10.15178/va.2018.144.95-110
RESEARCH

CONSTRUCTIONS AND TRANSGRESSIONS OF MUSIC IN THE SERIES OF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

CONSTRUCCIONES Y TRANSGRESIONES DE LA MÚSICA EN LAS SERIES DE AMBIENTACIÓN HISTÓRICA

CONSTRUÇÕES E TRANSGRESSÕES DA MÚSICA NAS SÉRIES DE AMBIENTAÇÃO HISTÓRICA

Teresa Piñeiro-Otero¹

¹University of A Coruña. Spain

ABSTRACT
Music plays an essential role in the viewing experience of the viewer. Although in the audiovisual story the image is the conscious focus of attention, music provides a series of effects, sensations or meanings that add value to the narrative and are projected as part of the visual discourse. Among the functions of audiovisual music stands out the one of creating convincing atmospheres of time or place. This function of “local color” acquires particular relevance in the series of epoch due to its possibility of giving realism to its setting. At a time when television productions have increased their technical and artistic quality, the selection / creation and use of music has acquired a special projection in the construction of the audiovisual story. In this sense, the object of the present work has been to make an approximation to the use of music in the previous time series, especially in regard to pre-existing themes. An approach that has allowed to point out different trends in the design of the scoring paying attention to their fidelity.

KEY WORDS: Music; Quality TV; TV series; Scoring; Musical selection; Original composition; Vintage fiction

RESUMEN
La música desarrolla un papel esencial en la experiencia de visionado del espectador. Aunque en el relato audiovisual la imagen es el foco consciente de la atención, la música aporta una serie de efectos, sensaciones o significaciones que aportan valor a la narración y se proyectan como parte del discurso visual. Dentro de las funciones de la música audiovisual destaca la de crear atmósferas convincentes de tiempo lugar. Esta función de “color local” adquiere particular relevancia en las series de época debido a su posibilidad de dotar de realismo a su ambientación. En un momento en que las producciones televisivas han incrementado su calidad técnica y artística la selección/creación y empleo de la música ha adquirido una especial proyección en la construcción del relato audiovisual. En este sentido el objeto del presente trabajo ha sido el de efectuar una aproximación al uso de la música en las series de época, especialmente en lo que se refiere a los temas preexistentes. Una aproximación que ha permitido señalar diversas tendencias en la concepción del scoring atendiendo a su fidelidad.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Música; Quality TV; Series televisivas; Scoring; Selección musical; Composición original; Ficción de época

RESUME
A música desenvolve um papel essencial na experiência da visão do espectador. Embora no relato audiovisual a imagem é o foco consciente da atenção, a música aporta uma série de efeitos, sensações ou significações que aportam valor a narração e se projetam como parte do discurso visual. Dentro das funções da música audiovisual destaca a de criar atmosferas convincentes de tempo e lugar. Esta função de “cor local” adquire uma particular relevância nas series de época devido a sua possibilidade de dotar de realismo a sua ambientação. Em um momento em que as produções televisivas incrementaram sua qualidade técnica e artística a seleção/criação o emprego da música adquiriu uma especial projeção na construção do relato audiovisual. Neste sentido o objetivo do presente artigo foi efetuar uma aproximação ao uso da música em series de época, especialmente no que se refere aos temas pré-existentes. Uma aproximação que permitiu assinalar diversas tendências na concepção da scoring atendendo a sua fidelidade.

PALAVRAS CHAVE: Música; Quality TV; Séries televisivas; Scoring; Seleção musical; Composição original; Ficção de época

Received: 15/02/2018
Accepted: 30/05/2018

Correspondence: Teresa Piñeiro Otero.University of A Coruña Spain
teresa.pineiro@udc.es

How to cite the article
Piñeiro Otero, T. (2018). Constructions and transgressions of music in the series of historical background [Construcciones y transgresiones de la música en las series de ambientación histórica] Vivat Academia. Revista de Comunicación, nº 144, 95-110. doi: http://doi.org/10.15178/va.2018.144.95-110. Recuperado de http://www.vivatacademia.net/index.php/vivat/article/view/1110

