Context
Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence by Ryuichi Sakamoto
This is the music composed for the film ‘Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence’ (1983) which is about the experiences of a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II.
Listen For…
- The left hand plays static chords whilst the right hand plays the lyrical melody.
- Open 4ths and 5ths in the melody, making the tonality ambiguous.
- At 00:25 the melody is played an octave higher.
- At 00:34 there are spread or ‘arpeggiated’ right hand chords
- The music modulates (changes key) at 00:48 and a new theme enters.
- At 01:39 the left hand starts to play repeated chords, building up the momentum of the music.
- The staccato repeated chords at 01:59 give a sense of urgency to the music, before the main theme returns, now faster and with the repeated chords underneath.
Things To Consider
- Listen again at 03:16 – what happens?
- What do you think of the ending?