Elizabeth Finkler wrote:
> Late Saturday night, after returning from Easter Vigil, I turned on the TV
> and caught the last half-hour of "The Greatest Story Ever Told," depicting
> the resurrection of Christ and his Ascension.
>
> And what was playing as the underscore for these final scenes?
>
> "Hallelujah" from Handel's "Messiah"... which was composed 1,700 YEARS
> after the events being depicted.
May I submit that any movie about ages past which uses an original score is
anachronistic
by this definition? (I think about Copland's marvelous score for "The Heiress"
or
Prokofieff's for "Alexander Nevsky" or the score that just won the Academy
Award, John
Corigliano's for "The Red Violin".)
Personally, I only care about music period accuracy when the music is presented
as being
performed during the time being portrayed by the film (Corigliano's is an
exception, as
the musical style of the music used in the early periods of the film were
perfection).
And virtually no opera could be performed without that accusation's being
leveled against
it, starting with the Camerata's first Italian operas (based on classical
themes).
Now if the movie had portrayed a choir and orchestra performing the work, I'd
have to
agree with you about its being anachronistic.
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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