The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Alan Menken
Arranged by Emily Goldberg MC '17
Handbells from the Yale University Guild of Carillonneurs
Conducted by Harry Kane, BR'18
Performed at 'DPops: Faux Pops' in Battell Chapel on December 6, 2015
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Program Notes:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, while fondly remembered by some, is often overlooked among the many Disney favorites. Its soundtrack, however, is truly beautiful, incorporating many elements of church music to reflect its setting in and around the Notre Dame Cathedral. The story itself, based on the Hugo novel, contains many dark themes, subjects, and places, but eventually moves towards a positive conclusion (unlike the original book); I wanted to show that contrast and ultimate optimism in the medley, re ecting the movie as it moves from the darkness of Frollo’s power to the joy of Quasimodo’s freedom.
The piece begins as the movie does, with “The Bells of Notre Dame”, a piece that swings wildly between the tragedy of Quasimodo’s backstory and the majesty of Notre Dame itself, featuring the tolling of bells and the drama of Latin church music in both cases. The medley (and story) then drops to a more somber mood with “In Here”, as Frollo rebukes Quasimodo for dreaming of life outside his tower, the scolding bassoon line echoed by the oboe as Quasimodo agrees with and accepts Frollo’s admonitions. Here, though, the medley begins to skip over the movie; it leaps first to Quasimodo’s lovestruck happiness in “Heaven’s Light” with its sweetly simple clarinet melody and joyous bells, but then returns to a darker atmosphere with the twisted drama of Frollo’s growing obsession in “Hell Fire”, featuring church chanting in the cellos and Frollo’s prayers in a horn chorale.
Finally, the medley begins to move towards a more hopeful conclusion with the pensive beauty of “God Help the Outcasts” and its more joyful variant, “The Bell Tower”. Here Esmeralda’s themes come to the fore, the upper woodwinds taking the lead before bringing in the full orchestra for the majestic conclusion of “The Bell Tower”. Finally, this optimism ushers in the initially troubled but ultimately joyous “Out There”. The song is actually from much earlier in the movie, normally coming directly after “In Here”, but its reckless positivity serves as a fitting end for the medley. Here the entire orchestra comes together for one last fantastic rush to capture Quasimodo’s guileless optimism, finishing with a brassy fanfare as the camera backs out over all of the majesty of Notre Dame.
This medley has been a massive undertaking with which I’ve had tremendous amounts of help-countless thanks to Haohang Xu for help with the arrangement itself, and to Pong Trairatvorakul and Gwen Antell for managing the addition of handbells.