When his proposals were rejected it crept into his novels instead – before his frustrations boiled over in his posthumous swan song, Agapē Agape (2002). The works of William Gaddis similarly revisit the player piano – in his case, owing to a personal obsession, he gathered thousands of notes on the subject, intending to publish a history of the instrument. References to both instruments create a sense of legacy, touching on a parallel theme of two intertwined love affairs a generation apart. Most notable is The Gold Bug Variations (1992), since the piano itself is a descendent of the harpsichord for which Bach’s Goldberg Variations were written. Westworld co-producer Jonathan Nolan has credited Vonnegut with inspiring the show’s player piano, referring to it as a touchstone image of the show’s first season.Īnother writer, Richard Powers, refers to the player piano as a predecessor to the computer in several novels. In one key scene, a character named Ed Finnerty is depicted playing the player piano – effectively overriding its function and seizing back control from the mechanised world.
Of particular relevance to the show is Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano (1952), which described a post-war dystopian world where machines had replaced workers in factories. Play it againīesides Westworld, the player piano has occupied a relatively prominent role in American fiction. These were transcribed onto old binary spools especially for the show, both reinforcing the sense of mechanisation and representing the authenticity portrayed by the theme park’s set and characters to the paying clientele. While fans have speculated heavily on the links between Debussy, the plot and the Robert Ford character, the soundtrack also contains more recent tracks such as The Rolling Stones’ Paint it Black and Radiohead’s No Surprises. 14 in C Minor and Scott Joplin’s Weeping Willow Rag. Composed and arranged by Game of Thrones’ Ramin Djawadi, it includes various famous piano works that would have featured on player pianos around the turn of the century, such as Debussy’s Clair de Lune, Chopin’s Nocturne No. This symbol for humanity’s relationship to machinery is then expanded through Westworld’s soundtrack. Then there is the fact that player pianos always sounded mechanical, since they lacked the human interpretation and variation we expect in a live performance. This sense of vicarious performance fits neatly with the idea of rich thrillseekers shooting their way around a fake Wild West. Powered by the performer’s feet – and latterly by electricity – one could play famous, complex works without any musical competence. Westworld’s credits show the spool punched with holes that these pianos read, each of which indicated a note and its duration. The player piano was essentially an early computer operating on a binary system. But then the hands move away and the piano plays itself, revealing this invention of the late 19th century that made music accessible at home in the days before the phonograph. Westworld’s opening credits initially show what looks like an ordinary piano being played by robot hands. I want to pay tribute to a hugely important character that has received far less attention – the player piano. Much has been written about what will happen to Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) and the other robotic hosts now that they appear to be overcoming the control of the programmers. The theme park imitates the American Old West of the second half of the 19th century – the age of steam and mechanisation that contained the seeds of modern robotics.
PAINT IT BLACK WESTWORLD MOVIE
Based on the 1973 movie by Michael Crichton, human customers pay to live out their most murderous and depraved fantasies, blurring the boundaries between performer and audience. Set in 2052, Westworld is a futuristic theme park populated by robotic hosts. The first season was a huge success – the closing episode was HBO’s highest-rated debut of all time. Westworld returns for its hotly anticipated second season on April 22/23, simulcast in both the US and UK.
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