Vertigo's Musical Gaze

Neo-Riemannian Symmetries and Spirals

Bibliographic Data

ID4745918
AuthorsKenneth M Smith (0000-0001-7414-9180, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume37
Issue1
Pages68-102
Publication date2018-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMusic Analysis (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0262-5245 • E-ISSN: 1468-2249
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/musa.12109
OpenAlexW2728859670
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited22

Laura Mulvey coined the term 'male gaze' (1975), using Lacanian theory as a 'political weapon' against the standard mode of viewing in which the viewing subject turns onscreen women into fantasy objects. While politically laudable, her article misconstrues Lacan's concept of 'the gaze', the power of which emanates from the object itself. We might better serve Lacanian theory by inverting Mulvey's reading of Alfred Hitchcock'sVertigoto suggest that Scottie (James Stewart) is himself objectified by the mystique of the 'object' he watches and follows: Madeleine (Kim Novak). The screen's gaze reduces spectators to objects too. From this perspective, rather than watching the film, the film can be said to be watching us.This extends to Bernard Herrmann's soundtrack, famously influenced by the yearning of Wagner'sTristan und Isolde. Developing David Schwarz's (2006) musical gaze (in which repeated pedal points of Schubert songs gaze at us), I analyseVertigo's frequent emphasis on the pitch class D. A pedal D is often repeated in alluring yet sinister bare octaves as Scottie follows Madeleine. But at key moments in the film, the pitch becomes a sophisticated tool that captivates us in unique ways. Around this central pitch third-relationships circle. These resonate with neo-Riemannian theory, particularly in their hexatonic 'poles', which Cohn shows to be agents of the Freudian 'uncanny' (2004) and which here also serve as an alternative gaze to the reiterated D. Other pitch constellations, in symmetries or spirals, form similar obsessional musical 'gazes' that, using Lacanian theory, prompt the question about whether we are listening to the music or the music is listening to us

Aesthetics · Art · Fantasy · Gaze · Linguistics · Literature · Musical · Psychoanalysis · Aesthetic Perception and Analysis · Computer Science · Music Technology and Sound Studies · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Philosophy · Psychology

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