Harley Angelillo and Marcella DePina
Fall 2023 Capstone Project
Inspired by the musical themes of Steven Universe
PEARL
Pearl was Steven’s mother’s confidant and right hand man. After Rose's death she stepped into the role of taking care of Steven like he was her own son. Although Pearl loves Steven dearly, he is a constant reminder that she lost the love of her life. She is the most motherly our of all the other Gems and that comes with its own strain when it comes to Pearl and Steven’s relationship. In the first seasons, Pearl came off as infallible yet demanding and self-righteous. In trying to be a good mother and a good influence to Steven, she led him to a path of over-extending himself in the favor of others—a habit that she herself struggles with later on in the show. Her inability to let go of her past with Steven’s mother ironically restrained her ability to realize when Steven needed guidance for most of the show. Pearl's character undergoes countless mental struggles which unfortunately, bleeds onto the other characters at times.
Pearl's Music
On the audience's first interaction with Pearl, the platitude of being a good mother is so apparent that it starts working against her character-wise. In “Do it For Her” we see Pearl take this leadership position with Steven’s friend, Connie. Connie wants to aid the Gems in their conquest to save the Earth but with just being a powerless human she seeks Pearl’s help to learn sword fighting. Pearl takes it a step too far and advises that Connie indulges in self-sacrifice by saying, “when you live for someone, you’re prepared to die”. Pearl would, and did, do that for Rose, Steven’s mother. This self-sacrifice for loved ones is apparent in every aspect of Pearl’s character. It becomes obvious to the audience that it’s misconstrued as loving but in actuality, it is toxic.
Pearl leans towards change when she realizes that she could never go back to how it was in the past. She realizes she can no longer can make lesser of herself for Rose. In the ballad “It’s Over Isn’t It” we learn that Pearl is tired of living the role she made for herself. She faces reality here and questions why she “can’t move on”, seemingly stuck in the past while simultaneously hurting the relationships around her. The strain that Pearl has with Steven’s father, Greg, for being the one Rose chose in the end before her death, is affecting Steven. Pearl finally seeks to change her actions and outlook on life. She moves to being a less overbearing figure in Steven’s life for the sake of not only others but also her own sanity, learning to put herself first for the first time in her life.
Our Song for Pearl
For Pearl's song, a piano piece was constructed since Pearl’s main instrument heard in her melodies is the piano. Composed with Pearl’s room melody in mind from the original soundtrack, we made a piece in G Major. We included a lot of stepwise motion and triplets to give the composition more of what is heard in Pearl’s signature features. We were influenced by the idea of creating a waltz. Even though most of Pearl’s pieces are built in 4/4 the remnants of waltzes and 3/4 are very apparent. We decided to stick to the formulaic 4/4 Aviv and Surasshu, the composers of the main show's soundtrack, often made Pearl's songs and imitate a waltz melody by the way we notated the piece. Piano trills and chimes where added as well to elevate the piece atmospherically, feeling like you're in Pearl's room when you listen.