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Filmtracks Recommends: Buy it... if, simply put, you own and enjoy a few Richard Robbins scores for similarly constructed low-key period classicism. Avoid it... if everything about costume dramas set in eighteenth-century England strikes you as boring from the outset. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
To write off the score for Sense and Sensibility as an exercise in pure fluff wouldn't be an injustice for many listeners (and perhaps even some Doyle collectors), but the composer accomplishes all that he needed to do. The score is performed by a simplified orchestral ensemble at tentative, but nevertheless beautiful levels of attentiveness to character. The romance and interminable conversations in the film beg this kind of basic string, woodwind, and piano writing, and while the charm shines through in the end, Doyle is careful to present his music with just enough solemn pace of restraint to serve the hardships of the women in the film. Thus, Sense and Sensibility isn't really a upbeat venture, teasing you with typical flourishes of Doyle's always-swirling strings while never truly engaging you until the final cue. It could be said that the quality of the music increases as the score goes forward, but that's because Doyle is manipulating the tone of his music to match the maturity process of the women in the story. The two operatic performances by Jane Eaglen (making her large-scale debut at about that time) are poems set to two Doyle songs, and the differences in tone between those two bookending songs tells you everything you need to know about the changes in the score. The opening song, extending several cues into the score, allows Doyle to prance on the light touch of the piano and woodwinds, and the best of the playful elements are developed into the first signs of serious contemplation in the piano and string cue "My Father's Favorite," the highlight of the score. The "Steam Engine" and "Willoughby" travel cues strike a more wild waltz-like rhythm that sustain interest in middle sections. Later in the score, the orchestrations become a little more lush, and Doyle's tempos slow to allow the strings to perform theme variations of simplicity in the broad style of John Barry. The mood is very consistent in Sense and Sensibility, and Doyle's score is equally respectful and warm throughout. The final cue, "Throw the Coins" is the only full ensemble piece, with victorious cymbal crashes and rounded accompaniment for the final pronouncement of the title theme as the pairings in the film are realized. Overall, Doyle's Sense and Sensibility can be either sickeningly boring or charmingly inviting, depending on your opinion of low key period classicism. As a composition, it remains one of Doyle's better achievements. ****
The insert includes notes by director Ang Lee about the score or film, as well as excerpts from Jane Austen's text. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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