All That Fall - Music

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”:

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.