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Music Department

Music in Plays at the National
by Paddy Cunneen

 See Music in discover: Making Theatre

As you visit the theatre tonight, you might consider how music is used in the production you're seeing. Quite often it passes unnoticed, unobtrusively underscoring mood, textual nuance or perhaps just the changing of scenery. Of course the music must fit, and of course “the play's the thing” but composing music involves such a real creative endeavour that its 'necessary invisibility' can be a double-edged sword for the composer. This article is intended to let you in on some of the arcane processes which ultimately lead to the incorporation of music into a play, giving you access to the invisible.



You may find that both “Music” and “Music Director” are listed in the programme credits, and the first thing to do is explain each role. The person credited as “Music” will either compose or arrange the music for the production. The music director, or MD, will generally have responsibility
for musically rehearsing the actors, the band, and for musical leadership during performance. I personally like to do as much as I can of both roles, whenever possible. It keeps me connected to the rehearsal room and makes me feel that composing and arranging are an extension of the work done there. I worked on the recent Othello in this way, handing over to the music director at the band rehearsals.



The first approach to a composer about working at the National usually comes in the form of a phone call from Kevin Leeman, the music manager. Part of his department's wide-ranging brief is to try to match composer/MD with director. Quite often a director will already have an existing working relationship with a composer, which allows them to work together very efficiently. It's been my experience that working with any particular director on a regular basis enables a shorthand to develop between us, and the resulting trust can allow each to be more adventurous and demanding in the use of music. In cases such as these, the music department will facilitate the composer's needs within the organisation, or, if the director wants advice, will recommend people from their wide knowledge of working methods and specialities.



The next stage for the composer is to meet the director to talk about the show. Most directors appreciate music and are usually clear as to what it should achieve in the production. It's up to the composer to understand this concept, through these initial discussions, and then provide music that will enhance it.



Rehearsal working methods differ from production to production, but if the composer is involved in rehearsal, the opportunity arises to play in some music at this stage. This may in turn ultimately change the role music plays in the production, especially in the case of working on movement or dance with a movement director. Dances can be written around the technical capabilities of the acting company, and the practical demands of basic steps ensure that the dance music does not itself become so esoteric as to no longer fit the production. Watching movement develop can be inspiring and, similarly, a musical idea offered at the right moment can often unlock the movement needs. Indeed in some cases it can unlock the scene itself. I have worked on many plays where a song or a dance has become the vehicle for understanding a theatrical style in rehearsal, and that understanding persisted even if the musical element was not used in the finished production. In Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, I spent many a long hour teaching the company to sing a Japanese "Gagaku" song. It was never used in the production but learning it was the best practical way of giving the company an insight into the different aesthetic sensibility of Japanese culture. Composing as the work develops in rehearsal usually feels right, as it allows the company to get to know the music very well and incorporate it into their collective imagination. It's a particularly satisfying way to work because composer and actors know that they are reacting to the same stimulus and going through parallel creative processes. Such participation is exciting and can produce powerful results, but is dependent on the director's perception of the production's needs.



In cases where the composer works away from rehearsals, judging the suitability of written music is a little harder. Because composing means adopting a view on the play, and because the director's conceptual grasp of the play is paramount, playing the music for the first time to the director alone, out of the context of performance, can be a testing time, It could simply be wrong or emotionally inappropriate, the music thrown out and the composer asked to start again. The time that this happened to me was when I worked with Karel Reisz in Dublin on a production of A Doll's House. Karel was so intelligent and considerate in his analysis of what he wanted from the music that I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of reconsidering what I had offered him.



Playing the music through on the piano for the director to assess is nearly always disastrous as it's very hard to convey how it will ultimately sound played by an instrumental ensemble. I have found it a good idea to let the director hear the music after a preliminary band rehearsal, which makes it easier to evaluate.



Exactly how the music should sound involves two decisions: what kind of instrumentation would best suit the show, and what kind of musical idiom is appropriate. Stravinsky said that once he had found one or two rules to govern his composition, he felt free to compose. The demands of finding the right kind of sound and musical style to enhance a production are similarly liberating, and a significant part of making the right impact on an audience.