1. INTRODUCTION

Music is a key element of our experience as spectators. Although in an audiovisual story it is the image that captures the attention in a conscious way, it is the sound discourse that provides a series of effects, sensations and meanings. A contribution that enriches the narrative and, by audiovisual magic, is perceived as typical of the image (Gorbman, 1980, Brown, 1994).
This phenomenon, for which Chion (1993) coined the term audiovision, is the result of a complex perceptual system that has its main ally in music. On the screen and its surrounding image and sound they establish a perfect marriage even when both discourses -visual and sound- seem to diverge or offer contradictory content.
In the so-called golden third age of television there is an explosion of new forms of consumption (and enjoyment) of television content. This is the emergence of the “must see TV-shows” (Jancovich and Lyons, 2003) especially represented by television series whose careful making, almost cinematographic, invoke passions for the content and its creators. The Quality TV has led to the expansion of the fan phenomenon of the cast of actors to directors, producers and even composers or sound designers.
In this context it is usual the transfer of professionals and artists from the big screen to the small one, which until now had never been so small (up to 4.5 inches in the palm of the hand) nor so great at the same time (stylistically speaking). Thus, from its first frames The Crown (Netflix, 2016-) impacts the viewer with a powerful music that bears the stamp of Oscar-winning Hans Zimmer.
While the “cameo” of film composers on television is not exclusive to Quality TV, see for example the main theme of Rich Man, poor man (ABC, 1976) by Alex North or the participation of Ennio Morricone in various Italian miniseries, never like in this moment the musical ambience of the series developed such an important role in its reception.
As Calderón points out, Gusterns and Durán (2016) in the cinematographic story sound and image are subject to the three classic acts of the plot (presentation-climax-outcome), supporting the emotions and actions of the characters in a substantive and diegetic way; in serial fiction this structure is diluted in episodes and seasons.
Authors such as T-Bone Burnett, Bryan Reitzell or Max Richter, with an important career in film, have participated in the composition and / or musical selection of series such as True Detective, (HBO, 2014-) Hannibal (NBC, 2013-2015) or The Leftovers (HBO, 2014 -2017) whose soundtrack elevates them to the status of art. The expressiveness of the musical setting in these series responds to a structural effectiveness, based on a sonority and textural diversity, as well as on the intertextuality implicit in pre-existing themes.
These series present a global design of the soundtrack, generating in viewers a more aesthetic and immersive experience in the line indicated by (Richardson and Gorbman, 2013, p. 29). One of the genius aspects of sound in this golden age of seriality is the holistic conception of both audible speech and audiovisual story in general. On the one hand, the scoring of the series integrates music, effects, voices, reverberation of space or sound textures in a sound continuum (Stilwell, 2001); on the other, it contributes to the construction of the visual landscape as well as complex ideas and sensations of communicating only with images (Kelly, 2016).
In this way music has an active participation in the interpretation of the image to the point of being essential for the understanding of the story. This is the case, for example, in the case of Hannibal (2013-2015), a series in which the use of themes from the classical repertoire adds different layers of reading (Piñeiro Otero, 2016).

1.1. The construction of sound landscapes

In a kind of synesthesia, the sound discourse -music, atmospheres and sound textures- manages to communicate, modify or amplify the content of the image. The role of sound in the construction of the audiovisual story gives great relevance to the sound landscape or soundscape juxtaposed on many occasions to the visual line of the series.
Since its emergence in the 1960s, under Schafer, the term soundscape refers to a dialectic between natural and cultural aspects. In the same way that a “landscape is constituted by histories, ideologies and viewing practices, the soundscape implies listening as a cultural practice” (Samuel et al., 2010: 330).
The close relationship between sound landscapes and culture is interesting from the perspective of the audiovisual story given the possibility of producing artificial soundscapes focusing on certain sounds or their characteristics to create -or recreate- the material reality where the story or concrete image takes place that one wants to arouse in the mind of the spectator (Chion, 1993, Samuel et al., 2010).
These constructions have affected our perception of reality to the point that we can describe how a certain place in the world sounds even when we have not had the opportunity to move there and the fact that we do not feel identified with the musical construction that films and television have developed from our territory.
We can even have a pretty vivid idea of how past eras sounded, some of them prior to musical writing thanks to the design and reiteration of musical patterns.
In this sense, several works have explored the role of music in the construction of spaces starting from the place of the source, its relationship with the characters or the meaning of those compositions -their form, instrumentation or compositional resources- for the spectators (Gorbman, 1980, Chion, 1993, Lack, 1999, Altman, 2007).
The purpose of this work has been to deepen the use of original music, and especially, prerecorded, in the field of the series of previous times within the Quality TV. An approach that allows us to identify various trends in the scoring concept of this typology of series based on the fidelity dimension.

