Theme Of Friar Laurence By Tchaikovsky

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The music opens with a Friar Laurence theme, a figure representing peace and the voice of reason. He stands outside the main conflict yet enables the course of love between the two lovers. The piece starts with a hymn-like music accompanied by an organ-like sound produced by a low woodwind instrument to render a calm yet ominous mood and setting to not only represent Laurence’s position in the story but also tease the audience with intimations of the upcoming conflict. Tchaikovsky specifically uses a minor key here to produce an additive effect to this mood in order to convey uneasiness to the calm and sombre mood. Additionally, Brown suggests that Tchaikovsky’s use of string music with forced dissonance later depicts “smothered restlessness”.