Beethoven and Byzantium: How does Film Music Help to Tell a Story?

Abstract

What is the relationship that exists between film characters and film music and does this relationship affect the audience’s understanding of film narrative? In order to answer these questions, this article explores how the terms ‘diegetic’ and ‘non-diegetic’ have been defined, and summarises the alternative interpretations which have been proposed by musicologists to date. In addition, it considers a psychological survey conducted in 2013 by Matthew Spackman, Elizabeth Wakefield and Siu-Lan Tan, which tests how narrative is shaped by film music. Finally, this article focuses on the use of the Adagio (movement II), from Beethoven's piano sonata Op. 2 No. 3, in the film Byzantium to discuss how both its diegetic and its non-diegetic presentation of this sonata helps director Neil Jordan to articulate the complexity of the narrative that is unveiled as the film progresses.