Listening

Name:_____________________________________________________ Date: ______________

SONG:_________________________________________________________________________

Element Description/Observation
Duration
The tempo is fairly slow, a little slower than a walking pace.
As Fantine starts singing (1’30”) the strings give a gentle
accompaniment with a simple but pulsing rhythm, almost like a
heartbeat (Fantine’s life of love).

Pitch – Melody The introduction is sung in a recitative style with Fantine reflecting on
her situation and the emptiness and desperation that she feels. It is a
type of speech-singing. The ‘sigh’ moment is when she moves above
the repeated note.
(2mins) the melody moves into a very low register when Fantine
acknowledges the struggle that she has been through/is going through.

Pitch – Harmony (2mins) chord progression moves the music out of the standard F
major and through a variety of major and minor contexts: D, Gm, D, G,
C, Fm…

Pitch – Tonality Once the song commences (after the intro), the music is established in
a major key. The use of the major key is used to reflect Fantine as she
sings about her former life of love and romance.
“But the tigers come at night” – the tonality shifts with alternating
major and minor chords. Fantine wants to hold onto her happy life but
the darkness creeps in and we feel the struggle (2mins).
Key change in the third verse pushing the song to a higher emotional
intensity.

Expressive Devices SHAME – this word is given extreme importance in the music. Fantine
has sold her hair, teeth and now body in order to be the best mother
she can be and keep her daughter ‘alive’. The word SHAME is the
loudest moment so far in the music and has an ascending pitch line to
emphasise her ultimate shame.
Texture
Declamatory introduction has a very thin texture with few instruments
and little progression.
Once the song commences, the number of instruments that
accompany Fantine increases but the texture still remains thin.

Timbre Use of the oboe in the opening melody sets the scene for the
desperate situation that Fantine finds herself in.

Form and Structure

At the start of the song, the strings gently accompany Fantine as she
reflects on her former life of love and romance.
Use of the harp as an instrument of romance. The harp is most
noticeable when she is singing about love and her former life.
The oboe has fragments of melody that play underneath Fantine as she
sings, representing that part of her that is broken and dying.