Buy it... if you are interested in hearing a prominent composer announce his entry into film music with both surprising force and heart.

Avoid it... if the choral "Non nobis Domine" piece is your only true interest in the score and you already own it on a compilation or re-recording.

Doyle

Henry V: (Patrick Doyle) Through both luck and talent, Patrick Doyle shed his acting career in 1989 and became a full-time composer. The vehicle for this transition was Henry V, a project that proved to be equally important for Kenneth Branagh and the subsequent revival of the works of Shakespeare on the big screen in he 1990's. While in retrospect, the Henry V score exposes some of the simplicities that will be evident in any composer's first major recording for film, it also exists as early evidence of Doyle's vast potential in the composing field. Based on the "Non nobis Domine" theme, the score would culminate in the choral rendition of that theme, led by Doyle in the film himself, and immediately launching the novice composer to his first awards recognition. The score may not be as interesting in complexity of layers or instrumentation that film score collectors would hear from Doyle in the decades thereafter, but Henry V still commands respect today from both his fans and more casual collectors of film music. It remains as one of Doyle's better execution of brass, which was often lacking in depth in subsequent early efforts. On album, the EMI product remains in print and easy to find at bargain prices. For the May, 1998, Theme of the Month ("Shakespeare and Patrick Doyle"), Filmtracks presented an essay about Doyle's collaboration with Ken Branagh and the texts of Shakespeare up to that time. The original article is still available in its full form, although pertinent excepts from that text have been included below.

When preparing the second film version of Henry V in 1988, Kenneth Branagh recognized that the score would play a crucial role in bridging the gap between the text's historical richness and the thematic expectations of a modern audience. At the outset of the film production of Henry V, Branagh asked the question, "how am I going to make it appeal to a wider audience?" The story is a political thriller, a study of leadership, a complex debate about war and the pity of war, and an uncompromising analysis of the English class system. To convey this, "a strong visual style that could appeal to an audience on the verge of the 1990's was vitally necessary," Branagh said. "The crucial bonding agent in all of this was the music." He employed long-time friend Patrick Doyle and asked him to produce a score that was powerful enough to provide the emotional touch that Branagh envisioned, without overpowering the complexity of the words themselves. Pat Doyle had been a fellow actor with Branagh for a number of years, but had never scored a feature film. Nevertheless, Doyle was very familiar with the works of Shakespeare, and felt that he could successfully meld authentic medieval sounds with an "accessible" classical tone. Branagh requested a score that would remain in the minds of the audience as long as the pictures themselves. This required a score of, in Branagh's words, "epic proportions: thunderous, full-blooded, and heroic in size." To make sure the score did not score did not overshadow the text, Doyle avoided the bombastic, brassy approach that other composers may have favored.

The film opens with the narration of the muse, the character who narrates the epic story and encourages the audience to unleash its imagination. Doyle scores this scene as a sort of prologue sequence, giving the audience hints of the themes that will boldly be heard later. The power of the track builds as the Chorus nears the door that will be swung open, revealing the setting of the play. This cue gives the audience only a nibble of what is to come, with larger and larger tastes being foreshadowed. As Henry enters the film, the secondary theme (to Non nobis Domine) is introduced in full. It successfully announces Henry's arrival, using the approach of a trumpet fanfare that audiences can identify with. If Henry has indeed reformed from his frivolous, youthful existence, what better way to score his character than with a noble hail of the trumpets? It gives power to Henry, which important, because this scene represents the beginning of Henry's quest to conquer France. This power, however, does not carry over to the scene in which Henry orders the execution of the three traitors. Clarinets and flutes are used in a scene that might have been more appropriately scored with overlapping cellos. As the music broods, Henry loses some of his noble power. An angry king might deserve more dramatic underscoring, but the scene of the traitors exhibits some of the most intense face to face dialog in the play, so a more dramatic score might have overwhelmed the words.

As Falstaff, a character dominant in earlier Shakespeare plays, dies, Doyle introduces the first thematically romantic music in the play that only repeats when the focus of the film shifts to the past. While the touch doesn't apply directly to the Henry V text, the film could be confusing for audiences who are unaware of Henry IV during those sequences. As Henry rallies his troops in front of the gates of Harfleur, Doyle summons the opening fanfare to reinforce Henry's growing influence over the screen and its characters. Similar to the prologue, hints of "Non nomis Domine" dance throughout the brassy cue. To help the audience identify with the action on the screen, Doyle uses the snare drums in a constant roll throughout the scene. In the process of stirring up these feelings of medieval battle in the audience, though, the music nearly drowns the speech of Branagh, who also has to speak over the sound effects of the burning city in the background. At the time of Bardolph's death, Henry's resolve for justice and order is paramount. As Henry remembers old times once again, Doyle uses the same theme he had introduced in Falstaff's death scene, yet this time, it has an undeniably darker tone. If the music had been softer and more melodic, then the audience might have interpreted Henry to be a little more remorseful. As it is scored, though, it shows that Henry is indeed strong in his convictions. The music assists in shaping the new Henry, who some audiences might consider rash and unforgiving.

The cue entitled "Upon the King" coincides with the King's disguised scene among his men. As an interesting note, Pat Doyle himself played the part of Alexander Court, whose only line is "Brother John Bates, is not that the morning that breaks yonder?" As the conversation between the disguised King and Michael Williams intensifies, the music becomes mysteriously repetitive. Doyle introduces a flute and weaves it into the background the main theme of "Non nomis Domine." Doyle chose to score it with a mysterious churning of strings and woodwinds, which might further add confusion in the audiences mind as to the question "why is Henry masquerading among his own men?" The music fails to shape any single interpretation; instead, it plays on that question. The nobility of the previous cues is lost. As Henry prepares for his rallying speech on St. Crispin's Day, the 15-minute battle cue begins with solo timpani, which helps exaggerate the fact that the English forces are vastly outnumbered by the French. As King Henry's speech begins, the score begins in the lower octaves and slowly --over three minutes-- and works its way higher as means to create an uplifting spirit. The orchestra builds continuously until it reaches a heroic climax and the battle begins. The same uplifting theme can be heard from this point forward in the film, perhaps symbolizing the final achievement of victory by Henry.

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The highlight of the score is based on a song barely mentioned in the play. Ken Branagh requested that Doyle compose a repetitive choral piece to accompany the lyrics: "Non nobis Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam (Not unto us o lord, but in your name be there glory)." Although the lyrics previously existed, the song was composed by Doyle before production even began on the film. He made a demo tape of the song using a synthesized orchestra and adult chorus, and the demo was so emotional that Branagh requested that it be transferred directly to the film. Even though the action that takes place in the film during the song encompasses only three lines from the play, it is the pinnacle of Henry's conquering achievement. Branagh had the demo tape played over loudspeakers while the burial scene was filmed. This, perhaps, was the best move Branagh made in the production of the film. Because the song was playing during the continuous burial sequence shot, the singing of the extra actors seems even more realistic. Emotionally, it was a brilliant song to represent the scene, and Doyle, who played the first soldier to begin singing in the scene, won the "Best Film Theme of 1989" at Britain's Ivor Novello Awards. Overall, Doyle's score reinforced Branagh's intentions and served without overwhelming Shakespeare's words. With modern audiences, though, the score outside of "Non nobis Domine" did not fare as well, even though it was recognized as a solid effort by a first-time composer. Still, Doyle's score is a triumph for the genre and patience must be exercised in the first half of the score until the sequences of St. Crispin's Day and beyond can win your heart. ****

Bias Check:

For Patrick Doyle reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.71 (in 17 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.72 (in 16,268 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.