The Brilliance of "Bells of Notre Dame"

Hunchback and nraam is arguably Disney's darkest film while it may not strike Primal Fear into me like certain scenes in Pinocchio or Dumbo it grapples with themes like religion racism and Corruption fittingly it arguably has the darkest score instead of slowly building up to that heaviness the opening number lets us know right away what we're in for not only am I excited to talk about this song I'm also excited to partner up with wild if you know me you know I'm deeply passionate about the environment have you ever considered how many single use Plastics are in your bathroom the average person consumes 19,000 plastic cosmetic bottles over their lifetime and less than half of those are recycled if you're looking to cut down on single-use Plastics wild is the perfect solution wild works on a refill system meaning you keep the container they've created the world's first body wash and deodorant that come in completely plasticfree refills unlike other plant-based bottles on the market 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plastic it doesn't get any better than this thank you so much to Wild for partnering with me on this video before we begin I'd like to give a huge shout out to this user called Willow scribe on M score for creating this very accurate piano rendition it was a huge help the song begins with soft lad [Music] Enchanted this lets us know immediately that the movie will have a Catholic overtone to it if you didn't already know about its source material the translation to the lyrics actually pulls from the cut song Someday it translates to someday someday godp speed Let It Come someday it's a very peaceful Harmony which works as a fantastic contrast when the bells in heavier instrumentation come [Music] in the stars of this part are the choir bells and horns but can we give some love to that violation here it provides a high note underneath all the deeper instruments and the way the note shakes to communicate a sense of unease is perfect if you're wearing headphones it'll come in your left [Music] ear in your right ear you'll hear an organ layered over it which adds to the cathedral feeling while also providing more of a higher register to balance out the lower [Music] instruments they fade out and are replaced by what you you might consider to be a stereotypical French [Music] accordion it's playful which helps set the stage for the introduction of kopin's voice as well as the three four time signature the song is mostly played in this song expertly plays off its time signature as we go through the lyrics you'll notice how well they carry the Rhythm in Paris the city awakes to [Music] the the first thing the song establishes is that everything in Paris especially the day life happens under the watchful eyes of notredam which is a central theme of the movie after all in the movie it represents judgment fishes the B Andes to the bells of Paul candell gives an incredibly expressive performance in this section you could hear it best when he's describing the different types of bells while he keeps the same volume while describing the big bells he softens when he talks about the small bells a little Bell Soft a this is further helped by the use of alliteration in the lyrics s is a very soft sound so when he says soft as a Psalm it sounds soft this is the type of detail only the most skilled Lyricist would think of the number of unique Rhymes Schwarz comes up with for notredam is also commendable none of them sound forced or awkward and the internal rhyme in the song Perfection say the soul of the city is the to of the Bell as the song transitions to a spoken part I want to point out something about the visuals notice how colorful kin's wagon is compared to the background not only does this help the wagon Stand Out visually but it presents a contrast the cathedral and its nearby buildings are all very drab the church could be a very rigid and harsh place cloin and the Romani people in this movie however represent freedom and taboo they go against what the church stands for in a lot of ways so the use of contrast feels very appropriate here when cloin transitions into telling his story there is a brief slowdown or ritardando and the this not only provides a buffer between the two songs but it also builds tension even though it only lasts for a couple of seconds it does its job it feels menacing and it needs to because the story Clen tells is a dark one dark was the night when our tale was begun I love how the music sounds hushed but as the baby cries and the people panic the instruments swell shut it up will you we'll be spotted Hush little one lyrically we're seeing more soft syllables again for frightened Gypsy slid silently under the docks near not these soft syllables make the line sound like a whisper which draws us into the scene of people sneaking through Paris at night it's the little details that can really elevate a performance into something incredible this is further shown by the way kloen says the word trap a trap had been laid for the gypsies he shouts it instead of singing it which emphasizes the shock it really makes your heart jump the internal rhyme Steven Schwarz uses here absolutely nails that meter too at a figure whose clutches were iron as much as the bell the singing enhances it by leaning into that emphasis not to mention that this is a really clever rhyme Schwarz doesn't usually use slant Rhymes but this is a slant that really paid off because of the weight of the words the word clutches is a very Visual and visceral word that's why the line feels so heavy word choice can really enhance the imagery in the scene you're trying to portray every word has a certain intonation and weight to it if you're interested in songting really feel out the words you're using and see how they add to a scene in this case the words iron and clutches are a perfect introduction to frolo he arrives on a horse his status Apparent at the first glance the camera uses a low angle to represent how the frightened people see frolo as a towering imposing authority figure then the camera switches point of view to frolo who's looking down on the Romany people this is where the choir comes back in it's singing in Latin Lord have [Music] mercy when the narrator speaks about frolo he's actually singing in 44 time and not 34 judge CL frolo longed to purge the world of vice and sin I think this represents