1.2. Music in the setting of the series

The scoring of television productions usually contains two types of music: film music, usually of an instrumental nature, formed by small compositions and chords that lack an entity outside the image and those independent themes, such as songs, which may be original or prerecorded.
Whatever its form, from the moment in which the music that appears on the screen -as pointed out by Torrelló and Durán (2014)- it affects the creation and definition of the filmic diegesis as well as the construction of audiovisual discourse from diverse perspectives such as formal, narrative, poetic, dramaturgical or psychological, among others.
Following Copland (1988), one of the main functions of music in cinema is to create a convincing atmosphere of time and place. This function that Prendergast (1992) calls local color is based on the intention and effect -of a certain music- of eliciting a space in the mind of the spectator from certain tonal, expressive or evocative characteristics. As Whitraker (2012: 116) reminds us “The instrumentation and voice of each song has its own timbre and phrasing, just as the mise-en-scène has its texture, color and forms”.
The function of local color of music operates on the dimension of fidelity of sound: the compositions can be of a specific time or constitute original scores that emulate their sonorous particularities. Thus, in the sound design of the vintage series we can listen to a selection of songs that outline a panorama of the music of the moment (either of the time or earlier) that could be part of the space in which the characters mov, and / or new themes with reminiscences of form, style, instrumentation or theme to said songs.
This duality between pre-existing themes and original music, present in most of the vintage series, usually reflects a dual concept of music according to the place of the sound source: thus the repertoire themes usually sound within the space (screen music) -such as dance halls, radios or gramophones, ambient music, etc.- while the original music usually accompanies the image proposing its reading (pit music) It is a traditional organization of this music but not the only one, thus, in series such as Pan Am (ABC, 2011-2012) there are sequences in which current fashion songs run parallel to the image, without apparently affecting them, while in others like Marco Polo (Netflix, 2014-2016) the original music is disguised as traditional to accompany the spaces of Kublai Khanato.
Beyond the ability of music to situate us as spectators in a specific temporal context, the selection of pre-existing themes can determine the decoding of an audiovisual sequence and therefore its added value over the image (Chion, 1993, Powrie & Stilwell, 2006). In these cases, the impact of the musical selection depends directly on its recognition as well as on the cultural load that these compositions bring, especially of the songs whose textual content provides new layers of reading and meaning (Richardson and Gorbman, 2013).
Paraphrasing Wright (2003) in many cases the pre-recorded music comes with its own referential contours as happens, for example, with The man in the hightcastle (Amazon, 2015-). This series is located in a dystopian past, in the years after World War II, in which Germany and Japan defeated the Allied side. The musical selection of the series includes compositions from the 60s that could be part of other realistic productions such as Pan Am (ABC, 2011-2012), Masters of Sex (Showtime, 2013-2016) or Mad Men (AMC, 2007). -2015).
At the head of The Man in the High Castle (Amazon, 2015-) the overprint of maps, various symbols of Nazi Germany and Japan or warlike aviation on some of the most famous monuments in the United States as the Statue of Liberty/ or one of the faces of Mount Rushmore is presented.
These images are accompanied by the theme Edelweiss interpreted -almost whispered- by a female voice on a very simple instrumental basis. This song composed by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the musical work The sound of music (1959) is closely linked to the Austrian patriotic resistance against the pressures of the Nazi regime. In fact, some viewers can associate it with Georg von Trapp and, more specifically, the flight of his family from the Nazis at the end of the film adaptation of the musical that in Spain was called Sonrisas y lágrimas (1965).
The opening of the television series with this song can also refer to that man in the castle who - like the alpine flower- grows in a high place and resists.
Following Whiteley (2004), music allows us to define spaces and times due to its role in the construction of national identities and cultural frames of reference. A capacity enhanced by the audiovisual culture, which has popularized certain music-time connections and which feeds back on them.
For example, the construction of musical discourse is similar in series such as Vikings (History Channel, 2013-) or The Last Kingdom (BBC, 2015 -): the scoring of both series consists of a vowel line that does not aspire to intelligibility on a simple musical basis, with few instruments, and an important weight of the percussion. The main difference between the two musics lies in the content of the vocalic line: a female voice of medium-high pitch emphasizes the individual character of the epic of Uhtred de Bebbanburg, the protagonist of The Last Kingdom, while a chorus of low, masculine voices , remember the relevance of the company of Ragnar Lothbrok for the Viking people.
Both series take place at a time (S. IX) in which the [Western] musical notation was in an incipient state and was linked exclusively to the religious sphere, an issue that, in the series, will help to build the contrast between Christianity [of courts, monasteries and cathedrals] and the “barbarian” peoples of the north.
The contrast of two cultures based on music is also observed in other television productions set in more recent times. In these cases, it is common to appeal to cultural stereotypes such as the form, style and instrumentalization of the music that surrounds the action (both pit and screen) but also to songs that carry their own intertextuality.
So in Outlander (Sony Pictures television, 2014-) the Scottish bagpipe becomes a preponderant bell that serves as an historical anchor in the journey of Claire Beuchamp since 1945 in the months after the Second World War, when traveling through the Scottish Highlands with her husband following the trail of an ancestor, to 1743 in a convulsive period, prior to the last Jacobite uprising, marked by the continuous confrontation between the Scottish clans and the British government. The connection between the original scoring of the series with traditional music has its maximum exponent in the opening of the series in which the voice of Raya Yarbrough sings the poem Sing me to Song of a lass that is Gone by Louis Stevenson on the melodic basis of The Skye Boat Song, popular Scottish song.
Similarly, in Rebellion (RTÉ, 2016-), which tells the events surrounding the Easter Rising (1916) from a series of fictional characters, the viewer is enveloped by a scoring with features and themes of popular music Irish.
Both types of music - Scottish and Irish - have permeated Hollywood cinema (as well as the stereotypes of peoples that they build) and, therefore, with great roots in our audiovisual culture.
With regard to the use of repertoire themes to illustrate a certain culture-era and that carry their own readings, the Boardwalk Empire series (HBO, 2010-2014) is particularly interesting. This television production is set in Atlantic City in the 1920s - in the middle of Prohibition - to describe the life of an alcohol smuggler, the construction-defense of his empire and the relationship he has with other families in the underworld. In the presentation of the leaders or main hatchet men of the families it is frequent the inclusion of pre-existing themes that will reinforce the construction of their origin: thus Danny Boy is associated with the protagonist Nucky Thompsom (of Irish descent), especially after another character -Bill McCoy- sing a variation of the lyrics during a party to praise the gangster.
Another association of this style is found in the first episode of the series when Big Jim Colosimo, head of the Chicago mafia, puts on the gramophone the theme O Lola in the voice of Enrico Caruso. The choice of theme and interpreter could indicate a refined musical taste, in the line pointed out by Visa (2011), but goes further.
This theme, which works as an out-of-field extended in a sequence of accounts settling between mafiosi that is settled with the death of Colisimo himself, is part of the opera Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni: a classic work in the audiovisual construction of Italo-American characters. For example, the Intermezzo of this opera accompanies the decline of Michael Corleone and family in the end of the Godfather III (Coppola, 1990), the presentation of Jake Lamota in Wild Bull (Scorsese, 1980).

