At the beginning of his artistic career, he was a flutist and pianist (Getty)
From early in the cinema, it was played Music A supporting role in creating the cinematic experience. At the beginning, when it was silent, the music compensated for the lack of sound in the film. After that, it was used to enhance the dramatic content of scenes. Thus, pioneers and stars became involved in writing music for films, radio and television series, and studios and orchestral bands specialized in performing soundtracks, that is, the melody that accompanied by a moving image, created for them, thus entering the heart of the drama industry.
Until the mid-fifties, classical music was unique to cinema, due to the long history of musical theater, that is, opera. All the composers who were involved in writing and arranging films were qualified in the field of orchestra playing and composition. However, jazz music has started to be heard more and more in theaters and through television speakers. The American composer and arranger Henry Mancini (1924 – 1994), whose death this year marks the centenary of his death, was among those who noticed the expressive potential of jazz and the possibility of using it extensively.
Mancini’s many talents and musical skills made it easy for him to enter the jazz field and excel in it, as at the beginning of his artistic career he was a flutist and pianist, before becoming a composer- musician, arranger and orchestra conductor. Although today his compositions seem to be fewer in number and more numerous, and closer to small groups than to large groups, such as symphony and philharmonic groups, in the 1930s and 1940s jazz music was written for groups big Accordingly, knowledge and skill were needed in arrangement, especially for wind instruments, which are characterized by the complexity of musical composition in terms of vocal ranges and the way they are typed, that is , typed on paper.
Mancini was previously with the Glenn Miller Band, which is one of the most famous jazz bands, and known as The Big Band he not only played within its ranks, but he arranged and produced songs and instruments for him, to understand the secrets of that musical style and make good use of it Later in his musical compositions for cinema and television.
The piece “Pink Panther” is probably one of Mancini’s most famous and popular creations, and is an example of changing the language of music. for jazzWith the aim of creating an audio environment that corresponds to the dramatic environment of the story where the events take place. Instead of musically suggesting that the curtain has been raised to mark the start of the cartoon episode, there is the simultaneous striking of two discordant notes on the piano, while the faint tapping of the drum cymbals ‘ continues, bringing down a scene of happiness and mystery, being a musical representation of the police scene, which is led by both the tiger and the Detective Jack Clouzot.
The regular rhythm takes on the task of finding light and hidden steps, as if they were the tracks of a thief or a ghost, an auditory reference to the central and hidden character, which, in context of the story, intending to steal the diamond. . However, jazz is here, with the vigor and elegance of its rhythmic equipment, especially the drum cymbals, giving a dance character and a painful spirit to the suspenseful steps.
Irony and mystery are the most striking elements of the “Pink Panther” narrative. Musically, the prepared diamond is represented by the image of a tiger throughout the melody, played by the saxophone. It is preceded by two tonal slides, one ascending and the other descending, played on both electric guitar and piano, and at a low vocal level. They are followed by two clicks on the contrabass instrument, in the form of a regular rhythmic kick.
The saxophone melody that introduces the Pink Panther theme continues to build on the movement pattern of the steps, which are normally linked, to add an element of mystery, while separated in time, can be heard as dance steps. There is also a characteristic of cute arrogance, under the sarcasm factor, which distinguishes the main cartoon character. In fact, according to the story, it is a precious jewel that appears in the form of an animal with a unique color. Therefore, it was designed with a diamond-shaped feline head, and a wise smile drawn on a closed gap on a thin cigarette holder.
In terms of general form, The Pink Panther’s music follows the famous jazz model, Bop, which was popular from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. The color is characterized by the style of striking the cymbals, and the continuous tapping of the double bass string, as well as the complexity of the harmonies, and the acceptance of harmonic dissonant combinations.
In addition to the group of brass wind instruments that come from the orchestral creation of big jazz bands, they enter the middle of the piece, in the form of a written composition, establishing a musical plot, which ‘ building the atmosphere, to which the drumming machine responds. by moving from smooth tapping on the cymbals, to pounding the drum, trumpet-style.
To fill the template with all its parts, the saxophone instrument, as is typical in jazz, performs an unscripted composition, creating a bridge that paves the way for the return piece to the atmosphere first, where it is the third. and the last section, thus forming a triple circle.
Because of improvisational individuality, delicious harmony was spread to groups of stringed instruments, creating harmonic cues, giving jazz a classic, romantic character reminiscent of its beginnings in the first quarter of the twentieth century. In the reprise, the flute replaces the saxophone in repeating the main melody. Its ethereal quality helps reinforce the feeling of fading away, the music almost at the end.
However, the piece is still very small, with little audio material, so it appears wide to the ear, which makes the musical parts, despite their smallness, attractive and attractive, catching the ear, drawing the eye to the television screen. Despite its small size and versatility, since it is a piece of music prepared to accompany the logo of a cartoon series, it has a uniform template in terms of the consistency of the main phrase music made by the saxophone, and how smoothly it merges with, and separates from, the sub-motifs that provide the sound space and prepare for the dramatic event, as well as the regularity of the rhythm that maintain a sense of excitement and anticipation throughout the musical period.
