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Hello,
I am currently serving in Afghanistan. There is one classical piece that I love and I used to know the name, but I have forgotten it. I lost a CD with this song on it and I am kicking myself for it. I think it's a Nocturne. There is about 15 seconds of it in the first "Aliens movie" starting at about 46:35. It is when Ripley is asking where Dallas is. It is a fairly famous piece and I know someone with your credentials will know it off the bat. ANY help you can give will be GREATLY appreciated as it is driving me crazy!! :)
Patrick E. Hairston
HHC, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade
CPT, 53A, Commanding
I wish I could give you an exact answer, but alien movies are creepy to me and I have never watched one!
By your description, my guess is a nocturne by Chopin. Irish composer John Field wrote some, too, but his music is not as well known as Chopin's. Other composers, of course, have written nocturnes, but these are even less well-known than Field's! Chopin's compositions in this genre are the most well-known (and should be part of anyone's musical collection!).
I suggest you go to Amazon and search on Chopin nocturnes (they were piano - if the nocturne in the movie is played by a piano, your answer surely must be Chopin or Field). Listen to the snippets given for each track. There will be tons of disks, so keep looking. I hope you will find the one you seek.
Did you try YouTube? There are a lot of weird things there…… Also, you might google on the movie by title and put in "music" and "score" to see what turns up. You might hit the site of the studio that made the movie; or the biography of the musical director. Also try "Alien" and "piano" and "movie".
I'm sorry I cannot help you more than this.
Know that all Americans appreciate your service in Afghanistan and pray for your safe and speedy return, as well as the return of all servicemembers there.
mb
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Answers by Expert:
Marbeth
Expertise
I have a PhD in musicology, with expertise in medieval - Renaissance - Baroque - Classical periods, but I'll try to help you with any period.
>>*****IMPORTANT NOTE*****<<: I do not answer questions marked "private." I don't want to type the same thing to someone else later if I typed it to you already! If you mark your request "private," I will send it back to you requesting you to remove the "private" flag. Thanks for your understanding. Remember, I'm a volunteer.
My answers are not toss-offs. If I don't know the answer, I will do my best to find it.
I have many requests to identify a piece of music. If I can't identify it, I will tell you (1) what composer I think it is; (2) what composer or composers I think it is not; (3) what style period, genre, etc. I think it is or is not. And give you any other help I can to help you find the answer.
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Students, I do NOT do homework questions. The purpose of answering questions on assignments is not only to learn the information, but to LEARN HOW TO FIND IT. Re-read chapter. Look in the index. Look in the references given at the end of the chapter or elsewhere in the book. You also probably can find the answer using Google. Don't be lazy. I wouldn't be doing you any favors by doing your homework for you! I already know the answer. You don't. You need to find it. MORE IMPORTANTLY, you need to learn HOW to find it. That's the whole purpose of education, after all!
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