I went to see the new film version of Les Misérables during my holiday. I've only seen the stage version once, but was intrigued as to how they would portray the story as a film. Whilst I have little to say about the film, since I knew the storyline I was able to focus on the music more.
What I hadn't noticed when I went to see the stage version is that Schönberg re-uses many of his melodies; the music for 'On Parole' is the same for 'Fantine's Death' and 'Valjean's Death', the music for 'The Bishop' is the same for 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables'. By changing the instrumentation, and through the use of different lyrics, Schönberg changes the mood of the music whilst using the same melody.
Schönberg also uses the different orchestral sounds to change the mood and character within a song; sudden brass interjections to mark surprise, use of high strings and harp for loving or longing moments and oboe/bassoon lines for a more melancholy sound.
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