Manny & Meche | Chambers & Consoles: A Virtual Concert Series
28Manny & Meche
Grim Fandango (1998)
Composer: Peter McConnell
Arranger: Zeynep Dilli and Laura Stayman
Original artwork: RadonKalmor https://www.artstation.com/radonkalmor
Audio editor: Zeynep Dilli
Video editor: Jeff Fairbanks
Concert producer: Jasmine Marcelo
Arrangers' notes: Grim Fandango is the last graphic adventure game written and directed by Tim Schafer for LucasArts, renowned in the 1990s for their excellent offerings in this genre. The main character, Manuel “Manny” Calavera tries to protect and save the newly-dead Mercedes “Meche” Colomar in her journey through the Land of the Dead. While the art style and story are directly traceable to Central American beliefs and art, there’s also a great deal of film noir influence, as well as touches of the Art Deco movement from the 1930s. Peter McConnell’s excellent soundtrack beautifully complements this mix, incorporating big band/swing music, elements of South American folk music, blues, jazz and bebop. “Manny & Meche” is a tango, and both the melody and the mood the orchestration conveys are deeply film noir---without any context from the game, the listener can visualize an old, dimly-lit, quiet bar, late into the night, experienced live musicians on the corner stage, with old instruments and a profoundly deep musicality. That mental image is what this arrangement started out with, attempting to amplify the world-weary, but intense elegance tango can bring to bear. The violin carries the melody for the first time through, to a mostly quiet accompaniment from the piano and upright bass, which in its register is felt as much as it is heard. When the piano takes over the melody, the violin moves to a counterpoint line built to heighten the intensity of emotion while staying true to the style and giving space for the piano melody to breathe.
“Manny & Meche” is performed by Zeynep Dilli on the piano, Dan Serino on the upright bass, and Laura Stayman on the violin.
Additional footage:
“A Couple Dancing,” The zoopraxiscope No. 35, Muybridge, Eadweard, c. 1893, Library of Congress. Source Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phenakistoscope_3g07690b.gif#file
“How to Dance the Hesitation Waltz,” from "Moderna Danser" ("The Modern Dances"), from the Svensk Filmarkiv, 1915. Source Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIynquvm0sA
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