Page 29 - Imagination Comes To Life

Steven Spielberg, with the backing of Universal Studios, had acquired the rights to the novel
even before it was published and together they produced the first film, Jurassic Park, by 1993.
When scoring the soundtrack for Jurassic Park, composer John Williams felt he needed to
write pieces that would convey a sense of awe and fascination. The
emotions to be conveyed would need to span the spectrum from overwhelming excitement at
seeing live dinosaurs to highly frightening themes for the Tyrannosaurus attacks.

In the film, we first hear the theme of Jurassic Park when Drs. Grant, Sattler, and
Malcolm first set eyes on one of the park’s dinosaurs, a brachiosaur feasting on leaves from the
treetops. They stare in amazement at the creature, unable to comprehend how such a thing is
even possible. And, of course, at the time of the film’s release, the special effects broke new
cinematic ground, so it was easy for audiences to share in the characters’ emotions. The music
also played a large part in eliciting these emotions from the viewer.

“Dance of the Hours” from La Gioconda……………………………………....Ponchielli
The Italian word for “opera” is melodrama, and nothing could exemplify how the term
transformed itself into its English meaning more than the plot of La Gioconda. Gioconda, a
Venetian street singer, is betrothed to Enzo, who is disguised as a seaman but is actually a
prince from Genoa, Venice’s arch enemy. She is also desired by the villainous Barnaba. When
Barnaba falsely accuses Gioconda’s blind mother of witchcraft, the old woman is saved by
Laura, who turns out to be Enzo’s old flame and is now married to Alvise, chief of the state
inquisition. As the plot thickens, Gioconda finds herself in the unenviable position of having to
enable Enzo and Laura’s elopement because Laura carries the rosary Gioconda’s mother gave
her in gratitude for her deliverance. Barnaba, however, has both Enzo and Gioconda seized, and
Gioconda promises him her favors if he will release them. She then manages to slip Laura a
sleeping potion so that she will appear dead. In the end, although Enzo and Laura are reunited,
Gioconda stabs herself when Barnaba comes to claim his prize. As she dies, he taunts her with
the fact that he has drowned her mother anyway.

Somewhere in all this, there’s time for a ball and the obligatory ballet, “The Dance of the
Hours.” Since the ballet is not divided into twelve, much less 24 parts, it’s not entirely clear
what time it is at any given moment, but the piece progresses through a series of moods
suggesting a narrative proceeding from morning to night. Ponchielli occasionally employs a
glockenspiel to “strike” the divisions between sections, once with an allusion to Big Ben. While
the melodies are essentially trivial, the middle of the piece becomes disproportionately passion-
ate, suggesting the dire events unfolding in the plot. But the conclusion is a lively gallop.

Listeners may remember that this ballet was performed by a corps de ballet of alligators in Walt
Disney’s Fantasia.