The Blad Mountain/Ave Maria sequence - Fantasia (1941) Discussion

[–] Blackjack254 18 years ago

It's my second favorite movie ending next to the original theatrical RotJ. I usually watch this segmant right after RotJ for the ultimate uplifting movie experiance.

“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music” Sergei Rachmaninov

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[–] clive-ihd 18 years ago

A lot of people call Ave Maria an anti-climax. I think of it as a calm after the storm.

The sunrise (which echoes the end of the Tocata and Fugue segment) looks much better on a big screen.

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[–] melodyphillips01 18 years ago

When I was little I used to hide behind the coffee table during Night on Bald Mountain. I love the music, and I did way back then, too, but Chernabog scared the crap out of me.

I got my revenge in Kingdom Hearts, though, so it was all good.

Rite of Spring was my favorite because I was dinosaur obsessed...but what little kid isn't?

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[–] paine_wwweb_r 17 years ago

Does anyone know if someone ever re-recorded the Night On Bald Mountain/Ave Maria segment? Given the clarity and presence of modern recording technology and techniques and the stylized performance for a 1940s audience, I think a new recording would probably be stunning.

Wish I had an orchestra and chorus laying around somewhere... ;-)

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[–] Blackjack254 17 years ago

I heard one recording of "Night on Bald Mountain" that added chorus to the ending.
(the ending of NoBM in Fantasia, I was surprised to discover, was actually the REAL ending of the peice, although trunciated, in terms of melody, as I hadn't heard the end of it proper until this Halloween.) that's as close as I've ever seen to a re-recording.

EDIT: the recording was infact Irwin Kostal's version.

Don't look into the Death Star, or you will die.

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[–] rockfenris2005 17 years ago

It's one of the most indelible cinematic images in my mind. From the moment the churchbells toll to "Ave Maria" is too beautiful for words. I love it. I don't think it's anti-climactic at all.

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[–] VaderLordVader 17 years ago

forgive my ignorence, it's been so long since i've seen this movie. was Night On Bald Mountain the Dinosaur sequence or was it the one with big scray gargoyle like thing flying around? cause i remember both scared me as a child.

and i'm actually listening to NOBM right now, it's on my 100 Sliver Screen Classics CDs. i'm not sure if it's a remake, it might be a little bit more enhanced than it was 60 years ago or however long ago Fantasia was made.

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[–] rockfenris2005 17 years ago

Night On Bald Mountain is the one with the big scary gargoyle like thing flying around. The Dinosaur sequence is The Rites Of Spring.

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[–] edamahun 17 years ago

I watched this segment last night and Ave Maria nearly had me in tears. It's the first time I've watched in a bout 5 years (Chernabog still terrifies me) and I'd forgotten how beautiful Ave Maria is.

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[–] RichN36 16 years ago

This is one of my Favorite Sequences of all time. I can't listen to Ave Maria without getting a HUGE Lump in my Throat. But the Bald Mountain/Ave Maria Music is some of my Favorite of all time. Need to find a used copy of Fantasia soon.

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[–] gerryu21220 16 years ago

The tolling bells are actually the ending of Night on Bald Mountain. Ave Maria starts at the point where the choir is first heard.

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[–] Blackjack254 16 years ago

actually, Ave Maria starts when the worshippers are crossing the bridge.

Don't look into the Death Star, or you will die.

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[–] gerryu21220 16 years ago

Not sure what is on the screen at the time, but I did forget they overlap. The choir starts just before the end of Bald Mountain. Ave Maria itself starts when there is 5:03 left, or 1:22 into where the track starts on the CD (the tracks are split in the wrong place) give or take two seconds. On the 1982 Kostal digital soundtrack disc, they are split at the right place.

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[–] gerryu21220 16 years ago

The entire orchestral soundtrack was re-recorded in Dolby Digital sound in 1982, conducted by Irwin Kostal. The Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence was indeed stunning in the theater. It was released a few months later on Lp and CD, but the sound quality on that release pales considerably with the way it sounded in the theater. It was remixed down to two channels, compressed somewhat, and a bit of reverb was added that was not on the soundtrack of the theatrical release.

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[–] Hooah12285 15 years ago

I always thought that the two-sequences went together. When the bell first tolls, it is the sign of the times that the savior is being born into the world. At first the devil is confused, and tries to ignore the light and the goodness, but then he finally realizes what is happening, and the tormented souls have to retreat back into the underworld, or hell.

During the sequence when the devil shows silent anguish and he lifts his arms to the sky, I always imagined it happening at the exact time that Mary is screaming in anguish as her son is being born into the world. It shows simultaniously that good is triumphing over evil. It is such a beautiful moment that I am brought to tears everytime I watch it.

After studying both music and religious studies, I have come to believe that this whole film is a sequence of the birth of the world. Toccata and Fugue is the birth of the universe, starting with the big bang and the spreading of the particles, The Rite of Spring shows the birth of the earth, the first life on earth through the extinction of the dinosaurs, Pastoral Symphony shows the ancient world with with all the mythological creatures, followed by the birth of Christ with Night on Bald Mountain and Ave Maria.

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[–] Blackjack254 15 years ago

The Commentary on the DVD says that the ending of "Tocatta" is a paralell to the Ave Maria ending.

Maybe I'm reading too deep into this, but if the Tocatta and fugue segment induced a feeling of genesis, then teh Dark ending of the peice would in turn represent Adam and Eve's Transgression (and the red screen could represent the Apple)

Don't look into the Death Star, or you will die.

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[–] lanaisthehbomb 15 years ago

does this remind anyone of The Book of Revelations?

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[–] tobisteiner62 14 years ago

Um, just for general info--not to burst anyone's theological bubble--Mussorgsky's NoBM was set either on Walpurgisnacht, which occurs on the night before May 1, or on St. John's Night (aka Midsummer Eve, around June 23-24).

I used to think NoBM was set on All Hallow's Eve (better known as Hallowe'en), but apparently it is not.

Nor is it set on Christmas Eve...unless you believe that Jesus was born on May 1 or around June 24. If that happens to be your belief, please pardon my ignorance...no offense meant.

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