Buffy, Ballads, and Bad Guys Who Sing: Music in the Worlds of Joss WhedonKendra Preston Leonard When writer and director Joss Whedon created the character Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he could hardly have expected the resulting academic interest in his work. Yet almost six years after the end of Buffy on television, Buffy studies—and academic work on Whedon's expanding oeuvre—continue to grow. Now with three hugely popular television shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly, and the film Serenity all available on DVD, scholars are evaluating countless aspects of the Whedon universe (or "Whedonverse"). Buffy, Ballads, and Bad Guys Who Sing: Music in the Worlds of Joss Whedon studies the significant role that music plays in these works, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the internet musical Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Kendra Preston Leonard has collected a varying selection of essays that explore music and sound in Joss Whedon's works. The essays investigate both diegetic and non-diegetic music, considering music from various sources, including the shows' original scores, music performed by the characters themselves, and music contributed by such artists as Michelle Branch, The Sex Pistols, and Sarah McLachlan, as well as classical composers like Camille Saint-Saëns and Johannes Brahms. The approaches incorporate historical and theoretical musicology, feminist and queer musicology, media studies, cultural history, and interdisciplinary readings. The book also explores the compositions written by Whedon himself: the theme music for Firefly, and two fully integrated musicals, the Buffy episode "Once More, With Feeling" and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. With several musical examples, a table with a full breakdown of the Danse Macabre scene from the acclaimed Buffy episode "Hush," and an index, this volume will be fascinating to students and scholars of science-fiction, television, film, and popular culture. |
Contents
1 | |
7 | |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Narratology of Thematic Score | 29 |
The Sonic Transformations of a Champion | 75 |
Tracking Gender on Buffy the Vampire Slayer | 99 |
Critiquing the Treatment of Race in Buffy and the American Musical Once More with Feeling | 119 |
Rhetorical Questions in Once More With Feeling | 133 |
The Problem of Performance in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel | 155 |
CHAPTER EIGHT ANGELS NARRATIVE SCORE | 173 |
Conventions Reversals and Musical Meaning in Firefly | 209 |
Joss Whedons Firefly and the Songs of the Clancy Brothers | 243 |
CHAPTER ELEVEN THE MEANING OF WORLD MUSIC IN FIREFLY | 255 |
Gender and Performance in Dr Horribles SingAlong Blog | 275 |
293 | |
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS | 305 |
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Buffy, Ballads, and Bad Guys who Sing: Music in the Worlds of Joss Whedon Kendra Preston Leonard No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
accompanied Anya audience Buffy Buffy and Riley Buffy the Vampire Buffy’s Buffyverse Bufij Bufly Calif Century Fox Television characters Christophe Beck Cinema Clancy Brothers Cordelia Courtesy of Twentieth crew cultural dance demon diegetic Doyle’s Edmonson episode’s Excerpt Feeling film film and television Film Music Firefly first gender genre Giles Giles’s Greg Edmonson guitar Hammer Heart of Gold Horrible Horrible’s Hush I. B. Tauris Inara influence Joss Whedon leitmotif London masculinity Matthew Mills music arc Narrative Complexity Native Americans non—diegetic ofthe Once Paramount Pictures performance played popular music Reavers reflect relationship Rhonda rights reserved rock role scene Scoobies score Serenity serial shot show’s singing Slayage Slayer Slayer and Angel slide song soul soundtrack Spike Star Trek story Sunnydale superhero Tara Tara’s television series theme Twentieth Century Fox underscore University Press Vampire Vampire Slayer episode Vampire Slayer Season viewers What’s Wilcox Willow world music Xander