Frolic (instrumental)
"Frolic" is a song composed by Luciano Michelini
Background
Luciano Michelini is an Italian composer, born in 1945.[1]
Curb Your Enthusiam regularly uses Italian pieces for incidental music.[2]
History
Composition
Michelini originally composed "Frolic" for the 1974 film, La bellissima estate.[1] When used in the film, the song was called "Il barone rosso".[2] It was created by Michelini to represent the barone rosso (red baron), a comedic character in the film.[3]
Use in advertisements
"Frolic" has been used as background music for multiple advertisements. In 2008, "Frolic" was used in a political campaign by the Republican congressman Lee Terry. In the advert, which is entitled "Jim Esch Doesn't Care About Us", mocked the Democrat candidate challenging Terry.[4] The whimsical nature of "Frolic", coupled with other images of idleness was used to imply that Esch would not be proactive candidate.[5] "Frolic" was also featured in a 1990s advertisement created by a Californian bank.[1]
Use in Curb Your Enthusiasm
"Frolic" is used as the theme song to Curb Your Enthusiasm, an American television series created by Larry David. David came across the song being used in the advert for the Californian bank.[1] He decided to use the song for Curb Your Enthusiasm to serve as relief from the show's often exaggerated themes.[6] Michelini was originally contacted for his permission to use the song in 2000, although David had seen the bank advertisement nearly four years prior.[3]
Structure and music
"Frolic" is commonly seen as being connected to circus music. This connection comes from the rhythms and instruments used in the song by Michelini.[7] Additional inspiration comes from the bossa-nova, which can be heard in the harmony of the song.[7]
The song uses an unusual combination of instruments: a tuba, mandolin and banjo.[1] The tuba, which has heavy connotations of humour and the circus, features heavily in the song's texture.[5] Other instruments are used the piece as effects, including slide whistle and bass drum.[5]
The song's melody is played a mandolin and features a downward-moving chromatic line atop various seventh chords, which also move downwards.[5][8] The harmony used in "Frolic" reflects the whimsical nature of the music; according to Paul Christiansen, a musicologist specialising in music for advertisements:[5]
[...] the melody and harmony just "spin their wheels" – that is, there is no discernible melodic or harmonic progression.
Reception
Steven Rasch, an editor of the ninth series of Curb Your Enthusiasm, commented on the song's usage in the show as light relief. He stated:[9]
Music is our tool to bring the mood back up and cue the audience to laugh [...] It’s this enjoyable circus track that has good energy and counterbalances the sour humor in the show.
Legacy
Use in meme culture
References
- ^ a b c d e Burlingame 2023, p. 401.
- ^ a b Corbella 2020, p. 1.
- ^ a b Rodman 2019, p. 449.
- ^ Christiansen 2021, p. 635.
- ^ a b c d e Christiansen 2021, p. 636.
- ^ Lavery 2008, p. 212.
- ^ a b Hynes, Daragh Black (9 April 2020). "It's the way they play 'em: the funny side of instrumental music". Raidió Teilifís Éireann.
- ^ Roberts, Maddy Shaw (30 September 2021). "Curb Your Enthusiasm soundtrack: who composed the music including iconic theme song 'Frolic'?". Classic FM.
- ^ James 2017, p. 80.
https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/curb-your-enthusiasm-theme-youtube/
https://www.nme.com/news/curb-your-enthusiasm-theme-composer-responds-to-internet-memes-2008772
https://screenrant.com/curb-your-enthusiasm-theme-memes/
https://decrypt.co/105263/what-immortalizing-the-curb-your-enthusiasm-theme-means-for-music-nfts
https://www.gq.com/story/snoop-dogg-crip-your-enthusiasm
https://ew.com/tv/how-the-curb-your-enthusiasm-theme-song/
https://www.vice.com/en/article/z45879/curb-your-enthusiasm-theme-song-meme-interview
https://www.vulture.com/2017/10/curb-your-enthusiasm-the-story-behind-the-theme-song.html
https://variety.com/2020/music/news/curb-your-enthusiasm-theme-music-origin-1203471649/
https://ew.com/tv/best-tv-theme-songs-21st-century/
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/best-tv-theme-songs/
https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/curb-your-enthusiasm-music-theme-story-7990154/
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-04-05/meme-directed-by-robert-weide
https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best-songs/the-50-best-tv-theme-songs
https://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2021/curb-your-enthusiasm/
Sources
- Burlingame, Jon (3 March 2023). Music for Prime Time. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190618308.
- Christiansen, Paul (10 February 2021). "From the Subliminal to the Ridiculing". The Oxford Handbook of Music and Advertising. Oxford University Press. pp. 625–642. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190691240.013.19. ISBN 9780190691240.
- Corbella, Maurizio (2020). "Morricone/Nicolai: The sound dimensions of a mysterious synergy" (Document).
{{cite document}}: Cite document requires|publisher=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|journal=(help); Unknown parameter|others=ignored (help) - James, Daron (26 September 2017). "No Cutting Corners With Return of 'Curb'". Artisans. Variety. ISSN 0042-2738. OCLC 810134503.
- Lavery, David (18 January 2008). "Curb Your Enthusiasm". In Edgerton, Gary R.; Jones, Jeffrey P. (eds.). The Essential HBO Reader. Essential Readers in Contemporary Media and Culture. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813172651.
- Rodman, Ron (Winter 2019). "Television Genre / Musical Genre / Expressive Genre". American Music. 37 (4): 435–457. doi:10.5406/americanmusic.37.4.0435. JSTOR stable/10.5406/americanmusic.37.4.0435. S2CID 208619691.