Listening to Stanley Kubrick (30 page)

Mozart: March from
Idomeneo

Appearances:

1:10:27–1:11:11 Voiceover explaining the end of the war

1:13:23–1:14:50 Barry begins his new assignment

1:26:57–1:27:32 Barry leaves country disguised as the Chevalier

When one of the marches from Mozart’s opera
Idomeneo
first appears, the Seven Years’ War is over and the narrator explains that Redmond’s regiment was garrisoned in the capital of Prussia, Königsberg. The cue plays over footage of carriages riding up and down a grand avenue, either side of which are lush palaces. The cue ends as Redmond enters the office of the minister of police, Potzdorf’s uncle. The final two chords nearly match up with Redmond’s military two-step arrival at Herr von Potzdorf’s desk. Redmond’s new assignment will be as part of the police bureau, and he must spy on the Chevalier de Balibari, a libertine. As Redmond is about to accept the assignment, the excerpt from
Idomeneo
begins again and plays as Redmond and Captain Potzdorf discuss the details of Redmond’s made-up backstory. The march ends as Redmond presents himself to the Chevalier. In the novel, the Chevalier turns out to be Redmond’s uncle (his father’s brother), but here he is simply something of a father figure (and a fellow Irishman). Redmond reveals his true identity to the Chevalier, and together they work to conceal information from the Prussian police.

The final appearance of the march signals the end of Redmond’s time in Prussia. The Prussian police plan to send the Chevalier out of the country, but instead the Chevalier and Redmond hatch a plan. The Chevalier crosses the border in secret in the night, and the next day, Redmond, disguised as the Chevalier, is escorted to the front by two Prussian officers. The last eight measures of the march play as the carriage begins its journey. As the march reaches its conclusion, the end of this phase of Barry’s life is given a sense of finality.

Mozart’s opera
Idomeneo
was composed in 1780 to be premiered in Munich and employs innovative orchestration and dramatic singing especially sensitive to the emotions in the text.
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Its story line, made into a libretto by Giambattista Varesco (after a French libretto by Antoine Danchet), is a love story of Ilia, daughter of King Priam of Troy, and Idamante, son of Idomeneo, King of Crete. This love story is complicated by a promise made by Idomeneo–thought to be lost at sea—to Neptune, namely that he will sacrifice the first person he sees if only he be allowed to survive a shipwreck. The first person to greet Idomeneo is his own son, Idamante. In the end, Idamante, who is willing to sacrifice himself to fulfill his father’s promise, is spared, and Neptune commands that Idomeneo yield the throne to the young lovers, who become the new rulers of Crete. Perhaps because of Mozart’s trip to Paris two years previous to the composition of
Idomeneo
, the opera retains certain aspects of French style, including choruses, ballets, and marches (one of which is the excerpt used in
Barry Lyndon
).
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This particular march is one of three in the opera and occurs in the middle of act 2.

Schubert: German Dance No. 1 in C Major

Appearances:

1:56:24–2:00:06 Bryan’s birthday party

2:03:40–2:05:52 Barry tries to get a title

This playful piece is heard twice in the film. In the first instance, it accompanies the festivities for Bryan’s eighth birthday party. A magician does tricks for Bryan, while an audience of family and local nobility watch. Although the scene is ostensibly about Bryan, it begins with a shot of Lord Bullingdon, and the narrator explains the growing tension between Bullingdon and Barry: “his hatred for Barry assumed an intensity equaled only by his increased devotion to his mother.” The music continues as Barry and his mother put Bryan to bed.

Schubert’s German Dance is also the theme music for Barry’s attempts to get a title of his own. Barry’s mother, always looking out for her son’s advantage, warns him that if anything happened to Lady Lyndon, all of her fortune would go to Lord Bullingdon, who would not provide for Barry. So Barry, using a combination of charm, gifts, and possibly outright bribery, attempts to get a title. Schubert’s dance serves to underscore the game Barry is playing, spending money quickly and foolishly, throwing lavish events to impress important people, and outfitting a company of troops to fight in the American Revolution. The cue ends as Barry is presented to King George III. Barry’s hopes for a title are dashed, however, when he and Lord Bullingdon engage in a very public brawl. Schubert composed this piece early in his career, when he was about sixteen years old. It is scored for string quartet (two violins, viola, and cello) and shows the influence of the classical style of Mozart and Haydn.

