Waxman - The Bride Of Frankenstein - The Bride's Creation
The 1935 film The Bride Of Frankenstein is a rarity in the movie world; a sequel that actually has been regarded by many as superior to the original Frankenstein of 1931. That is a matter of opinion for the most part. The original Frankenstein made by Universal Pictures followed their first foray into sound horror films with Dracula, which has it's own proponents and critics. It is difficult to realize how much these early sound horror films actually terrified some in the audience. My Mother was a teenager in High School in 1931 when Frankenstein came to theaters. When I was a kid and Frankenstein was going to be shown on Saturday night television, she told me that she saw it with her girlfriend, and she remembered the scene where the monster is first seen, when it backs into the room and there are two jump shot close-ups of his cadaverous face. She said there was a collective shriek of various intensity in the theater, it was so startling. And by the time the movie let out, it was dark outside and that she and her friend ran all the way home!
The most acknowledged first sound feature was The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson on 1927, but it was far from the first sound film (and only half of it was sound.) Sound had been synchronized with film in an exhibition in 1900 in Paris, France, and even earlier, but did not become viable until the mid 1920's with Warner Brothers Vitaphone system producing a series of short subjects. This system used large acetate records that had to be synced by hand to the film, and was the first really successful sound film technology that lasted until 1931. 1931 was an important year for sound, as there were over 1,000 sound feature films made in the U.S.A. alone. In 1927, a little over 2% of all movies contained sound; by 1930 that number had jumped to over 96%! When technology was introduced that recorded the sound right on the same film as the pictures is when the sound film industry really took off. But it's good to remember that silent movies were not really silent-there was usually a piano playing appropriate snippets of classical music to fit the action. In the larger theaters there were large pipe organs with all kinds of imitative stops (some of which still survive and are used for silent film revivals), and the really high quality movies would have scores written for them to be played by an orchestra. So the idea of music playing along with the film wasn't a new idea, but it had to wait for audio technology to catch up.
Dracula only had music in the opening and closing credits as well as a short scene at the opera, while Frankenstein had no music within the movie itself, only the credits. Some have given this as one example that helped set the mood of the films. For one, I have heard Dracula with music written by Philip Glass, and I see no advantage to having a score. Granted, it's a score for string quartet, and no doubt after seeing the movie so many times in the original version I don't think I could ever enjoy it as much with a score. I just listened to the Overture of the music for the film Frankenstein by Michael Shapiro, who has taken a much different direction than Glass did for Dracula! Strange sounds, perhaps noises would be better, but still somewhat traditional. I would really like to watch the film with the entire score being played. He has conducted it many times with the film playing, and as a coincidental piece of trivia, Shapiro scored it for a chamber group of 22 players, the exact same number of core players Waxman had for The Bride Of Frankenstein!
By 1935 film music was being utilized more often by filmmakers to help set the mood and enhance the overall effect. The score for The Bride Of Frankenstein set in motion the necessity of having music for a horror movie. Franz Waxman's score is iconic, not only enhanced James Whale's direction (he had insisted on having Waxman write the music), but created some of the most time-honored music cliches in horror music history.
Franz Waxman was born in Germany, was educated at the Dresden Music Academy He put himself through school by playing popular music, and after his schooling was over, worked as an orchestrator for the German film industry. He was severely beaten by Nazi sympathizers in Berlin in 1934, and he joined many other Jews in leaving Germany. He first went to Paris, and soon after to Hollywood.
Waxman met the director James Whale in Hollywood, who knew some of his film music and was impressed. He had Waxman hired by Universal to compose the music for the upcoming Frankenstein sequel.
Waxman's resources were limited as to the number of musicians he had. His basic core orchestra was 22 players, but for certain scenes he had as many as 40. It's not known exactly how many of each instrument he had access to, but roughly he used:
3 flutes, with one doubling on piccolo
2 oboes, with one doubling English horn
3 clarinets including a bass clarinet
2 bassoons, one doubling on contra-bassoon
4 horns
3 trumpets
3 trombones
1 tuba
1 timpani player
3 percussionists
1 Harp
1-2 keyboard players for piano, celeste, and the essential pipe organ used to fill out the harmonies
A greatly reduced string section, exact numbers unknown.
Musicians would come and go as needed for recording specific scenes. Waxman used many techniques to help compensate for the low number of players. In the strings, he had them play double stops, even with tremolos, woodwinds and brass he used flutter-tonguing.
