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Doyle |
Cinderella: (Patrick Doyle) The classic tale of
"The Little Glass Slipper" told by Charles Perrault as "Cendrillon" and
evolved into "Cinderella" through the centuries has inspired countless
retellings in a myriad of settings, but on screen, the most famous has
remained the 1950 animated Disney musical version. In the 2010's the
studio made a concerted effort to concentrate on live-action
resurrections of its classic animated films, and 2015's
Cinderella follows on the footsteps of 2014's successful remake
of
Sleeping Beauty,
Maleficent. The live-action Disney
Cinderella more faithfully followed the original storyline and
perspective of the concept, though, and earned over half a billion
dollars from theatres filled with enamored girls. Poor Elle is always
repressed by her evil step-mother, and the equation is no different
here, the hidden princess inevitably, by the force of nature and a
little magic, destined to meet her prince and marry him. The roundabout
way she gets there remains the focus of the tale, and several notable
acting performances, along with a strong presence of music for the
live-action version, contributed to its success. Also following in the
mould of
Maleficent is Patrick Doyle's approach to
Cinderella. Film music fans should express significant gratitude
to Kenneth Branagh for bringing Doyle along on his venture into
mainstream action and romance fare, their early careers dominated by
Shakespeare and never reaching this pinnacle of box office success.
Doyle, having earned the trust of soundtrack collectors with his several
enjoyable scores of the early 1990's, many of them defined by whimsical,
English-styled romance, has truly transformed his career in recent
years, from
Thor,
Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit to, perhaps more influentially,
Brave, all assignments seemingly inconceivable in his career back
in the early 2000's. Along this journey, much of that initial English
romantic element was necessarily left behind. Unquestionably,
Cinderella represents his glorious return to that genre of fluffy
fare, and it's certain to enthrall collectors of vintage Doyle music.
Like
Maleficent, there are a couple of references back to the
Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman songs of the classic Disney
film, but this is not a musical overall, and the end title song,
"Strong," was primarily the product of Doyle adapting his material from
his score into song form.
Those seeking direct, overt connections to Oliver
Wallace and Paul J. Smith's score for the 1950
Cinderella may be
disappointed, but the general tone is preserved. This score,
essentially, is Doyle in his natural romance voice through and through.
The composer has a technique of leaving a descending phrase of notes
hanging near the end before resolving it neatly, and this calling card
is triumphant in this work. Extremely easy fairy tale harmonies are
conveyed with seeming effortlessness in the progressions of the score's
themes. More important, in many ways, is the underlying orchestration of
the music, once again a specific result of Doyle's involvement in that
orchestration process. To say that this score "prances" may seem like an
insult to some readers, but how else would a person adequately score
this film? A combination of bouncing, whimsical rhythms and fanciful,
flighty melodies are the perfect combination here, and Doyle treats them
with multitudes of woodwind layers, high strings, and metallic
percussion. Long sequences in this score meander through celete,
woodwind, and violin chops, taps, and chirps, nearly all of it
hopelessly optimistic in the major key. The thematic statements do even
out the listening experience nicely, especially when accompanied by the
appropriately soft children's choir in traditional Disney fantasy mode
(recall that Alan Menken would pull out these voices for brief moments
of accents in his scores, especially in finales). The actual melodies
utilized by Doyle include an original theme for Cinderella herself that
meanders through the score and comes to dominate the work by the final
two cues. Its most triumphant performance perhaps comes in "Who is She,"
clearly her most powerful moment in the entire tale. Mingling with it in
that cue and appearing in several other places is the traditional
English folk song, "Lavenders Blue," heard initially in "A Golden
Childhood" and later returning to represent the Fairy Godmother's
magical influence on the proceedings. Don't expect either of these
themes to really blast you out of your seat the way James Newton
Howard's equivalents stood apart in
Maleficent; Doyle's ideas
instead feature a demeanor (and indeed progressions) very similar to a
Joel McNeely
Tinker Bell work, especially with the lofty
children's vocals accompanying the violin performances of themes with
brass in counterpoint. Just as McNeely's themes can seem vague, Doyle's
may have difficulty staying in memory, leaving the listener with a
better impression of the work as formed by the underlying orchestrations
and sweeping, exuberant references to ascending phrases from
Much Ado
About Nothing (as in the latter half of "Chose That One").
There is more than just the straight forward romance
work on display in Doyle's score for
Cinderella, however. He was
tasked with writing the classical waltzes and polkas actually danced to
on screen for the ball scenes, and he accomplished this prior to
recording the rest of the score. Remarkably, he worked in his eventual
theme for Cinderella into these pieces, however, and apart from the fact
that they may irritate the crap out of some listeners (can film music
get any different from Remote Control stock libraries?), Doyle
collectors will likely appreciate them. The comedy element in "La Polka
de Minuit" is particularly well-written. The other side of
Cinderella that needs addressed is Doyle's interludes into the
action and suspense realm, both of which yield arguably the best
material in this score. The first real taste of this merging of the
composer's romance and Marvel universe action comes in "The Stag," the
resulting orchestral flurry, complete with rambling piano lines from
La Ligne Droite (which also appear in "Choose That One") and
snare-ripping, cello chopping, and timpani-pounding rhythms, is
fabulous. You briefly hear this material reprised in "Pumpkins and Mice"
prior to the ball and in "Pumpkin Pursuit" afterwards. The hyperactive
string lines and ballsy brass presence are appropriately weighted still
towards the treble in this context, Doyle avoiding the nuisances of a
deeply resounding bass region as required in his modern blockbuster
scores. The chimes of the later cue, on top of harpsichord and what
sound like hand bells, add an appropriate sense of finality to the
chase. Great trombone lines in both cues lend it force akin to
Mary
Shelley's Frankenstein. There is some Carl Stalling style of comedic
flair to these and other portions, so don't expect anything with the
brute force of Howard's
Maleficent. Doyle is more content taking
his ideas towards the loftier royal tones of noble trumpet and
tambourine as heard during the brightly optimistic "Searching the
Kingdom." There's little depth of suspense in this or most of the rest
of the score, as the outcome is predetermined, so why not let those
woodwinds fly in shamelessly bright expressions of innocence? This
fanciful tone is pure Doyle and you have to love it, but one can see
this score failing to connect with some listeners given that it doesn't
ever really attempt deeper fantasy tones in its orchestrations. Even the
final, extended note of "Courage and Kindness" at the end is totally
lacking resolution in the bass region. Likewise, the song "Strong,"
which would be quite good if the clapping effects were dropped, uses a
stylish extension of the Cinderella theme that should have been applied
to a greater extent by Doyle in the score proper. The two tribute songs
to the 1950 film are extremely well handled. The overall package is
unadulterated and glorious Doyle whimsy, for better or for worse.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check: |
For Patrick Doyle reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.84
(in 32 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.45
(in 26,376 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes lyrics to the three songs and a single page card containing an access code
to retrieve a song from the short film Frozen Fever online.