“LAURA” AND THE ESSENTIAL NINTH: WERE THEY ONLY A DREAM?

Resumen

A side from being a compelling and unusual detective story, the famed 1944 film noir Laura, featured one of the best-known soundtracks in American cinematic history. Though it has been the subject of several studies by film and film music scholars, this soundtrack – and the song based upon it – has received very little analytical scrutiny. This article not only puts forth a structural and hermeneutical analytical reading of the song, but also raises some fundamental questions about harmonic and contrapuntal practice both in this and in the more canonical concert literature. Key-words: structural and hermeneutical analysis, analysis of song, relationship to canonic literature