Giovanni Paisiello: “Saper bramate” from
Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Appearances:

1:18:36–1:22:28 (instrumental) Barry serves the Chevalier when he plays cards

1:27:16–1:30:26 (with voice) The Chevalier and Barry run a gaming table

Paisiello’s cavatina from act 1, sc. 6 of
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
or
The Barber of Seville
is the music that accompanies the Chevalier’s card game. In this version, the vocal line is played by a cello, perhaps to keep it from interfering with the narrator’s explanation of how Redmond helps the Chevalier cheat. The cue continues as the prince of Tübingen accuses the Chevalier of cheating. The aria appears again, as the Chevalier and Redmond—now a free man—run a gaming table (again with dishonest methods). The narrator explains that Redmond Barry is beginning his “professional work as a gamester.” In this version of the aria, the vocal line is indeed sung. It is hard to figure out why Kubrick used the different versions of the aria, since in both instances there is narration and quiet conversation over the music. The aria comes to an end as Redmond has a swordfight with a man who owes him a gambling debt.

Paisiello’s opera
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
was composed in 1782 and proved to be the composer’s greatest success. The librettist Giuseppe Petrosellini adapted the story from a French play by Pierre Beaumarchais. The story line involves a count who falls in love with a woman named Rosine. To ensure that she will fall in love with the man and not his fortune, he dresses up as a poor student named Lindor. The titular barber, Figaro, helps the count meet up with Rosine, who is trapped in the home of her guardian, Doctor Bartholo. The opera ends with the marriage of the count and Rosine. The excerpt from the opera that is used in the film, “Saper bramate,” is a cavatina sung by the count, in the guise of Lindor, the poor student. Unable to offer her any material treasures, he can only offer loyalty, constancy, and adoration. Gioachino Rossini composed an opera called
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
in 1816 with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini and achieved great success as well, actually eclipsing the success of Paisiello’s opera.
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Vivaldi: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Third Movement

Appearances:

1:44:30–1:47:33 Redmond Barry is now married to Lady Lyndon; young Lord Bullingdon complains about Barry to his tutor; Bryan is born

1:49:33–1:53:16 Lady Lyndon sees Barry cheating; Barry apologizes

2:16:08–2:23:49 Barry contemplates Bullingdon’s departure; Lady Lyndon signs for Barry’s debts

The third movement of Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto in E Minor is a melancholy theme that seems to represent the uneasy and sometimes unhappy union between Redmond—now known as Barry Lyndon—and Lady Lyndon. It is first heard in the scene immediately following the wedding (which took place a year after Lady Lyndon became a widow). Barry sits in their carriage smoking a pipe. Lady Lyndon asks him to refrain from smoking for a while, and, tellingly, he does not stop but instead blows smoke in her face. The narrator explains that Lady Lyndon would come to “occupy a place in Barry’s life not very much more important than the elegant carpets and pictures” in his home. The music continues as Lord Bullingdon in the other carriage tells his tutor, Mr. Runt, that he is upset his mother has quickly and foolishly married an opportunistic man. The music connects these scenes in the carriages with the birth, a year later, of Bryan Patrick Lyndon, the beloved son of Barry and Lady Lyndon. It is notable that, in this instance, Kubrick does not allow the musical cue to come to a satisfying resting place, instead interrupting the peaceful tableau of mother, father, and child with a cut to a scene in which Barry kisses two topless women at a brothel, while men sing drunkenly in the background. Kubrick would never have allowed such a jarring interruption of the music unless it served the film, and here the cut suggests the discord Barry’s behavior will cause in his marriage.

Three scenes later, Lady Lyndon, Lord Bullingdon, and Mr. Runt take a walk outside. The only sounds are the wind, the rushing water of a brook, and the birds singing. The three see Barry across the brook, kissing the maid who is tending to Bryan. Without a word, Lord Bullingdon takes his mother’s hand as the Vivaldi cue begins again. Barry looks up and knows he is caught. The narrator says, “Lady Lyndon tended to a melancholy and maudlin temper, and left alone by her husband, rarely happy or in good humor. Now she must add jealousy to her other complaints, and find rivals even among her maids.” The cue continues into the next scene as Lady Lyndon plays cards with her friends, seeming distracted and sad. In the next scene, Lady Lyndon sits motionless in the bath, staring into the distance, while two maids attend to her. Barry enters the room and asks to be left alone with his wife. He apologizes, and the two reconcile. This time, the movement is allowed to come to its proper cadence at the end.

