The Musical Wonders of

Alan Menken
Lauren Skipps
Music 1010

Introduction
Who is Alan Menken?
He is a famous composer who has
won many awards for his work
He is mostly known for his work with
Disney

Biography

Alan was born on July 22, 1949 in New Rochelle,

New York
He earned a music degree from New York
University
He partnered with Howard Ashman after their
success together with the music of Little Shop of
Horrors leading to them being picked up by
Disney
He continues to compose for big companies not
just Disney.
He currently lives in New York with his wife and
two kids.

Composition History
I chose three songs that Alan
composed. My attempt was to show
his versatility
The Tear Heals From Tangled
So Close From Enchanted
Main Titles The Little Mermaid

The Tear Heals

Composition History
From the 2010 Film, Tangled
is 7 minutes and 37 seconds long
Story behind the music is Flynn and
Rapunzels Rescue and the defeat of the
Mother Gothel
Alan had to Popify the music

The Tear Heals

Composition History
Album released November 2010
Was number 44 on the Billboard 200
chart
Uses a full symphony with a large
range of instruments
First Disney CGI Movie

So Close
Composition History
From

The Movie, Enchanted

Differs from His Orchestra Favors
in attempt to portray music of Our
World
John Mclaughlin sings the lyrics
written by Steven Schwartz

So Close
Composition History
The Album was released November
20, 2007 by Walt Disney Records.
The song was nominated for an
Academy Award in 2008 for Best
Original Song.
The song is a 3 minute and 46 second
piano ballad

Main Titles
Composition History
From

the film, The Little

Mermaid
First Disney Film Alan scored
1 minute and 46 seconds long
Album Released Nov 1989

Main Titles
Composition History
3 Academy Awards and
Golden Globe Nominations
won two from both.
Originally only hired for the
songs of the show.
Song Shows his Use of
Themes

Listening Guide
The Tear Heals

0:00 Introduction: Allegro Tempo. Quadruple Meter, Compound

Division. The rhythm is played by a marching drum and accented by
the strings to give the image and timbre of a horse galloping

0:16 Theme A
The brass is blared as the score turns into a
triumphant timbre the trumpets and the horns echo in a conjunct
melody. Strings play Romantic Theme

0:32 Theme B
The Melody is cut off as the drums change the
form. The tempo becomes grave and the timbre becomes sullen.
The melody takes a dark texture played by the woodwinds

1:07 Theme B Variation A

As the Horns break, the form reverts
back to the sullen melody played by the violins painting a hopeless
emotion. Grave tempo

Listening Guide
The Tear Heals
1:36 Theme B Variation B The variation is continued but the tempo
begins to increase as well as the dynamic. Starting with the low bass it
is deep and strong and takes over the melody as it begins to widen its
range and move up the scale.
2:06 Theme C The violin leads perfectly into a soft theme that has a
hopeful timbre as more strings join in to strengthen the form. The tempo
is andante.
2:41 Climax A The Brass section as well as the rest of the strings join
the high pitch violin and crescendo in a dramatic build up. Vivace
Tempo
2:54 Theme A Variation A The dissonance breaks and we are
overpowered by the dynamic strength of the trumpets and the horns.
They play the first triumphant theme.
3:31 Theme C Variation A The timbre is sentimental. There is sadness
felt when a flute carries a major tune.

Listening Guide
The Tear Heals

3:52 Theme C Variation A

The harp comes in playing the
medieval romantic melody. Its slow and soft plucking one note at a time.
The melody is sweet.

4:27 Bridge Piano stops playing the melody and is replaced by

Rapunzel singing her healing incantation. She sings softly keeping the
dynamic.

5:01 Theme A Variation B

The score gradually crescendos and
this time the cellos lead the melody. The violins begin to harmonize
widening the range and filling the space with hope and sound creating a
light timbre. Disney Twinkle

6:20 Theme C Variation B

This theme is always softer and
slower so after being built up and proving love can overcome anything.

7:15 Coda
won.

The score creates a pleasant timbre as the heroes have

Listening Guide
So Close

0:00 Intro
The Disney Twinkle starts us off giving us a starry emotion of
love. The piano begins the melody in an andante tempo and a moderate
dynamic.

0:14 Verse 1 The piano continues a different melody and is accompanied

by asimple percussion tap on the cymbals to give the rhythm a triple meter,
simple division time signature.

0:45 Verse 2 The tempo has sped up and gradually the music is becoming
stronger increasing our emotion. Same Form

1:22 Chorus The dynamics become stronger as the vocals get louder and
more passionate. The melody form is the same as the verses just more
instruments become present.

1:52 Bridge Climax

As John holds out his last note the piano begins to
dominate the melody and our attention. The dynamics build until the harp
plays a major chord turning the score to magic.

Listening Guide
So Close

2:25 Bridge
The music decrescendos and we
lose the trumpets, violins and strong percussion.

2:42 Chorus
The harp strums a chord starting
the chorus. The vocals are much stronger turning
the music into a proclamation. The Tempo
increases

3:11 Coda The harp strums again, the music stays

soft but confirms our fears of the characters fate.
The song still has a sweet melody but it is just that,
nothing more. The lyrics leave us with So close but
still so far.

3:46 Ends The musical number ends

Listening Guide
Main Titles

0:00 Introduction Theme A

The music starts with
chimes. We then hear a triad play over and over. The
melody begins and is played by a flute.

0:22 Theme The melody changes, though the form is

still the same. The range becomes wider and deeper.
Cellos play the melody and violins play a pleasant
harmony.

0:48 Theme A Variation A

stronger Symbols crash

1:05 Climax Violins play the form and cymbals crash

on every 4 beat (Simple Quadruple Meter.)

The dynamics become

Listening Guide
Main Titles

1:05 Climax Violins play the form and

cymbals crash on every 4 beat (Simple
Quadruple Meter.)

1:23 Coda The score has all

instruments playing loud and strong to
top off the climax

1:46 Ends

The Score Ends

Conclusion

I never would have known how much

Alan Menken contributed to Disney
movies that I love and sing to every day.
My appreciation for the musical scores
increased as well.
All the scores that go into the movie
make all the moments that much better.
Walking into Disneyland none of the
music has words. Thats because we
dont connect with the lyrics as much as
the music itself

Bibliography
Listen to the Music, Aaron Copeland
2014
The Music behind the Magic Steve Daly
www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,304630,00
c1994
"Disney: Notes on the end of the Disney
Renaissance decentfilms.com c2008
http://app.rhapsody.com/artist/variousartists/album/enchanted/track/so-close
insidemovies.ew.com/2010/11/24/alanmenken-tangled/ c2010
www.AlanMenken.com c2010
www.allmusic.com/artist/alan-menken

Picture References
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/d
efault/files/2011/10/menken_a.jpg
http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2014
0930003923/disney/images/9/94/Disney
_-_Logo.png
http://rise-of-the-brave-tangleddragons.wikia.com/wiki/File:TangledMovie-Poster.jpg
http://collider.com/enchanted-2-news/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097757/
Microsoft ClipArt