnish you with many
examples, particularly this
article<http://www.mtosmt.org/issues/mto.06.12.2/mto.06.12.2.murphy.html>.
My own research, including my dissertation, dwells in this area also. I'm
currently working on chromatic modulations, which includes enharmonic
reinterpretations of Ger+6/Dom7 chords; I'd be happy to discuss more with
you through private email.

I hope this is of some help. I'm curious to hear what examples others can
come up with!

Best,
Frank Lehman

-- 
Frank Lehman, Ph.D.
Adjunct Lecturer, Brown University
Head Teaching Fellow, Harvard University
flehman at fas.harvard.edu
frank_lehman at brown.edu
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