The third and final appearance of this excerpt from Vivaldi comes in the aftermath of Lord Bullingdon and Barry’s very nasty public argument. Because of the nature of the argument, which devolved into fisticuffs, Barry’s bid for a title is dashed and most of his friends leave him. Because of this, Barry’s creditors descend upon him at once to get their money, and Lady Lyndon nearly signs away her fortune as Barry sits motionless. The final cadence of the movement arrives as Barry and Bryan sit in a boat in the stream and fish. Vivaldi, a notable composer from the High Baroque period, is best known for his set of concertos
The Four Seasons
. Vivaldi was incredibly prolific, writing more than five hundred other concertos, many for violin, but some for other instruments like the flute and cello. The fast movements of Vivaldi’s concertos are often characterized by lively, virtuosic passages, but his slow movements, as evidenced by this piece, can suggest pensiveness and perhaps even unrest.

J. S. Bach: Adagio from Concerto for Two Harpsichords and Orchestra in C Minor

Appearance:

2:11:21–2:13:12 Concert at which Bullingdon publicly humiliates Barry

Lady Lyndon and Mr. Runt, on harpsichord and flute, respectively, play a concert for a group of guests. It is a delicate tune, with pizzicato accompaniment from the string orchestra. Lady Lyndon and Mr. Runt each play lines that wind around each other in imitation. The sound of footsteps interrupts the peacefulness of the performance, but Lady Lyndon and the orchestra do not stop playing until Bryan and Lord Bullingdon reach the harpsichord. Bullingdon is in his stocking feet, while Bryan wears his half brother’s shoes. In the silence after the interruption, Lord Bullingdon expresses to his mother his disgust at the “shameful nature of [Barry’s] conduct towards your ladyship, his brutal and ungentlemanlike behavior, his open infidelity, his shameless robbery and swindling of my property and yours.” Bullingdon explains to her and to all present that he is going to leave home. Lady Lyndon leaves in tears, and Barry reacts by punching Bullingdon in the back, starting a brawl that horrifies all present. It is only through the intervention of the guests that Barry does not kill Lord Bullingdon.

As he did with the Vivaldi piece, Kubrick chose the slow movement of Bach’s concerto, in this case to convey a sense of delicacy. J. S. Bach is one of the best-known composers from the Baroque period, and it was in the time period in which
Barry Lyndon
takes place that his music was beginning to fall out of favor. Bach’s complex counterpoint was being replaced by a emotional and less complex simple style exemplified by the music of C. P. E. Bach, Mozart, and Haydn. Court and private performances continued, of course, but elements of the Baroque style faded gradually from new music.

Schubert: Piano Trio in E-flat, Op. 100, Second Movement

Appearances:

1:32:00–1:39:06 Barry sees Lady Lyndon; they play cards; Barry kisses her (measures 1–66,1–20, 1–56, 1–34)

2:57:11–3:01:13 Barry, now with one leg, leaves the inn to return to Ireland (measures 1–40 altered, 187–end)

The second movement to Schubert’s Piano Trio bookends the relationship between Redmond and Lady Lyndon. It is the cue that is playing when he sees her for the first time at the spa, walking with her husband, Sir Charles Reginald Lyndon, her son Viscount Bullingdon, and Lady Lyndon’s chaplain, Mr. Samuel Runt. As Kubrick sweeps with great care across a garden full of people in exquisite costume walking amidst the beautiful scenery, the narrator explains that Redmond’s experiences had rid him of romantic notions, instead instilling in him the desire to “marry a woman of fortune and condition.” It just so happens that Lady Lyndon, whom Redmond closely watches, is, as the narrator describes her, “a woman of vast wealth and great beauty.”

Some time later, at the gaming table, Redmond and Lady Lyndon gaze at each other, their faces lit by candlelight. She steps outside and does not seem at all surprised when Redmond follows her a few minutes later, nor does she protest when Redmond wordlessly takes her hands and kisses her. The narrator explains that “six hours after they met, her Ladyship was in love.” The cue, which connects the scenes of Redmond’s courtship, ends as Redmond addresses Sir Charles while he plays cards with some friends. He expresses to Redmond that he knows what’s going on between Redmond and Lady Lyndon, but Redmond denies any impropriety. Sir Charles works himself into such a lather over their conversation it appears that he suffers a heart attack. The voice of the narrator reads his obituary as the scene and the voice fade out, replaced by a black screen and then the intermission card.