David Shire, The Film Score for The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974) | Twelve-Tone and Serial Composition

Composer David Shire, who often uses serialism in his film scores, composed an iconic score in 1974 for the film The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3. In order to provide an aural backdrop to the gritty and grimy setting of the New York City subway system, Shire drew on jazz and composed a twelve-tone row focused on seconds, thirds, and sevenths. Shire then uses the row melodically, over a repeating groove from the rhythm section, and harmonically, as syncopated accented chords. This video will focus on the Main Title, as it establishes the musical language of the film from the opening. The row will be melodically highlighted, and when the row is presented vertically, the row order will be shown, along with the specific spacing of the chords, to illustrate how Shire effectively used jazz in an atonal context, but a context that doesn’t sound particularly atonal. Authored and Recorded by Erik Heine, Professor of Music at Oklahoma City University For more information about the author and the bibliography: https://twelvetone100years.myportfoli... Learn more about our project at https://twelvetone100years.myportfoli...