Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you are interested in hearing a prominent composer announce his entry into the genre of film music with surprisingly robust force and romantically melodic heart. Avoid it... if the dominant choral highlight of the score, "Non nobis Domine," represents your only interest in the score, in which case one of the piece's numerous, impressive re-recordings may suffice. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Henry V: (Patrick Doyle) Launching actor and screenwriter Kenneth Branagh's career as a director, Henry V proved to be the first assembly of a cast and crew that would join him for several mainstream productions throughout the 1990's. When adapting William Shakespeare's treatment of the topic, Branagh took pieces from the "Henry IV" and "Henry V" plays for an unusual but highly acclaimed combination of plot elements and characters from both works. His vision of the story was far darker and grittier than the famous Laurence Olivier cinematic adaptation of 1944, an important aspect of the 1989 movie's success. Branagh was nominated for Academy Awards for directing and acting, establishing himself as a competent Shakespearian filmmaker despite never reaping tremendous fiscal rewards from his initial efforts. When preparing for the production of Henry V in 1988, the director recognized that the film's music 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, he was most concerned with contemplating methods of making the music appeal to a wider audience. The story is a political thriller, a study of leadership, a complex debate about war and the pity of conflict, 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. Doyle had been a fellow actor with Branagh for a number of years and was trained to compose, but he had never before written music for 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 specifically requested music that would remain in the minds of the audience as long as the pictures themselves, and this required a score of, in Branagh's words, "epic proportions: thunderous, full-blooded, and heroic in size." To ensure that the score did not overshadow the text, however, Doyle avoided the bombastic, brassy approach that other composers may have favored given the circumstances. The film opens with the narration of the muse, the character who conveys the epic story and encourages the audience to unleash its imagination. Doyle handles this scene like a prologue sequence, giving the audience hints of the themes that will be boldly enunciated later in the narrative. 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 consecutively larger tastes being foreshadowed. As Henry enters the film, the score's secondary theme is introduced in full. It successfully announces the king's arrival, using the approach of a trumpet fanfare that audiences could readily 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 the character, which is important because this scene represents the beginning of his 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 sufficiently in this scene, but the tone might have been more appropriately addressed with overlapping cellos. As the music broods, Henry loses some of his noble stature. An angry king might deserve more dramatic underscoring, but this scene with the traitors exhibits some of the most intense face to face dialogue in the play, so a more dramatic cue might have overwhelmed the text. As Falstaff, a character dominant in earlier Shakespearian works, dies, Doyle introduces the first thematically romantic music in the movie that only repeats when the focus of the story shifts to the past. Because the touch doesn't apply directly to the "Henry V" text, this application in "The Death of Falstaff" 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 once again to reinforce Henry's growing influence over the scene and its characters. Similarly to the prologue, hints of the primary theme, "Non nomis Domine," dance throughout the brassy cue. To help the audience identify with the action on the screen, Doyle uses the stereotypical snare drum rhythms in a constant roll throughout "Once more unto the breach." In the process of stirring up these patriotic feelings of preparation for medieval battle, though, the music nearly drowns the speech by Branagh, who also has to enunciate 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 revisits the same theme he had introduced in Falstaff's death scene, yet this time it espouses an undeniably darker tone. If the music had been softer and more tonally melodic, then one might have interpreted Henry to be a little more remorseful, but as it is scored, it proves that Henry is indeed resolute in his convictions. This passage assists in shaping the new Henry, one who some viewers might have considered rash and unforgiving. The cue "Upon the King" coincides with his intriguingly curious disguised venture and conversation amongst his men. As an interesting side note, 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, introducing a flute motif that weaves in and out of the progressions of "Non nomis Domine." Doyle chose to emphasize the scene with a mysterious churning of strings and woodwinds, which might further add confusion as to why Henry is masquerading among his own men. The music fails to shape any single interpretation of the character, questioning his motives and stripping him of his prior nobility as necessary. As Henry prepares for his rallying speech on St. Crispin's Day, the 15-minute battle cue opens with solo timpani, which instills obvious gravity and assists in exaggerating the fact that the English forces are vastly outnumbered by the French. As Henry's speech begins, the cue toils in the lower octaves and slowly, over three minutes, works its way higher as means of creating an uplifting spirit of motivation. The orchestra builds continuously until it reaches a heroic climax and the battle begins. The same heroic motif can be heard from this point forward in the film, likely symbolizing the final achievement of victory by Henry. The primary theme and highlight of the score, "Non nomis Domine," ironically is based upon a song barely mentioned in the play. Branagh requested early in production 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)." With the lyrics previously existing, the song was composed by Doyle before shooting even began on the film. He made a demo tape of his idea using a synthesized orchestra and adult chorus, and the recording was so emotionally powerful that Branagh requested that it be transferred directly into the film. Even though the action that takes place in the movie during the "Non nomis Domine" song encompasses only three lines from the play, the sequence is adapted to represent the pinnacle of Henry's conquering achievement on screen. Branagh had the demo tape played over loudspeakers while the burial scene was performed and this choice, perhaps, was the best move the director made in the entire production of the film. Because the song was playing during the continuous burial sequence shot (an impressive moment of cinematography), the singing of the extra actors seems even more realistic. Its noble but restrained melody is a perfect match for the emotions of the scene, and Doyle, who also played the first soldier to begin singing the piece in the scene, won the "Best Film Theme of 1989" at Britain's Ivor Novello Awards for this cue. The score concludes with a trio of comparatively short cues, "The Wooing of Katherine," "Let this acceptance take," and "End Title," that largely (but pleasantly) reprise the themes previously expressed by Doyle. Overall, the composer's score reinforced Branagh's intentions and serves the narrative of Henry V without overwhelming Shakespeare's words. For casual observers, the score material outside of "Non nobis Domine" may not be particularly memorable despite its successful accompaniment within the picture. Still, Doyle's score is a triumph for the genre and patience must be exercised in the first half until the sequences of St. Crispin's Day and beyond can win your heart. Doyle, meanwhile, through both luck and talent, used his newfound success to shed his acting career in 1989 and become a full-time composer. The "Non nobis Domine" theme remains a popular performance piece for choral ensembles decades later. In retrospect, while Henry V exposes some of the simplicities in construct and orchestration that will be evident in any composer's first major recording for a film, it also exists as early evidence of Doyle's vast potential in the field. The score may not be as interesting in the complexity of layers or instrumentation as Doyle's far more diverse and deep recordings that arrived surprisingly quickly thereafter (look no further than Frankenstein five years later), but Henry V still commands respect today from both his collectors and the mainstream. It remains as one of the composer's better execution of brass, too, which was often lacking in depth in his subsequent early efforts. On album, the nearly hour-long presentation of the score on EMI's product has stayed in print and is easy to find at bargain prices. If only for the choral highlight of "Non nobis Domine," the score deserves a place in any serious film music enthusiast's collection. **** Track Listings:
Total Time: 59:16
All artwork and sound clips from Henry V are Copyright © 1989, EMI Records, Ltd. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 7/19/98, updated 9/23/11. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 1998-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