order and severity as 44 time is far more rigid than 34 especially compared to how playfully 34 time is used in this song after a brief interlude of 34 time the song transitions again to 44 far faster this time for the chase sequence here the Panic Rises to a fever pitch the time signature actually keeps switching between 44 and 34 so you never get comfortable with the [Music] Rhythm and do you want to know what that chanting is saying day of Wrath that day shall consume the world in ashes as prophesized by David and the Civil what trembling is to be when the judges come heavy stuff this could be foreshadowing it might be talking about the climax of the movie where judgment comes down on frolo while surrounded by molten metal this particular Motif also plays when frolo is scouring the city for [Music] Esmeralda back to the song the scene is intense I especially feel it in this profile shot where you can see frolo gaining on the woman I love the shot where she runs up to the cathedral because it shows the scale of the building and how small she is compared to it it represents how compared to the powerful Church she is nothing she's especially nothing to frolo who ends her life without a second thought just to get what he thinks are stolen goods when fro realizes the thing he's holding is a baby with deorations he wants to drop it down a well we all know this part right before that Motif from the beginning comes back there's another Rodondo to build up the tension and when that Motif comes in it's an overpowering [Music] choir I especially love how the orgon comes back in here its higher register provides [Applause] balance we get a shot of cloin for a split second to remind us that this is a recounting of past events it's a great trick that doesn't take us out of the scene the playful underlying Melody comes back in cried the arch Deacon Red Demon I'm sending it back to hell where it belongs I adore the arch Deacon's Parts the Rhymes are superb see there the innocent blood you have spilled on the steps of not R now you would add this child's blood to your guilt on the steps of spil and guilt is such a clever and excellent rhyme because it makes the two words feel connected I'm not sure if this makes sense but rhyming two words can make them feel intertwined blood has indeed been spilled and that should lead to guilt but the problem is that for frolo it doesn't and then comes my favorite line in the song s and your minions you can claim that you haven't aarm from no hide what you've done from the eyes eyes [Music] of there's so much venom in the word minions it's so much more negative than a word like followers or clergy and listen again to how the instrumentals punctuate every syllable of that delivery R hide what you've done from the eyes this connects back to the first lines of the song everything in Paris happens under the eyes of notredam from the innocuous to the villainous a big theme of this movie is religious retribution and what it entails it especially connects to the climax of the film where frollo's end is caused by a piece of notr itself crumbling after this we switch back to the alternating measures of 44 and 34 the narration is in 44 time but the choir is in 34 life of power and contol much like the previous instances of this switch this creates a feeling of unease by missing a Beat It makes the choir much more jarring by changing the Rhythm almost like the choir is a Pang of emotion remember the choir is singing Lord have mercy as Clen explains the origin of the name Quasimoto there's yet another ritardando to play up the reveal of the name a name that means half formed quasim Modo when we go back to the framing device it mimics the instrumentation from the beginning reverting to a more playful tone now here is a riddle to guess if you can sing the bells of as Clen asks his final question the theme of the entire movie we get a luxurious buildup to a triumphant high note punctuated by The Choir bells and crescendoing [Music] hornss and huge shout out to clo and singer for hitting a D6 for the final note something that's really interesting about this final section of the song is that it's in D major as opposed to D Minor it's like a pickery third but for an entire section because this is the title card it gives more of a hopeful Feeling by transitioning to a major key it's also the first part of the film to focus a shot on Quasimoto who uses the major key form of this Motif later in Heaven's light and at the very end of the [Music] movie I think a lot about that Motif and what it represents I actually went through the movie and picked out every time The Motif play we've covered the times it plays in a major key but it usually plays in a minor key most famously it plays during Hellfire but it also plays during other times where wrath is the main emotion the introduction of the Palace of Justice when frolo burns down the Miller's house when frolo is about to burn Esmeralda at the stake fire is a major theme as fire can represent wrath and desire frollo's villainy comes from a mixture of these traits so using the motif to start the film sets the stage for the main conflict this song is in short brilliant Menin and Schwarz did exactly what they needed to they used music to tell a story but they went above and beyond men's careful use of dynamic complex instrumentation is complemented by schwarz's tight lyricism everything combining to capture the exact energy in tone the song needed it's playful as a Storyteller should be but also dark like the subject matter much like the movie as a whole bells of notredam needed to walk a fine line between its serious tone while also being digestible by a large audience and I feel it did that per L originally this entire sequence was just spoken narration could you imagine that it was changed because of how boring that would have been I think we could all agree that this was the right choice I hope you enjoyed this analysis if you're interested in more music analysis consider subscribing to my Channel or joining my patreon if you join you get early access to videos and the ability to vote on polls for my future videos as well as other perks thank you for watching and I hope you have a wonderful day

Channel: Astor Rhymemaster

Views: 32,107

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Id: OZb7xX-D4wA

Length: 13min 57sec (837 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 19 2024