All artistic decisions in theatre need to be achieved within a strict financial framework, which explains why you've probably never seen a 60-piece orchestra providing music for a play. Musicals are different, and bands for these can run from approximately nine (as on the National's
Sweeney Todd) to thirty players (Carousel used an orchestra of twenty-seven). generally, though, the Theatre's budget allows only for very small ensembles. Fortunately music technology has developed to the point where a very big sound can be made (if needed) by very small resources, but it's the imagination of the composer which is the essential ingredient in making small resources work well. Overall, these tight monetary limitations are best viewed as another of Stravinsky's positive constraints on creativity…



The next step is the appointment of a music director, quite often someone who has worked at the National before and therefore knows its foibles, and preferably those of the composer. Again Kevin Leeman assists in this decision, from his knowledge of musicians, performance demands and compatible personalities. The MD is the main link between the composer and the band, facilitating band calls and smoothing out changes to the music which arise from rehearsal.



If all has gone well to this point, the next stage is to rehearse the band proper. By now, two or three weeks prior to the opening, the music department will have contracted musicians who meet the show's requirements. This is not necessarily as easy as it might seem. The players may have to play two or more instruments, often unusual combinations which can be difficult to find. Sometimes the musicians need to be on stage in costume, to move with the company, play with actor-musicians and to take direction. An instrumentalist in theatre is always something of a specialist, someone who can cope with such demands and retain high standards of musicianship. Each player arrives with his or her own instruments ready to be rehearsed by the music director. A copyist will usually have written out parts that the players can read and play at sight, and at last the musical contribution to the play begins to take shape. Having musicians bring their performance expertise to some written music makes for a very exciting time. The music can often alter in the light of technical suggestions from the players, or even because new ideas for producing good noises emerge from the group. I always like to change and develop ideas like this with the band, and I'm constantly amazed at how unfazed and accommodating the musicians are to any late demand I make of them. Having rehearsed the band for Flight, for example, I constantly went back to them with alterations aimed at showing off their sound colours. In Closer I actually made the cello part more demanding as time went on because the players were capable of it and enjoyed the challenge.



The next step involves fixing this music into the production at the technical rehearsal – the “tech”. This is an on-stage rehearsal where all the technical elements are incorporated into the production and is the first point in the process where the feeling exists of an intensively active communal endeavour. Wardrobe and design teams float around making amendments to almost every prop, costume or piece of scenery. Well-marshalled technical crews have somehow turned the most impractical design fantasies into the pragmatic reality of the set. The lighting team (LX crew) are bringing new colour and depth to the physical and artistic dimensions of the play. And in the middle of all this, a little band of musicians practise cues and talk endlessly to stage management on headsets. They negotiate the exact timings of cue lights and calls during the play and accede to every request from the sound team to get closer to, or further from, a particular microphone. Under advice from the composer and/or director, they make changes to the music, lengthening or shortening pieces as needed, throwing out music which wasn't right after all, and sight-reading new cues, often written on the spot in an illegible hand.



Frequently the musicians play from a sound room deep within the National and their playing is relayed into the auditorium. Such “invisibility” accounts for the belief among many theatregoers that music in plays is pre-recorded. This is never the case at the National, which is bound by house agreements with the Musicians' Union to use live players for its production music.



Occasionally the band will play from on stage or from an area adjacent to it. I always think this works best because it validates the theatrical function of the music; audiences enjoy seeing musicians perform, and it makes the music sound better.



The “tech” is where the relationship between the sound department and the music department is at its most intense. It's a link that is becoming more and more important as audiences, principally because of exposure to cinema sound, become ever more sophisticated in their expectations. If the show has been well thought through, the composer or MD will have liased with the sound designer about the best way to reinforce or enhance the music. Such techniques as reverb, echo, mixing music with sound effects, as well as the more old fashioned skills of careful sound balancing and speaker placement, all contribute to making the music work more effectively.



It is worth bearing in mind that theatre is not only literature. It is a tangible experience of a living text, performed by real people, with the imaginative participation of an audience. In such countries as Japan and India, the techniques of theatre rely heavily on music as a fundamental means of communication. Even though this is less true within our own tradition, music is still a potent force in plays and can greatly enhance the overall experience. Enjoy the show.

© Paddy Cunneen



Paddy Cunneen has worked extensively as a composer and music director in theatre companies throughout the UK and in Ireland. He is an associate director of Cheek by Jowl and has written music for all their productions since 1988. His work at the National includes music for Fuente Ovejuna, Peer Gynt, The Sea, Angels in America, The Recruiting Officer, The Birthday Party, The Devil's Disciple, Blue Remembered Hills, Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, Closer, Flight and Othello, and working as Music Director on Sweeney Todd and A Little Night Music. Other theatre includes work for the RSC, the Royal Court, Royal Exchange, West Yorkshire Playhouse, the Gate and Abbey Theatres, Dublin, the Druid Galway, and the Donmar. He has also written extensive music for television and radio drama.