Monday, March 16, 2009
Night on Bald Mountain
2.4
In the 1940 film Fantasia, one of the compositions presented was Night on Bald Mountain, by Modest Mussorgsky. The piece details the cataclysm as, on Walpurgis Night, the archdemon Chernabog awakens and climbs down from his mountain roost. From there, he proceeds to wreak havoc as he conducts ghosts, wraiths and the spirits of the fallen to attack a nearby village. However, as the legion of darkness nears the crux of their power, they are driven away as the sound of a church bell resounds from the town, and Chernabog and his forces are driven back into hiding.
As is the case with all presentations from Fantasia, Night on Bald Mountain and its accompanying animation are among my favorite pieces. By itself, the musical score was a darkly entertaining piece, but the animation improves it fivefold at least. The imagery is astounding, and the use of metaphors similarly so. Chernabog is an obvious representation of Satan, and being driven away by the sound of a church bell is an extremely potent metaphor as well.
~Peter
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Well said, Peter. While I think the piece is slightly dark as animation, I love the air of excitement created through the score. I absolutely love the whole concept of the movie - creating an exact animation to a brilliant musical score. You know, I believe it is through cartoons that most children are exposed to classical music?
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