• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
• /
• v.14 no.7
• /
• pp.319-331
• /
• 2020

This study investigated the meaning of absolute music of the first movement of Brahms' symphony No. 1, which was used as film music in the films "Tetro" and "Savages" and interpreted the meaning of this music used in these two films. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the characteristics that classical music can be interpreted ambiguously in films. In particular, it was examined whether film music could be interpreted in a new meaning rather than a program music. The first movement of Brahms' symphony No. 1 is in a sonata form and has the characteristics of a chromatic grammar of the romanticism. In "Tetro", the irony about the value connection between this music and the characters of the film, the composition process of this music and the historicity that appeared in the character story of the film presented important. On the other hand, in "Savages", the chromatic grammar of this music expresses the emotional meaning of the characters in the film and the atmosphere of the event. This can be said to be the role of program music. In particular, the scene in which this music is used at the end of "Tetro" shows an ambiguous characteristic that can interpret a piece of music in different meanings depending on which of the two characters appearing in the film interprets the music from the perspective of the character. And the fact that Brahms spent 21 years to complete this music and that Tetro, the main character of the film, spent about 10 years before going through theatrical scenario and submitting it to the festival in the film, coincide with each other in terms of historicality. This gives the meaning of understanding film music from a new point of view, not from the point of view of absolute music or program music. In addition, this musical setting made the music recognized as an essential element of the film and as an irreplaceable auditory theme. When classical music meets other art such as film, this ambiguity Characteristics of music will have a great influence on the new perception of classical music.