North & South discussion

I really have no idea why I didn't put this thread up before - thank you Anne for requesting it! :) This thread is for people to discuss their favourite pieces of music from the BBC series of North & South.

Music can make or break a movie for me. And so many BBC mini-series have such beautiful music. This one is definitely one of them. The theme is melancholy but so beautiful and it suits it to perfection.

I haven't actually watched all that many BBC series, but I fully agree with calling the N&S theme beautiful. There's a quality about it that is almost ethereal, and as you say, the beautiful melancholy of the music suits the story so well it melds with it seamlessly. The music in a series is always a part of the story, in a certain way, and in North and South it could not have fitted into the story more effortlessly.

Do you have a favourite piece of music in the series?

"Thornton's Walk" is the closest variation to the main theme. (The first few measures are my favorites.) And I love "I've Seen Hell" too. It's a more dramatic variation. Then there's "Northbound Train." Though it isn't a part of the theme, it has a simplistic beauty that fits perfectly with the final scene.

They're probably my favourite pieces too - "Thornton's Walk" and "I've Seen Hell" are equally brilliant and beautiful in their own setting. And "Northbound Train" of course suits the final scene so well. I love how simply it starts off, and though it doesn't necessarily get too much more complicated, I find it so beautiful the way that the music slowly lifts, sounding happier and more beautiful and more intense as John and Margaret get closer to their happier ending.

I must say, the other piece I really love - though I don't know what it's called, unfortunately - is the music in the background that comes on when Thornton is talking to his mother about his forthcoming proposal. It is so beautiful, and it has a great deal of impact on the scene, I thought. There isn't any music at first, and then right after Thornton says; "But mother... I daren't believe such a woman could care for me," those few quiet, sad piano notes start up. Between that music, that line, and the look on poor Thornton's face, my heartstrings are very firmly tugged every time. And the rest of the music through that scene is so sad, yet so beautiful! But it fits the scene to perfection.

I am going to have to re-watch that scene because I don't remember the music!!! Right now, someone is borrowing my copy of the series and so I'll have to look at it when it gets returned.

:O You really must re-watch that scene! I am sure you will not be disappointed by the music - you must tell me what you think when you've heard it! :)

Okay, will do. Maybe I'll get it back this weekend...hopefully... :)

Hopefully! :) It's nice you've let someone borrow your copy, I know I'd be very twitchy if I didn't know where my North & South copy was at all times. :D Mines next to my bed at the moment... yep, just double checked, still there.

Haha! I just let my aunt borrow it. :)

Seems a pretty safe bet you'll get it back then. :) Has your aunt seen it before?

No, that's why I can't wait for her to finish it. I want to see what she thinks. My mom and I and two of my aunt's watch a lot of the BBC mini-series. (mainly the Gaskell ones and the Austen ones.) My mom and I loved North and South, while one of my aunts didn't care for it that much. She said it was depressing. I'm anxious to see what my other aunt thinks.

Oh I see! :) I'd love to hear what she thought of it when she's finished. I recommended it to my piano teacher a couple of months ago, and she really loved it, which is always a nice feeling. I can understand where your aunt is coming from though. When I first watched North & South I found it a little depressing, but it grew on me very, very quickly. There's a certain quality about it, a beauty that makes any of the depressing aspects more than bearable.

It is a melancholy story, but I didn't find it depressing enough to turn me off. It was a little less happy throughout than some of the other ones we all have watched.

Oh, and the final scene makes up for any depressing moments. :)

Melancholy is a much better word. :) I think the worst episode in terms of getting a little depressing would be Episode Three - someone dies about every ten minutes! But I'm the same as you, I never found it anywhere near depressing enough to turn the series off, considering what else it had going for it.

Quite! :) That final scene makes up for some of the other moments a hundred times over. Not to mention that scene with Thornton helping the child to read, and then planning to help feed to workers with Higgins. While we're talking of music, I really love the score they bring on at the end of that scene! So beautiful and happy, and it fits perfectly with Thornton and Higgins working together and bantering with each other. :)

I definitely have to re-watch it, now. I don't remember the music there, either!

I thought the scenes with Thornton and Higgins toward the end were so good. Higgins comes to see that Thornton is a good master and that he works just as hard as the rest of them. They become friends, of sorts. And yes, Thornton helping the child to read was so sweet. You see a gentle side of him that isn't revealed all that often.

*nods emphatically* Yep, you definitely have to re-watch it.

I thought they were too. I think before then both of them had had trouble seeing the other as people, not entirely, but for the most part. They were just a 'worker' and a 'master', filling those stereotypes. I definitely think they could be called friends, at the end, and it was the loveliest thing to see them both take down their prejudices and accept that each could be a 'master' or a 'worker' and still a good person. And that child! I love every time Thornton speaks to him, it is very gentle and so adorable.

Thornton calls Higgins a friend in the book. He does this twice, once before Margaret even leaves for London in talking to Mr Bell about the workers' kitchen and he refers to Higgins as a friend at the very end in explaining his business experiments to Mr Colthurst, an MP.
And I think you've pretty much nailed the main message that Gaskell meant to convey, Becca: we need to see each other, get to know each other as individuals, not stereotypes. For me, that's pretty much the essence of the entire story. If you drop all the labels of class, religion, position, gender, regional identity, etc and get to know another person by their actual character, you may well find out how similar you really are.
And the scene with the child is a nod to Thornton's interest in the Boucher children's education mentioned in the book. (Which Margaret finds out before she leaves town.)
I love the music throughout, it lends so much feeling to this rather serious story. Haunting mostly, but then it lifts so beautifully at the end. Gorgeous.

Thanks for that Trudy. :) I was pretty sure Thornton called Higgins a friend at some point during the book, but I evidently need to do a re-read as I couldn't quite remember. And thank you for saying I nailed the main message! Though you put the issue much more eloquently than I did, well done. :)

You know, I always wondered whether Mr. Thornton saw something of himself in Boucher's child, which was one of the reasons he was so concerned with ensuring he was well educated. I mean, Thornton lost his father to suicide at an early age too, and though he had a strong mother to help him he grew up to be painfully aware of the gaps in his own learning. I always thought that perhaps Thornton was trying to prevent the same happening to the boy. Whatever his reasons - and I'm sure he had more than one - I absolutely love seeing that gentler side of him.

"Haunting" is the perfect word for the music! It does lend a great deal of feeling, which makes it all the more poignant to have that beautiful lift in the final scene. Even during the scene the music builds slowly, becoming more and more emotive and beautiful... *sigh*... *goes to listen to soundtrack*

That's an interesting point you made about Boucher's child. I never thought of it like that.

And Trudy, I agree with Becca. You but your point very eloquently.

Well, I might not be right about Boucher's child, of course, but it's a point that just occurred to me very early on and seemed to fit with what I knew of Thornton. It feels sort of right to me, that one of the reasons he wanted the child educated was because he could see those similarities. :)

That's a different take on it. One that I think I like. Boucher's child was in an unfortunate situation through no fault of his own and wanted to learn. I think Mr. Thornton could have seen some of himself in the child and wanted him to have a better chance at life.

I'm glad you like it! :) Makes me think I'm not entirely insane for suggesting it. I really do like the idea too - but even if it wasn't one of Thornton's motives for helping the child, we can say with certainty that there were some definite similarities between the two situations.