Musical Theory and the Princesses · 6:55pm Aug 28th, 2014
So, as I'm writing the new chapter (Yes, I'm back into a writing groove) I thought about the four alicorn Princesses and what combination of instruments would best represent them. I guess you could say, imagine a royal fanfare or theme song made for each alicorn, who would prefer what?
Personally, I think of the following but I'd love to debate/discuss it along with musical styles that they might prefer.
Celestia: Brass horns with heavy drums. A traditional military and bombastic fanfare.
Luna: Strings and flutes. Haunting, bittersweet with a flare of hopeful chords.
Cadance: High pitch percussion ie. xylophones, chimes, bells, along with piano. Uses sweeping melodies with rolling chords.
Twilight: Guitars, woodwinds, choir (Because voices are instruments too and she is the princess of friendship). Uplifting, upbeat tempo, but technically impressive.
Agree, disagree? Further expansion of the ideas?
I fainted when I read this...
I always pictured a salute to celestia as being timpani-heavy. When used effectively, they definitely show their military drum origins. They're a little higher pitched, but I think they'd still work for Celestia.
Luna is most definitely strings, but make sure her higher pitched strings and flute melodies are supported by a deep, solemn double-bass or cello bassline. I think that it adds a little...gravity? I guess that's the best way to explain it.
Not enough vuvuzelas and kazoos.
Not enough wubs and metal
I did mean to continue earlier, but I had to turn my phone off and move, so I'll continue in annoyingly long TLDR here;
I think Cadance and Twilight's are fitting, and here's why:
When I think of the instrument choices for Cadance, I also think Crystal Empire. Their standard bears the image of a snowflake, and they exist solely in the arctic north, so we'll assume a slightly winter theme for this one.
When I think winter, I think Christmas.
Not so much 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer', but more 'Carol of the Bells', 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen', etc... these songs in their original form were very grandiose, and many renditions showcase sweeping percussion and very impressive bells. So much so that even in modern rock renditions, the bells outshine even the electric guitar.
I also picture something along the lines of 'Blizzard' and 'Winterspell' by Two Steps From Hell.
As for Twilight, her music in show canon carries the choral theme that is appropriate for her position as the Princess of Friendship. Think of her coronation song, 'Behold, Behold!' and whatnot. A lot of her musical numbers come out as the "light at the end of the tunnel", i.e. uplifting and powerful without being stuffy, especially after the main evil has been overcome. I am thinking of the season 4 finale, as one BIG example.
TLDR: spot on!
I like to imagine that celestia has a terrible secret. She enjoys playing the tuba.
I'd give sweet Lu-Lu a string ensemble, piano breaks, and a Gothic choir, for some good old fashion music with a bittesweet twist, but trailing toward a more optimistic one at the end. Orchestra starts with a somewhat 'epic and mysterious' sound, beginning with low strings sustaining a note for a good couple measures, bases keeping that going till the cellos break off with violins, violas, and harp for a short couple chords fading into the low notes agian, bringing it back again a couple times until all instruments begin off in their own mysterious ways int hte music. This fades eventually into the Gothic choir, who gets the most bitter area after pairing with the orchestra mid-beginning, and a huge climaxing chord into near silence, with a simple piano melody, one portraying sadness and loneliness. Many rests in that part. Then bringing back the orchestra and choir quietly and scarcely into bridge into the more 'hopeful' sounding conclusion. Don't mind me though... Just a pianist/saxophonist giving their honest opinion. :) Feel free to respond or comment on this... Just looking for opinions so I can see how well it'd work if I decided to try it in a program, then into music. Opinions please?
I concur
Crystal Empire needs a flugelhorn. ;)
All joking aside, I can agree with all of this.
I could see Luna with a pipe organ