Beethoven and film music (3/7)

It’s hard not to draw on the infinite wealth of classical music to further express one’s own intentions, projects or even emotions. Cinema is no exception, and a number of composers from the past have found their way into modern productions.

Beethoven did not escape this fate, and his creations have been reused in many films. Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange is one of the most telling examples, in which the Ninth Symphony becomes the main theme of this masterpiece and the mirror of the main character, Alex. As in this example, rarely has the Viennese composer’s music been used simply as an accompaniment. Rather, it was used to enhance and enrich the subject of a scene.

Other sublime examples:

• The Circle of Missing Poets by Peter Weir(9. Symphony, Piano Concerto No. 5 Op.73)
• Tom Hooper’s King’s Speech(7. Symphony, Piano Concerto No. 5 Op.73)
• Tim Burton’s Big Fish(6. Symphony)
• Soleil Vert, Richard Fleischer (first movement of the 6. SymphonyPastoral”)
• Elephant by Gus Van Sant(Sonate op. 27 no 2 “au Clair de Lune” and Bagatelle in A minor, WoO 59, “La Lettre à Élise”)
• Roman Polanski’s The Pianist(Sonata op. 27 no 2 “au Clair de Lune”)
• Une femme mariée by Jean-Luc Godard(Quartet op.135)
• Irréversible by Gaspar Noé(7. Symphony)
• The Barber by Joel and Ethan Coen (Sonata op. 13Pathétique”, Sonate op. 27 no 2 “Moonlight Sonata”, Sonata op. 57Appassionata”, Sonata op. 79Piano Trio no. 7 op. 97)
• Fantasia, Walt Disney’s timeless masterpiece(6. Symphony)

Federica, Musicology Manager, Riponne site