Music
The music at the beginning of the play not only provides its theme, it also provides its shape.
- “The exposition, Maddy’s slow outward journey, is the ‘feminine’ (i.e., dominance of a female voice and female themes).
- “The development, the wait at the railway station, becomes more ‘masculine’ (Maddy’s voice risks being crowded out by male characters who talk among themselves and are often oblivious to Maddy’s presence). It is scherzo-like in pace, due to the hustle and bustle on the platform.
- “The final movement or recapitulation is the couple’s return journey, which slows again and sees the submission of the feminine voice to the more brutish male tones of Dan Rooney.
“This suggested structure of the plot owes more to basic sonata form than to theme and variation. This is the form of the first movement of the Quartet in D minor.” Rosemary Pountey goes so far as to tabulate the themes for both journeys showing the circular structure, even though “the play ends in a linear fashion”:
| Outward Journey | Inward Journey |
| 1. Footsteps | 12. Footsteps |
| 2. Death and the Maiden | 11. Dead child – killed by train |
| 3. Hinny | 10. Wild laughter |
| 4. Dung | 9. Hardy |
| 5. Mrs Rooney’s language | 8. Death and the Maiden |
| 6. Laburnum | 7. Dung |
| 7. Hardy | 6. Hinnies |
| 8. Rural Sounds | 5. Laburnum |
| 9. Wild laughter | 4. Mrs Rooney’s language |
| 10. Dead hen – killed by car | 3. Rural Sounds |
| 11. Up station steps | 2. Down station steps |
| 12. Up mail passes → | 1. Down train draws in |
A remark made by Professor Harry White about Beckett’s later dramatic work gives an idea of the demands made upon the listener in this and his subsequent radio work:
- “Like listening to difficult music for the first time.”
By comparing Beckett’s work to that of serial composers such as Schoenberg and Webern, White highlights the difficulties for listeners who are obliged to actively engage with challenging new form and content. Any meaning or deep structure will only become clear with repeated listening.
Read more about this topic: All That Fall
Famous quotes containing the word music:
“Have you ever been up in your plane at night, alone, somewhere, 20,000 feet above the ocean?... Did you ever hear music up there?... It’s the music a man’s spirit sings to his heart, when the earth’s far away and there isn’t any more fear. It’s the high, fine, beautiful sound of an earth-bound creature who grew wings and flew up high and looked straight into the face of the future. And caught, just for an instant, the unbelievable vision of a free man in a free world.”
—Dalton Trumbo (1905–1976)
“And in the next instant, immediately behind them, Victor saw his former wife.
At once he lowered his gaze, automatically tapping his cigarette to dislodge the ash that had not yet had time to form. From somewhere low down his heart rose like a fist to deliver an uppercut, drew back, struck again, then went into a fast disorderly throb, contradicting the music and drowning it.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“If I could believe the Quakers banned music because church music is so damn bad, I should view them with approval.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)