MovieChat Forums > The Red Shoes (1948) Discussion > What is Julian Craster's song at 0:28:21...

What is Julian Craster's song at 0:28:21?


Julian Craster begins warm up at 0:28:21 before he's interrupted 20 seconds in. Sounds so familiar. :O

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The one where he assembles the full orchestra for an early morning rehearsal - before he's interrupted by Livvy? That's the opening to "Heart of Fire", the ballet he went to see being performed at the beginning of the film

Steve

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Right before that scene: Moments earlier, the 📷 tracks the performers in the hallway, leading outside of Julian's small room; his silhouette's on the wall. We cut inside the room, his back facing us, where he briefly warms up his orchestra, while literally singing the words, "La-Da-Da-Diii--" before he's interrupted by a fellow to his left.

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That's Livvy interrupting him again.

Julian was hired to rehearse the orchestra, so that's what he's doing, rehearsing the woodwind section.

As their current ballet is Heart of Fire I presume that he's running them through one of the more complex parts of that ballet. But as we never see the full ballet I can't be 100% sure that that's where it is from

The music for Heart of Fir and for the ballet of The Red Shoes was written by Brian Easdale. He may have "borrowed" some phrases from some other pieces

Steve

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The music for Heart of Fir and...
Yes, I would think that music would have to feature the woodwind section 

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😁

Steve

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Something by Beethoven that every piano student learns, but I cannot think of the title.....

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I didn't see the movie this weekend but having seen the movie many times, I'm pretty sure it's the Chopin Waltz in c# minor.

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Yes exactly. Not Beethoven, Chopin. I knew it was from piano lessons....

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Hi,

If it's when he's rehearsing the small group just after Vicky is leaving her ballet class, then it's Chopin. The piece is used in the pas de deux from the ballet Les Sylphides.

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Watched it tonight, first time.

Don't know if it was at 28 mins., but early on in the film, when Crastor was playing solo piano, I heard something familiar.
I'm not musically trained to know the right words, but it was slow, with chords & melody; like he was working out a new idea that had come to him.

I turned to wife and said, "Was he just playing 'Turkey in the Straw?'"

Her response was something like, "Huh?", but one dares hit rewind for 30 seconds in her presence as she tends to be impatient and huffy and I much prefer the quiet, steady rhythm of her mouth breathing.

Perhaps the producers thought: Use a Public Domain, "classical it up", = no Royalty.
Or is Turkey/Straw one of those Peasant Folk Dances that 'inspired' a Brahms or somebody piece?
( Wasn't kidding saying I don't know about Ballet music. )

I'll rewatch and try to get approx. time. I've waited a long time to see this movie.
I enjoyed it very much.



I prefer the toad less raveled.

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Don't know if it was at 28 mins., but early on in the film, when Crastor was playing solo piano, I heard something familiar.
I'm not musically trained to know the right words, but it was slow, with chords & melody; like he was working out a new idea that had come to him.

I turned to wife and said, "Was he just playing 'Turkey in the Straw?'"

Do you mean the piece where Julian is playing for Lermontov as he eats his breakfast?
No, that isn't "Turkey in the Straw". It's a piece composed by Brian Easdale.

You can hear "Turkey in the Straw" in A Canterbury Tale by Powell & Pressburger when Bob wakes up in The Hand of Glory

It's very different to what Julian's playing in The Red Shoes

Steve

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