Undoubtedly, Elizabeth is the type of score that features the artistically stylish atmosphere that woos Academy Award voters without providing any digestible material for the mainstream. With a monumental title theme and a delicate love theme, Elizabeth has all the right ingredients, but the latter theme is sadly underplayed and the score as a whole falls short on elegance in the dramatic sequences and fright in the darker ones. Adaptations from Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar and a piece from Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart reveal themselves at the end of the album to be a more palatable listening experience. The score opens with its title theme of immense choral and orchestral power. The march in "Overture" strives for the grandiose impact of John Barry's opening titles for The Lion in Winter, but never achieves the same clarity or ground-shaking impact because of Hirschfelder's intentional insertion of frightening dissonance into the cue. Its static progressions with snare taps and dull string chopping are enticing in their magnitude, but their meandering descents into disintegrating dissonance are ultimately annoying. This despite some harrowing Latin chanting that will raise memories of Jerry Goldsmith's The Omen (but lacking in the accompanying terror) and some harmoniously promising progressions. Reprises of this title theme feature the same battle with dissonance, pronouncing itself with distinction that is memorable if not enjoyable.

The vocals become more diverse in the remainder of the score, including soprano performances that would stylistically foreshadow Wojciech Kilar's score for The Ninth Gate a few years later. Their most harmonically pleasing ventures are heard in "Night of the Long Knives," which may be the highlight of the score given its length. Also among the highlights are the two cues that feature Hirschfelder's love theme. The genuinely dark and evocative performance in the second track yields to the score's best rendition of the "B" variant of the title theme in "Arrest," as the future queen is confined by her half-sister early in the film. Two cues in the remainder of the score are devoted to the dance or celebration sequences of the film. In "Coronation Banquet," Hirschfelder's more typical period sound in 6/8 rhythm is performed by light guitars, a harp, and harpsichord. A rather flat mix of the snare in this and "Rondes" will make these cues tedious for many listeners, especially with the trite and staccato movements of the treble instruments. The remainder of the score is satisfyingly harmonious, though without forming much of personality outside of its gloominess, it eventually fades to the background. Overall, Elizabeth has all the basic elements of a period piece of superior caliber, but each mood within the score has been achieved better in other scores of the era: the grand choral overture in The Lion in Winter, the light period dance pieces in Rachel Portman's Emma, and the dramatic love theme in George Fenton's Dangerous Beauty. If the grand size of Elizabeth's dissonant, staccato style cannot win your affections, then this score will be a mixed bag at best.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download