This is probably the melody I adore the most in the world, at present.
(Click to enlarge)
1) E. Major. Most know (well at least believe) that flat keys, because of their comparatively lowered tonality from C major, tend to sound more sentimental and subdued, while sharp keys tend to get increasingly happier the more sharps you add. This is really true with E major, which, if you think about playing it without any sharps (i.e. C major key signature, but taking E to be the tonic), is a very depressed key. This takes quite some imagination, so don't expect to understand. All you have to know is: therefore, when you play it in E major, the result is a shockingly happy tonality upon a tonic that we expect to carry a painful key.
All this E major whatnot ultimately doesn't end up shouting "happy", unlike B major or F# major would, instead bringing a more sublime "uplifting" feel. Which is wonderful, because that's what the scene was all about--both of flight, and of finding something new and wonderful. It's about soaring and never looking back.
2) Instrumentation. If you listen through the entire soundtrack, this melody is almost always orchestrated to the brass section. Everyone knows the brass section's effect of turning everything grand. Once again, grandness is perfect for the subject matter, which is flight, which is the most magnificent thing in the world, methinks. The outright glorious flare of each note is like a wing beat (that's how I feel).
3) The chords. Just, purely, the chords. I don't think I can even begin to scrape the surface on this. Get ready for some really heavy stuff.
The line preceding this melody (click to enlarge):
Then in comes the melody, with a C# minor chord (chord vi). I wish I could just describe how it makes me feel, but I can't. I'll try. It's the sound of epiphany. It speaks of a realisation that has suddenly been reached, a wondrous thing that has not been discovered till now. It's like...major, major, major--then suddenly, minor. So moving, so painful, and it falls so deep into the heart.
The music then falls further, into the expectant, almost-awaiting chord of A major (IV): something suddenly falls into place, then; something strong and beautiful and perfect, but somehow still unresolved. It speaks of pure possibility.
The next pair of B major-E major is like an ascertainment that great things are to come--before the sudden moving fall to B major-on-D#--a flurry of movement, a dash towards the future.
It leads straight into another C#m-A-B-E sequence that, this time, feels like a vast, hopeful resolution never to regret, never to fall again. It's about shaking off the pain, and embracing the new world, with C#m representing the past, A, the shedding of sadness, and B->E, the embrace of the future.
This next line is wrought with pain-- C#m-G#m-B-F#. This part is so, so moving, in just so many ways. Firstly, it begins with the vi-iii line that has always, always represented falling deeper and deeper into sorrow, because such a progression traditionally never ends with a perfect or plagal cadence. But then again our expectations are played with--the music takes a sudden turn, rising to a V instead of an expected IV (which would inevitably lead into an imperfect cadence) and shifting instead into the dominant major, B major, and closing with the much-more-satisfying imperfect cadence there...
Okay, more basically put: you'd expect the line to end sadly, but it takes a shocking, wonderful twist and changes key, ending higher and more gloriously than ever, in the IV chord of B major/ II chord relative to E major. And have I ever told you about my love affair with the II chord? There's just something about its one-step-higher relationship with the tonic that makes it just so heavenly.
Linking this back to the movie: This section, to me, is a reminder of the losses that both main characters have suffered--but ultimately these losses are merely physical, and the emotional journey they have made during their tribulations together (represented by the key shift), and the joy of the destination they have arrived at, conquer all pain.
The next (and last) chord is a bit hard to explain, but that's the magic of it. It's the A major chord, and has the same relationship to the present key (B major) as, say, the Bb chord has to C major. There's a sense of vagueness to it--you don't know where it'll proceed after this--and when you end a melody with this and chord V (just like here), you just can't help but feel sad--but hopeful. So hopeful. After all, the movie's ending wasn't one of perfect joy, yet it was the best I could have asked for. This is a bittersweet ending to the music just fits.
4) The melody! The pair of minims at the start sound like they are heralding the arrival of something great. And holding the same note across a major AND a minor chord always has a wonderful effect. The rising melody 2. 3 3 - makes me think of simple flute tunes in dance music. Then there's the next phrase, which begins on the second beat of the bar--it's like a breath held, and released as a great swoop into the sky begins...
5) Context. Just watch the ending. Watch it. And listen to the background music, and tell me they don't fit together like two lost halves of a locket. A really beautiful locket.
The weather right now is awesome, by the way. In an equatorial country like mine, 24 degrees Celsius is like night-time temperature. Except it's 3pm right now. Ahhhhh.