2. OBJECTIVES

In recent years it has been opted for television productions that are set or recreate a certain time. Series like Mad Men (AMC: 2007-2015), Boardwalk Empire (HBO: 2010-2014), The Tudors (Showtime: 2007-2010), Vikings (History Channel, 2013-), Marco Polo (Netflix, 2014-2016), The Americans (FX, 2013 -) or Rome (HBO: 2005-2007) have moved their action to certain moments of the past with a historical vocation and as a resource for a greater projection of the story.
So while The White Queen (BBC, 2013) or The Crown (Netflix, 2016-) relate real events, even with some creative licenses, others like Nicholas Le Floch (France 2, 2008), Pan Am (ABC, 2011-2012 ), Poldark (BBC, 2015-), and even The Girls of the Cable (Netflix, 2017-) or Downton Abbey (ITV, 2010-2015) show fictitious characters and situations that integrate some historical fact or character to give them more realism and -finally- a third type simply select a specific time to give support to the story; so it happens with American Horror Story Asylum or Freak Show (FX, 2012-2013 and 2014-2015, respectively) Godless or Alias Grace (both Netflix productions, 2017 ).
Although in these series the design of production has been taken care of to the maximum to contribute realism to the story, even in fantastic productions as Penny Dreadful (Showtime, 2014-2016) or Strangers Things (Netflix, 2016-), in the case of its musical setting, various creative decisions can be observed, ranging from a commitment to realism to its transgression with expressive purpose.
In this sense, the present work has had as objectives:

– Make an approximation to the use of music in series set in the past.
– Deepen the main uses and functions of musical discourse in the construction of this type of television fiction.

