Mysterioso Pizzicato
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''Mysterioso Pizzicato'', also known as ''The Villain'' or ''The Villain's Theme'', is a piece of music whose earliest known publication was in 1914, when it appeared in an early collection of incidental photoplay music aimed at accompanists for
silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
s. The main motif, with minor variations, has become a well-known and widely used device (or "cliche"),Hand, Richard J. (2013) "Zappa and Horror: Screamin' at the monster" in Paul Carr (ed), ''Frank Zappa and the And'', p.25. Farmham, Ashgate. . incorporated into various other musical works, and the scores of films, TV programmes and video games, as well as unnotated indications in
film script A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a ''teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writ ...
s. Both a character
theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...
(the "traditional 'bad-guy' cue") and situation theme, it is used to herald foreboding or disaster and to represent villainy, sneakiness, or stealth. A version of this theme is contrasted with themes such as the
hero's Hero's was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion operated by Fighting and Entertainment Group, the parent entity behind kickboxing organization K-1. Grown from and branched off of K-1's earlier experiments in MMA, including the ''K-1 Romanex'' ...
(). Various versions have in common
staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of Articulation (music), musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and ...
notes, or a note-rest pattern, in imitation of the short sustain of string
pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as 'pinched', and sometimes roughly as 'plucked') is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument: * On bowe ...
. They share a
minor key In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition in Western classical music, jazz music, art music, and pop music. A particular key features a '' tonic (main) note'' and it ...
, considered more sad or ominous. They begin with a staccato ascending arpeggio, reach a
tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are multiple types of tremolo: a rapid repetition of a note, an alternation between two different notes, or a variation in volume. Tremolos may be either ''measured'' ...
or
trill TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is a networking protocol for optimizing bandwidth and resilience in Ethernet networks, implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and ...
on the minor
submediant In music, the submediant is the sixth degree () of a diatonic scale. The submediant ("lower mediant") is named thus because it is halfway between the tonic and the subdominant ("lower dominant") or because its position below the tonic is symm ...
(6), and then descend through faster step-wise
melodic motion Melodic motion is the quality of movement of a melody, including nearness or farness of successive pitches or notes in a melody. This may be described as conjunct or disjunct, stepwise, skipwise or no movement, respectively. See also contrapun ...
.


History

The tune appeared as no. 89 in ''The Remick Folio of Moving Picture Music, vol. I'', compiled and edited by the Danish-American composer J. Bodewalt Lampe and published on March 24, 1914 by Jerome H. Remick & Co., New York and Detroit.Program notes
''From Nineteenth-Century Stage Drama to Twenty-First-Century Film Scoring: Musicodramatic Practice and Knowledge Organization'' (2012). Society for American Music and the California State University, Long Beach, College of the Arts
It is unclear whether Lampe himself was the composer or transcriber of the piece. It also bears a resemblance to part of John Stepan Zamecnik's 1913 composition ''Mysterious – Burglar Music 1'', which appeared in ''Sam Fox Moving Picture Music volume 1'', a widely distributed collection of silent film music. It has been described as reflecting "the tradition of stealthy
tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are multiple types of tremolo: a rapid repetition of a note, an alternation between two different notes, or a variation in volume. Tremolos may be either ''measured'' ...
s that marked the entrance of villains in 19th century stage melodrama". By 1917 the idea of villain's motifs in general, or variants of the specific motif, was established well enough for an author to warn against the "monotonous and wearisome" overuse of the motif "whenever he villainis seen". Other motifs used to indicate villainy or danger include the second section of " Hearts and Flowers" (1893). In 1916 a similarly titled song called "Pizzicato Misterioso (For Burglary and Stealth)" by Adolf Minot also composed for film, but bears no resemblance to this song.


