Soundtrack Apocalisse

One of the most fascinating scores I’ve ever heard is Louis and Bebe Barron’s “music” from the sci-fi classic, Forbidden Planet.  Forbidden Planet, a typically 50’s science fiction take on Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ takes place almost entirely on an alien planet with strange characteristics and as such required sound effects and music as alien as the planet Altair.  I was reminded of this score when recently listening to the Tank Riot podcast about Leon Theremin where they credit the theremin with producing the music in the movie.  Not true (sorry fellas).

The Barrons, already experimenting with avant garde music took a genuinely unusual turn by producing a series of themes by manipulating electronic circuits and then put them through the paces with various effects to create Hollywood’s first entirely electronic movie score.  The end result is a spooky and sinister series of sound effects and ambient music.  According to Louis Barron

We design and construct electronic circuits which function electronically in a manner remarkably similar to the way that lower life-forms function psychologically. [. . .]. In scoring Forbidden Planet – as in all of our work – we created individual cybernetics circuits for particular themes and leit motifs, rather than using standard sound generators. Actually, each circuit has a characteristic activity pattern as well as a “voice”. [. . .]. We were delighted to hear people tell us that the tonalities in Forbidden Planet remind them of what their dreams sound like

Dreamlike is probably too simple.  Cybernetic is definitely appropriate.  At times the themes are very organic, feeling circular and random and at others, they are mechanical and cyclical to match the strange technology in the movie.  Often times soothing, to match the vast emptiness of space, sounds to float on, other times abrasive and angular, the electronic tones suit the movie perfectly in all instances.  Fans of early electronic music, ambient muic and classic sci-fi will not be disappointed.  It sounds unusually contemporary among avant acts in spite of its 1956 release.