b'RUNNING TOA DIFFERENT BEAT CHARIOTS OF FIREMusic teacher Mr Stefan Czepiel remembers a dramatic film and a memorable, Oscar-winning soundtrackIt is quite a common experience to beanachronistic to the 1920s, the period transported to a moment in the past, oftenin which the film was set. Clearly, the through the stimulus of a picture, a soundgamble paid off.or even a taste or a smell. This happened toWhy is the music so successful? It has me recently when I saw a poster in schoola number of ingredients that prime for a screening of Chariots of Fire. Thethe viewer for what is to come. Firstly, film was a sensational hit back in 1981athere is the opening repeated note, fascinating true story, beautifully filmed, withknown in music as a tonic pedal point. an iconic soundtrack. It instantly took meIt introduces the main key of the back to my schooldays. As a teenager, themusic, therefore setting the scene, only sport at which I excelled was crossbut not without an element of country, so the running theme chimed withtension or anticipation. It istonicthe home note of the piece. It is me personally. But by this point in time I wasreminiscent of the persistentalmost as though this is an allusion to the also quite a decent pianist. One of the skillsticking of a stopwatch, orvicissitudes of life itself and the subsequent that endeared me to my classmates wasperhaps even the elevatedelation of achieving a life ambition or being able to reproduce television and filmheartbeat of an athlete. goal. The whole construction of the themes on the piano at the drop of a hat.theme exemplifies the way in which gifted The Chariots of Fire film theme was a regularThis tension is partially resolved by thecomposers can carefully craft their work in request. Everyone knew it. It was instantlyappearance of the main theme. It revolvesorder to elicit an emotional response from recognisable. around the interval of a fifthknown inthe listener.The music was composed by the Greekmusic as a perfect fifththe most importantAt one point in the film, Eric Liddell says:musician Vangelis, who had started outinterval in the whole of music history. It is the as a pop musician in the 1960s andmost consonant (pleasant-sounding) intervalYou came to see a race today.ventured into writing film scores later inthat exists between two different notes. YouTo see someone win. It happened his career. Paradoxically, the music iscould say that it is the musical embodiment very contemporary in feel, using mostlyof our common humanity, despite superficialto be me. But I want you to do synthesised music, with some orchestraldifferences. Indeed, this is one of themore than just watch a race.instruments thrown into the mix. This wassignificant threads in the film. I want you to take part in it. a conscious and risky choice on the partFinally, the extension and conclusion ofIn its own artistic way, Vangelis music of the director, Hugh Hudson, who wantedthe theme uses all the other notes in theencourages us to do just that.a film score that would be deliberatelyoctave scale and finally comes to rest on the 15'