3. METHODOLOGY

To address the object of study, music in the series of Quality TV. Set in moments of the past, an analysis of musical discourse was developed in several stages.
In the first stage, a search was made of “vintage” series in the list of Bafta and Emmy awards of the last decade (2006-2016). In search of greater exhaustiveness, this search was extended to the catalog of the main premium video subscription services on demand with service in Spain (HBO, Netflix and Movistar +).
In a second stage the viewing of various episodes of these series was carried out (pilot episode and another randomly selected), reiterating the revision of the material in those fragments in which music was introduced.
In order to know the role of music and its added value with respect to visual discourse, these fragments were analyzed using the method of concealers (Chion, 1993).
In the case of repertoire music, Shazam was chosen to obtain information on the songs -title, performer, year, etc.- and to determine its coherence with the historical moment recreated in the fiction. Once the themes were identified, a detailed search was carried out to find out about previous uses and cultural links, as well as a critical analysis of the lyrics of the songs in order to deepen their possible readings.

4. RESULTS

The increase of resources and technical-expressive possibilities in the development of television series has made possible the recreation of past times with demonstrated solvency. This creative capacity, previously reserved for the cinema, has allowed viewers to travel to past times and immerse themselves in stories of true atmosphere even in those series that lack a realistic vocation. This is the case, for example, with Strangers Things, whose action is located in Hawkins County, Indiana, USA, during the 1980s.
When it comes to recreating a specific historical moment in a realistic way, television productions can opt for two different types of music: use pre-existing themes of the moment or go to original compositions whose style or instrumentation respond to the expectations we have as spectators about the music of the time.
If with the selection of pre-existing music, the sound designer -or equivalent- pretends realism, based on the knowledge and memories of the spectators, with the original compositions it acts on the plane of fidelity appealing to the expectations of the public from the emulation of certain musical characteristics. Both types of music -pre-existing and original- can constitute the musical discourse of the series individually or - more usually - as a mixture of both.
In any case, memories and expectations are significantly influenced by the audiovisual culture.

4.1. The selection of pre-existing themes

The integration into the scoring of current issues, or previous ones that may be present in the spaces of the series, is one of the most effective ways of realistic setting of a certain era. Although it is a formula that can be applied to various spatio-temporal contexts, it is especially effective in the recreation of the second half of the 20th century.
This communicative efficiency lies fundamentally in two aspects: on the one hand, the existence of a music industry that has accelerated production times and content of subjects and performers, which allows a very tight temporal link; on the other, the affective relationship with the spectators due to the presence of some of these songs in their primary socialization, as musical (or audiovisual) hits from earlier stages of their lives or even because of their presence in the musical radio forms ( Oldies or Nostalgia style formats).
Thus, for example, the musical selection of The Americans (FX, 2013 -) places us at the beginning of the 80s. The inclusion of songs premiered in the 70s and in the first two years of 80 acquires particular relevance in the first episode -which contains a greater musical selection -to appeal to the recognition of the moment among the public and enhance its realism.
For its part, the musical selection of Boardwalk Empire (HBO, 2010-2014) places us in the 20s with the integration of current issues with previous ones, perfectly treated to better adapt to spaces and sources from where they come (jukeboxes, pianos, theaters, vaudeville shows ...).
The familiarity with the time, due to the numerous audio-visual stories that are located in the United States at the time of Prohibition, has led us to forge an idea of the sonority of the moment, and Boardwalk empire fits perfectly: make a tour for the styles of fashion in the “roaring twenties” such as jazz and blues, vaudeville themes as well as popular music, opera and other genres that contribute to the characterization of the characters.
While the series makes an impeccable approach to music of the “era of Prohibition” and the first recordings of the United States thanks to the collaboration of Archeophone Record (1) (Schwachter, 2010), it is not possible to fix a temporary location as accurate as in The Americans (FX, 2013 -).

(1) Musical producer specialized in rescuing, preserving and contextualizing the most ancient recordings of the world.

The difficulty of listeners to temporarily specify certain musical themes and styles, especially those prior to the creation of contemporary adult lists, has been taken advantage of from a creative perspective by television productions such as Manhattan (WGN, 2014-2015), which deals with the celebrated project. This series set in 1943 in Los Alamos, New Mexico, has a varied musical selection with themes of the moment and other later Let’s Go Home by The Staple Singers (1960), I Know Who Threw the Whiskey In the Well by Bull Moose Jackson (1946), or I Don’t Want to Set the World On Fire by The Ink Spots (1947), among others. The temporal proximity of these themes has meant that, despite its anachronism, the realism of its musical setting is not compromised.

