Context

Deep Peace from Dickensian by Debbie Wiseman

Debbie Wiseman composed the music for BBC1 series, ‘Dickensian’, where characters from Dickens’ novels are brought together in a London drama.

‘Deep Peace’ from ‘Dickensian’ by Debbie Wiseman

Listen For

This music is very atmospheric and has echoes of the theme from ‘Schindler’s List’ (John Williams) which you can also listen to on the Inspiration page.

  • Begins with a low-pitched double bass pedal note which sounds ominous and mysterious. This note continues until 00″43, when more accompanying strings are added in harmony.
  • Listen to the intervals of the haunting violin solo: starts with a perfect 5th, then a perfect 4th and then a minor 3rd.
  • Notice how the violin solo is played with vibrato (this adds expression to the music).
  • At 00:43 the drum part enters, though only plays every 2 bars, on the first beat of the bar.

Q: What effect do you think the drum has on the atmosphere created in the music?

Things To Consider

  • If you were asked to compose a dark, haunting musical score for the opening credits of a film, how would you use the musical ‘elements’ (pitch, rhythm, instrumentation, melody, harmony, texture etc)?
  • How did the composer use the range of the violin throughout ‘Deep Peace’?