Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Dr Lecter’s taste for 'Goldberg', or: the horror of Bach in the Hannibal franchise

Cenciarelli, Carlo ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7162-9509 2012. Dr Lecter’s taste for 'Goldberg', or: the horror of Bach in the Hannibal franchise. Journal of the Royal Musical Association 137 (1) , pp. 107-134. 10.1080/02690403.2012.669929

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

The repeated use of the ‘Goldberg’ Variations in the Hannibal Lecter saga offers a route into the complexities of cinema's appropriation of Western art music. To an extent, the affiliation of Bach with a cannibalistic serial killer rehearses the notion of ‘classical music’ as socially and culturally other. Yet at the same time, from its first appearance in a memorable scene in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), the music is tied to the workings of a mass-media phenomenon. This becomes evident in the sequel, Hannibal (2001), where the ‘Goldberg’ Aria, used as title song, crossing in and out of the diegesis and mixed with sound effects, becomes part of the development of the character into a media franchise, of the romanticizing of his masculinity and the spectacularization of his violence. Thus, in the process of capitalizing on Lecter's success, the saga at once insists on classical music's otherness and blurs its difference from film music.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Music
Subjects: M Music and Books on Music > M Music
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Online
ISSN: 0269-0403
Related URLs:
Last Modified: 28 Oct 2022 10:08
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/76885

Citation Data

Cited 16 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item