4.2. A call to nostalgia

Mad Men (AMC, 2007-2015), Pan Am (ABC, 2011-2012) or Masters of Sex (Showtime, 2013-2016) offer a journey through nostalgia, also musical. The inclusion of certain topics works as historical anchors as well as some news events attended or commented on by the characters -John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s assassination, Martin Luther King’s murder, the arrival to the moon ...- that bring greater realism to the construction of the historical moment (decades 50-60).
Although each of the series presents its own particularities when selecting music as the link with the psychological moment of the characters in Mad Men, with the situation as Masters of Sex, or with the thematic flight-travel in Pan Am, their scoring is a sample of legendary themes-interpreters such as Hound dog by Elvis Presley, Blue Skies by Ella Fitzgerald, Just One More Chance by Billie Holiday, The Twist by Chubby Checker, My Way by Frank Sinatra, or (I can’t get no) Satisfaction from The Rolling Stones and Tomorrow Never Knows from The Beatles, among others.
In the case of Mad Men (AMC, 2007-2015), in addition, a new perspective on music is introduced: advertising music. So in the offices of the advertising agency are framed some jingles that can be recognized by the audience the most famous is the song Coca Cola TV spot with which ends the series: I’d like to buy the world a Coke, in Spain I want to give to the whole world (McCann-Erickson, 1971).
In those cases in which the past is invoked, lived by the audience, or by a part of it, the inclusion of songs of the time as well as an ingredient for the realism of the series is a call to reminiscence and to the emotion of the spectators. So the selection of songs from Strangers Things (Netflix, 2016-) is a revival of the 80s with themes like Africa by Toto, Hazy Shade of Winter by The Bangles or Sunglasses at Night by Corey Hart -among others- that mix with the original scoring composed by Michel Stein and Kyle Dixon. Although the music of this series presents some anachronism of a creative nature, it is not perceived as such by the spectators. In the same way, Hall and Catch Fire (AMC, 2014-2017) presents another perspective of 80’s music with a selection of punk, electronic music, new romantic, etc. Among the successes of Duran Duran, Depeche Mode or The Stranglers, among others, in this time are camouflaged themes of the 90s and the 2000s creating a musical atmosphere of exception to accompany the emergence and revolution of user computing.

