Source scoring and Mozart's music in the film Amadeus

In the score for Amadeus, we hear pre-existing music of Mozart (performed by the acclaimed conductor Sir Neville Marriner leading the orchestra of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields); no original music was composed for the film, but in many places the score definitely functions dramatically. The music eventually takes on the function of “source scoring” (sometimes referred to as “scource”), where it begins to work dramatically and transcends simple source.

In this discussion, you’ll examine this type of scoring more closely. Watch the Amadeus clip again, and write a paragraph in response to each of the following questions:

Where would you say the music begins to function dramatically (as opposed to merely source)? Is it at the point where you hear the orchestral instruments for the first time? Where we cut away to Constanza as she rushes back to Vienna? Perhaps some other moment? How do we know this change has occurred?

What moods are conveyed by the music throughout this dramatic scene? What makes us feel the proper emotions?

A discussion of how Mozart's music is used dramatically in the film Amadeus. ...

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