Music in the works of Pier Paolo Pasolini and Carmelo Bene

Abstract

This paper attempts to relate some common elements in the choice of music in Pier Paolo Pasolini's films and Carmelo Bene's plays and movies. In their works, music is detached from its practical use as a soundtrack, and both authors freely use pieces ranging from more sophisticated works of operatic and symphonic repertoires to more popular genres. Although Pasolini and Bene had a rather divergent poetic, they shared a very deep interest in music and collaborated with some of the most prominent composers of their time.