Fun with tritones
Before a performance of Camille Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 4, our conductor enlightened the audience about the first interval you hear in the piece: a tritone, or diminished fifth. This dissonant interval was also used in Bernstein’s “Maria” from West Side Story, and in the opening of the Simpsons’ theme song by Danny Elfman. While I was shampooing my hair after the concert I also tracked it down to the “Jane, his wife” portion of the Jetson’s theme composed by Hoyt Curtin. Tritones have an interesting history. The tritone was banned in medieval times as the “Diablous in musica” (the devil in music). Since then, this “Devil’s interval” has often been used to signify evil; another classical example is found in Holst’s “Mars, Bringer of War” from “The Planets.” The tritone paradox gets you into scientific musical geekiness. Try hearing it for yourself (if you’ve got Flash).