Waxman uses the technique of lietmotif, a musical phrase that is consistently used for a character, mood, or place. He uses them throughout the score, with 5 major ones:
The Monster's lietmotif - Played by the brass, a 5-note phrase containing dissonant minor 2nds to make it harsh, and flutter-tonguing to imitate growling. Waxman varies the speed and volume according to the situation.
Agitation lietmotif - played by the strings at a high speed and frantic in mood, represents the monster in flight or anger.
The Bride's lietmotif - A short 3-note phrase, usually delicate and played by strings and woodwinds with harp glissandos, but it can also be dissonant, foreshadowing the fate of the bride.
Dr. Pretorius's lietmotif- It's in a minor key, stepping downward, played in the woodwinds especially the bassoon, and a celeste.
Creation lietmotif - A steady, driving beat by the timpani, along with high ghostly strings and bells, plays in the creation.
The creation of the bride is the key scene in the picture, and it is best to listen to the original sound track from the movie, even with its less than pristine sound:
It begins with deep rumbling in the strings, with the monster's theme played over it with sweeps of the harp. The woodwinds along with a muted trumpet lead to the agitation theme in the violins. Dissonant soft chords are played under the theme and the incessant thump of the timpani begins. More agitation from the strings leads to a short playing of the bride's theme. The themes appear, reappear, until an extended and developed section of the bride's theme. The timpani beats all alone, with a slightly varying rhythm until it is joined by woodwinds. The agitated strings create the mood of excited energy of Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Pretorius as they work on the bride. The Bride's theme is heard on the pipe organ, then in the strings. The beating timpani beats alone again, until a descending figure enters to bass clarinets playing a low theme sustained by string tremolos. Then there is a motif that is repeated in different speeds and textures that leads to a sweeping section for brass. Then the brass play the bride's motif in dissonant minor seconds until it returns in it's usual form. I then transforms into a glittering, shimmering repeat that is interrupted by the monster's theme. Continual agitation leads to a final dissonance, and the bride's theme resounds, with the the timpani playing a two note motive as the section leads to:
The exposure of the bride's alive eyes after bandages are removed! She is presented with the ringing of bells. The monster theme is heard as the monster approaches. He tries to get close to her, the bride's theme is heard. He takes her hand, but she is repelled by him! The monster tells Henry Frankenstein and his wife to leave, and the monster pulls the lever that destroys him and Dr. Pretorius.
I've included all of the final 16 minutes of the film, as the entire scene is needed to resolve the music.
What is also heard is an orchestration of the scene done by the conductor Charles Gerhardt, which is below. There is also an orchestration by Kenneth Alwyn.
The Gerhardt orchestration runs a little over 7 minutes. It's a good representation of the original and uses a synthesizer for some of the sounds. It has the advantage of having clear sound and the score to follow (when you can). I'm assuming Gerhardt kept most of the techniques used by Waxman, and the double stops in the strings can be seen here. Contrary to what has been written about the original film score, Waxman did not use the Ondes Martenot, an early type of synthesizer, in his score. Waxman did use it in other films before and after Bride Of Frankenstein, but not in that film. All of his effects were done by masterful use of his limited resources. Gerhardt takes the creation scene through most of what the original did, from when the start of the timpani heartbeat begins up until the mock wedding bells begin.
For the sake of completeness, the orchestration by Kenneth Alwyn is below.
His orchestration is for 60 players, and also includes a synthesizer. It's longer than Gebhardts, goes from the beginning of the timpani heartbeat to a short coda of the bride's theme in a loud finish.
Both of these orchestrations are very well done in modern sound, but there's still much to be said for Waxman's original score used in the film. Hollywood was an assembly line of movie making, so most composers like Waxman did not orchestrate their work. He was more than capable, but thestudios always had projects that needed creative composers to write the music, and give an extended outline and instructions to the orchestrator to get it all down on paper for the musicians. And I'm sure that Waxman kept an eye on things when he could.
Waxman went on to compose many more film scores, and was acknowledged a master by all after his score for Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 film Rebecca. He was allowed to write a full orchestral score for the film, and the ethereal music was hailed as a 'soundboard for the subconscious' by the film director Jack Sullivan. Waxman also composed music for the concert hall.
Waxman was considered at the peak of his talent when he died of cancer in 1967 at the age of 60.
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