4.3. Expressive breaks

As well as film productions such as María Antonieta by Sofía Coppola (2006), series such as Reign (CW, 2013-2017) have integrated music as a transgressive element, alternating conventional incidental music with billboard songs adapted to the youthful tone of the series and its audience These contemporary themes are also part of the screen music sharing the ballroom, for example, with other compositions whose form and instrumentality seem closer to us at the time (1557). Thus, as Sáez González (2007) affirms, Reign is freed at last from the rigid corsets of the historical genre without for that reason renouncing all spatial-temporal verisimilitude.
This type of inclusion of current issues inside and outside the spaces in which the action takes place implies a creative license that brings a new reading to the story. In the case of Reign (CW, 2013-2017) the inclusion of contemporary musical hits pretends its link with the characters and, in a certain way, the action, more than with the historical context.
Already from the opening of the series the folk-rock of Scotland of The Lumineers warns us as spectators its transgressive character as metonymy of the own young girl. More than a queen with a marriage pact in the French court, María Estuardo is a teenager who, together with her group of friends (ladies of company), comes to know love. Therefore, his adventures will be accompanied by music coherent with the historical moment as well as a selection of pre-existing themes coherent with the age of the young women and the romance-drama genre of the series.
Also the selection of songs, which includes songs like Back to you by Twin Forks, Follow by Crystal Fighters or Girl You’re alright by Paul Otten, bring new readings to the sequence they accompany through their lyrics.
Some of these features that characterize the scoring of Reing, will be present in other series of historical setting Peaky Blinders (BBC Two, 2013-) The Knick (Cinemax, 2014-2015) but with a higher degree of virtuosity in the introduction and use of music as in its integration with visual discourse. Both productions share historical moment: The Knick is located in the first decade of the twentieth century in New York, around 1907 if the appearance of Mary Typhoid, and Peaky Blinders in the Birminghan immediately after the First World War, a conflict whose ghosts still torment the ex-combatants in the trenches.
From a musical perspective both series have a completely different construction despite the careful work of these productions, one could almost consider preciosity, to give realism to the historical setting (both the Knickerbocker Hospital as the peaky blinders really existed).
Thus we can speak of a rupture of the musical conventions for the time and the audiovisual genre to which they belong, with a clearly expressive purpose; a break that is achieved through two different routes: the original scoring of the series and the integration of pre-existing themes.
Thus the musical discourse of Peaky Blinders is composed of a significant number of contemporary rock songs by authors such as Nick Cave, Jack White, The White Stripes, Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, Laura Marling, Radio Head, Dan Auerbach or Artic Monkeys; some very recent ones like Lazarus by David Bowie or You Want it Darker by Leonard Cohen (both from 2016). It is an eclectic selection that is perfectly integrated into sequences set over six decades before.
The opening of the series with the theme Red right hand by Nick Cave & Bad Seeds (1994), a dark alternative rock song that is inspired by John Milton’s Paradise Lost to talk about divine vengeance, constitutes a true declaration of intentions. in the creative plane as in the intertextuality.
In fact, the series manages to make the musical selection its own by integrating it into montage [and adapting it] as one more element of visual discourse, which gives it value as well as a series of meanings and meanings that transcend those of the song itself; those of the image itself.
An example of this is found at the beginning of the fifth episode of the third season when the theme Lazarus de Bowie takes us into the subjective internal space of a Tommy who is torn between life and death. In addition to the expressiveness of his editing and treatment, the Bowie theme presents a perfect adaptation to the situation that the character lives to the point of becoming his voice. In another moment, also in the same chapter, it will be Cohen’s voice that will go forward to the screen when you sing You Want it Darker during the scene of erotic suffocation.
On the contrary, in The Knick the expressive break is not based on a selection of pre-recorded music but on an original scoring, composed by Cliff Martínez, that accompanies and emphasizes the story. The synesthesia between image and music is specified in the title of the compositions: the same as the episode they accompany. So the theme of the first episode is called Son of placenta previa. Other equally suggestive topics are: Abscess, Aortic aneurysm junior, Most contagious thing on earth or New standard hernia procedure.
The music in The Knick comes before the image. Thus the chapters begin with a few seconds in black although with a sound background that we find disturbing as spectators. In fact, the series has no header, surprising us from the first seconds of the season with an electronic drone that integrates ambient sounds and voices whose rhythm is accelerated by the action, adapting itself perfectly to the succession of images. The close link between music and image, especially in terms of rhythm and intensity, can sometimes lead to its identification as a subjective sound that replicates the heart of the protagonist, especially in those moments in which Dr. John W. Thackery injects himself a dose of cocaine.
The symbiotic character of musical and visual discourse is surprising especially if one starts from the fact that The Knick’s music is totally electronic. In a story that takes maximum care of the aesthetics of the moment, especially in regard to a field as specialized as surgery, the use of anachronistic music is an expressive break that gives it its greater expression. It would seem that instead of accompanying the historical moment, it is built on the basis of the character, of its life to the limit and of its practices, while such a construction would be more adjusted to our audiovisual culture.
In the words of Steven Soderbergh (in Grow, 2014), the creator of the series, “Aesthetically, it was a truly attractive period, but the music was absolutely boring and not interesting, the ragtime had just begun -and there is something of it in the background. of some scenes- but besides that style there was nothing good”
The integration of this music in the audiovisual story and its interference in our perception, as spectators of visual discourse, forces us to transcend Gorbman’s classification of diegetic or non-diegetic music, taking into account its location with respect to the image.
This rupture does not have as much to do with the ability to locate the musical source in the pit or on the screen, because the current possibilities of sound treatment allow to distinguish perfectly the music affected by the time-space where it is inserted (provided that this is what the director or the sound designer want), as with the consideration of the interference that diegetic music or non-diegetic music may have in the development of the story. In fact the reception of The Knick would be completely different without the music that accompanies it, regardless of always sounding outside the space where the characters move.