Uses

''Mysterioso Pizzicato'' has seen "hundreds of tongue-in-cheek uses" in features and cartoons. The melody appears prominently in the first
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
Silly Symphonies ''Silly Symphony'' (also known as ''Silly Symphonies'') is an American animation, animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Si ...
cartoon, ''
The Skeleton Dance ''The Skeleton Dance'' is a 1929 ''Silly Symphony'' animated short subject with a comedy horror theme. It was produced and directed by Walt Disney and animated by Ub Iwerks. In the film, reanimated human skeletons dance and make music around a s ...
'' (1929) with music composed by
Carl Stalling Carl William Stalling (November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972) was an American composer, voice actor and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts produced by War ...
.
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...
used a version of it in his 1921 ''
Music Box Revue ''Music Box Revue'' was a series of four musical theatre revues by Irving Berlin, presented from 1921 to 1924 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. Berlin wrote the book, music, and lyrics to all four editions. "The Waltzes of Irving Berlin ...
'' show to accompany the entrance of a band of burglars. In the 1931
Van Beuren Studios The Van Beuren Corporation was a New York City-based animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons as well as live-action short-subjects from the 1920s to 1936. History In 1920, the Keith-Albee organization formed Fables Pictures for the ...
animated short ''Making 'Em Move'' it is first used to produce a 'false sense of foreboding' as a curious visitor enters the animation factory, and then again to accompany the villain in a cartoon-within-a-cartoon, and at both points the animation is Mickey Moused to synchronise the character's movements with the music.Goldmark, D. (2011). "Sounds Funny/Funny Sounds". In D. Goldmark and C. Keil (eds). ''Funny Pictures: Animation and comedy in studio-era Hollywood'' pp 260–261. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California. . The entrance is: \addlyrics The motif is referenced in a number of
Max Steiner Maximilian Raoul Steiner (10 May 1888 – 28 December 1971) was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and became one of cinema of the United States, Hollywood's greatest musical composers. Steiner was a child prodi ...
's film scores, including '' The Adventures of Mark Twain'' (1944) in which it forms part of "the low instrumental buffoonery illustrating an afternoon of frog-catching". One use in popular music was by
Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...
, who incorporated the riff into live performances of his song " Zomby Woof". It is also used as an opening riff for
Shonen Knife Shonen Knife is a Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka in 1981. Influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, the Beach Boys, and early punk rock bands such as the Ramones, the band crafts stripped-down songs with simple yet unconventional ...
's song "Devil House" on their albums '' Pretty Little Baka Guy'' and ''
Let's Knife ''Let's Knife'' is a studio album by Shonen Knife. It was originally released on August 26, 1992, in Japan. The album features re-recorded versions of earlier Shonen Knife songs, with new English lyrics. It peaked at number 64 on the Oricon Albums ...
'';
Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead gui ...
's song "Reminissions" on their album '' Waking the Fallen'',
The Sonics The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, that formed in 1960. Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on Punk rock, punk and Garage rock, garage music worldwide, and they have been named inspir ...
' 1965 song "Strychnine"; and on
Johnny Sayles John Earl Sayles Jr. (February 9, 1937 – August 17, 1993), known as Johnny Sayles, was an American R&B and soul singer. Sayles was born in Winnsboro, Texas, United States. Around 1955, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he sang with Eu ...
' 1965 song "My Love's a Monster". It is also the basis for the instrumental "Scrooge," included in
The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...
' Christmas Album, in an arrangement credited to band members Don Wilson, Bob Bogle, Nokie Edwards, and Mel Taylor. The motif also appears in by
Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; ; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and ...
(1966). In the
graphic adventure An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an Interactive storytelling, interactive story, driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus ...
game '' King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow'', the tune is used as the background music for one area of the Isle of Wonder, specifically the tune to the character Bookworm. It is also used as boss encounter music in the Rareware video game '' Wizards and Warriors''. Anna Russell, in her traversal of
Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
's
Ring Cycle (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compos ...
, uses the cue to represent the curse placed by
Alberich In German heroic legend, Alberich () is a dwarf. He features most prominently in the poems ''Nibelungenlied'' and '' Ortnit''. He also features in the Old Norse collection of German legends called the Thidreksaga under the name Alfrikr. His na ...
on the magic ring, before realizing her mistake and saying "That's the wrong curse, isn't it." In the
Apple IIGS The Apple IIGS (styled as II) is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Inc., Apple Computer beginning in September 1986. It is the fifth and most powerful model of the Apple II family. The "GS" in the name stands for "Graphics and Sound" ...
home computer game, ''
The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...
'', the tune is used as I. Fleecum's theme. It plays when he is about to foreclose the orphanage, when the Stooges have selected a visit with I. Fleecum, or when the game ends with less than $5,000 (Ma loses the orphanage). After the song ends, the player would hear I. Fleecum laugh. The tune was also used in the
Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
port.


References

{{reflist


External links


''Sam Fox Moving Picture Music'' volume 1 (PDF) at mont-alto.com
Riffs Silent film music Film music compositions