Friday, February 11, 2005

Depeche Mode - Violator: Waiting for the Night

And yes, in celebration of the opera's successful opening night, I have digressed to Depeche Mode.

Their songs are to my knowledge without fail centered around the minor mode. This one is no exception, and indeed is what gives them that special sound that I can listen to again and again. It begins with an electronic repeated note, giving a quick but gentle pulse to the music, this plays up and down a fifth, and a bass note a major sixth below the top of the fifth adds punctuation. The melody enters like a chant in need of prozac ("I'm waiting for the night...") generally mi re do re mi- do, or me re do re me- do (sometimes the initial and final notes are repeated). This is used to deliver the text--a dip downward and then a return down again. Then new melodic material enters (and repeats four times before ending) which also involves a dip-down pattern, but there is a more major feel to the section (do ti sol mi sol ti do). Then it returns to the first drone melody, with new text and to another b. A returns once more and a new voice is added that moves down slowly falling--echoing the words "night to fall", so quite appropriate. Then that concludes, and there is a space for the electronic music to paint a while before two haunting voices interrupt the seen (do-- re mi do--, sounding, but all of this is somehow transformed to function as minor and eerie sounding, so I wonder if I have the solfege right).

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