4.4. Music as the essence of the series

The categorization proposed in this article aims to accommodate the musical setting of the various series of the time, including those of fantasy or science fiction genre located in a non-existent physical-temporal space although with elements that recall a specific moment (or the audiovisual construction of a certain moment). Thus the scoring of Game of Thrones (HBO, 2011-) appeals to the conception we have as spectators of the setting of a medieval era and a plot of power-conquest struggle.
In the same way, the music from series such as Penny Dreadful (Showtime, 2014-2016) or Davinci’s Demons (Starz, 2013-2016) fulfills the expectations of the audience for the moment they recreate -Victorian London and Renaissance Florence, respectively- although they include musical features, such as the selection of a minor mode or the use of certain cadences, which generate us a certain uneasiness and reflect the magical, mysterious or gloomy character of the space in which the characters are traversed and related.
Separate mention requires other series whose scoring could fit into the first categories although it goes further to assume a nuclear role both to set the moment-space where the action takes place and for the integral construction of the story itself.
This is the case of Life on Mars (BBC, 2006-2007) or its continuation Ashes to ashes (BBC, 2008-2010), two miniseries produced by the BBC whose names correspond to two songs by David Bowie. Although they are framed in the science fiction genre, both series are set in real moments and spaces - Manchester of the 70s and London of the early 80s- which will be projected in the musical selection.
Sam Tyler, the protagonist of Life on Mars, listens in 2006 to the theme of the same name on his iPod before the accident that moves him to 1973 without the song ceasing to sound (yes you will perceive the treatment going on digital diegetic music, inside, extradiegetic and return to the screen but with a sonority characteristic of a radio station of the moment). Within the scoring of the series, composed of various themes of the moment, Bowie’s song becomes a kind of leitmotiv that will accompany the character throughout the episodes. In this case, the connection between musical and audiovisual discourse is perfect and full of intertextuality: as pointed out by the lyrics of the song, Tyler will have to adapt to this new reality in which he is a stranger, almost an extraterrestrial.
The feeling of coming from another planet, suggested on some occasion by the protagonist, will be exploited in its American adaptation (ABC, 2008-2009). An adaptation that, as happened with the Spanish girl of yesterday (Ida y vuelta, 2009), continue appealing to this musical bond although with a minor integration in his story. In Ashes to Ashes (BBC, 2008-2010) to the detective Alex Drake, a shot in the head will move her to 1981, a year after the release of the song. This series presents an eclectic musical selection with themes from Duran Duran, The Clash or Supertramp and combining styles such as punk, new romantic, synthpop, pop, ska or glam rock, among others.

5. DISCUSSION

The careful construction of serial fiction in the so-called Quality TV has been reflected in the conception of its musical setting. From the idea of a soundtrack as an incidental music, although with an expressive and structuring function, it has moved on to an integral conception of the audiovisual story.
More and more the series use music to establish the space -physical or temporal-, meaning, style of the story and even to convey parts of it giving meaning to the image.
In the specific case of the period series, music has gone from being an accompaniment of the image to influencing it, giving realism to the historical setting and providing new readings. This circumstance is especially evident in series such as Peaky Blinders or The Knick, in which the added value of music is key to the construction of the story.
Although original music can emulate the style and sonority of a certain period by responding to the expectations -and the audiovisual culture- of the viewers for that moment, it is the use of pre-recorded themes that achieves more interesting results.
The selection of pre-existing themes works as an anchor with the historical moment, especially in the last decades given the greater capacity for temporal concretion and the affection that these issues raise in the spectators. Likewise, the integration of this type of music brings its own frames of reference and also its own meanings linked to the lyrics.
The entity that acquires the scoring of these series in our experience as spectators, in the process of decoding the historical moment, the spaces or the characters, requires a revision of the concepts of diegetic and non-diegetic from a sound perspective.
The distinction proposed by Gorbman (1980) is meaningless in the contemporary approach to music in television series, especially if the implication of the non-diegetic concept is considered from a narrative perspective. As Winters (2010) points out, Gorbman seems not to contemplate the possibility that non-diegetic music may be part of the narrative rather than an intrusion or an external accompaniment; a possibility that is increasingly evident in television productions.
In short, regardless of its location in the series of historical settings, the musical selection establishes a complex dialectic with the image, constructing a parallel aesthetic, narrative or emotional universe based on the intentions and intersections of the repertoire of songs and their interference in perception. subjective viewers.

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AUTHOR
Teresa Piñeiro-Otero
Degree in Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Vigo and a PhD in Communication from the same university. Professor at the Department of Sociology and Communication Sciences of the University of A Coruña. He has oriented his research towards the new sound manifestations in the network, as well as the new narratives in the field of convergence. In this line he has made a research stay on music in the series at the Costantini Sound Chair, of the University of Buenos Aires, with an Ibero-American Scholarship from Santander Universities.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6414-2700