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•	1995 Album

•	2025 Album

•	1995 Album

While the thematic and instrumental diversity of the music in A Little Princess can be strikingly disparate in style at times, Doyle manages to bring all sides of the music's personality together successfully. The Western orchestral ensemble is fairly standard, strings, harp, and woodwinds emphasized for him as per usual while brass is somewhat dainty in its orchestrations. The Indian instrumentation seems to include sitar, bansuri flute, sarangi fiddle, and tabla percussion, the last of which mixed a bit obnoxiously in the soundscape but the whole of the group generally palatable. Synthesizers are rarely applied, though the electronic edge to the end of "Ramayana: A Morning Raga" is a bit disruptive. There is a fair amount of classical infusion in the work, and this material tends to stay clear of the Indian elements. The uniquely formal diversion for solely Western orchestra in "Cristina Elisa Waltz" is reprised in spirit but toned way back in "False Hope," and another quick classical fanfare for girls' vocals explodes in "Tyger Tyger." Meanwhile, the suspenseful tones of "Trenches" is informed by "Quintet in C Major, Opus 88 (Adagio)" by Michael Haydn, and this music carries over to the style of the tragic "Crewe and the Soldier" and continues to touch the reduced woodwind group in "Alone." One Western comedy cue of pretentious fanfare in "The Locket Hunt" is somewhat obnoxious. Doyle provides two clear themes and a third somewhat nebulous identity for A Little Princess, the main theme for Sara guiding much of the work and allotted the Indian influence much of the time. A secondary theme for the school in New York is playful exuberant while the third theme for the girls' eventual suffering and solitude is a somber offshoot of the main theme. The aforementioned classicism is best embodied by the school's lightly fastidious theme, which opens "The Miss Minchin School for Girls" on optimistic harp and string plucking and offers even brighter tones to "Breakfast" but with the Indian elements contributing as Sara joins. The theme presents on woodwinds early in "Angel Wings," building to an angelic girls' choir version, and it informs the spritely extension into the classical realm in "The Locket Hunt" for that most obvious and outward comedy moment. The school's theme returns to its original, plucked personality in "Midnight Tiptoe, shakes down some light comedy on winds and strings in "Emilia Elopes," and opens "The Goodbye" once again in its brightly optimistic original tones.

Most appreciation for A Little Princess will come from his main theme for Sara, termed the "Kindle My Heart" theme by the composer due to its vocalized form with his lyrics. Flowing from Indian raga formations of ascending chords, this idea opens "Ramayana: A Morning Raga" on Indian and Western instruments, the bansuri flute improvising with the theme as the cue progresses. A variant extends out of the Indian instruments on strings in "Children Running," and it intersects with the school theme late in "The Miss Minchin School for Girls." Secondary lines are explored before the main phrase reasserts in Knowing You by Heart," and those main lines begin "Letter to Papa" on the Indian instruments, yielding a lovely flute rendition. The theme develops hope in "The Attic," returns to its Indian roots with resurgence in "The Shawl," and gains momentum during "Kindle My Heart," which was performed by Doyle's daughter in a cultural blend. The theme again crosses cultures with fragments in "I Am a Princess" before stuttering in "Just Make Believe" and finding its way at the cue's end. It provides a more resolute attitude for the cultural blend in "Touched By an Angel," developing into a nicely muscular rendition for both ensembles. In a highlight, this theme shifts into the minor mode as an action motif in "The Escape" with large brass heroism, and the deep male vocals help boost the ambience. This hyperactive version extends into classical string figures in "Papa!," resolving in a fully Western orchestral fanfare at 1:27 with a few Indian accents. The theme closes the story with a vocalized performance in "The Goodbye," a solo trumpet completing the score above the Indian instruments for a noble conclusion. The final theme for solitary suffering utilizes similar progressions as the main one but is distinct for the girls' shared adversity. Consolidating during "Alone" in somber tones, this material is vocalized in a longer offshoot during "The Attic" and "On Another's Sorrow," both lovely, and adopts the children's choir in more complicated layers in "Compassion" and "For the Princess." It is smoothened after a minute into "The Goodbye" for a prettier string performance. Together, these themes form a highly lyrical and at times magical listening experience, especially as the vocals shine. The original 1995 album was reprised with improved sound quality and nine extra minutes of odds and ends on a limited expansion in 2025, most of the new material of little consequence outside of two lovely cues amounting to three minutes at the product's end. The Indian elements are commendable but still not always mixed with satisfaction. Regardless, A Little Princess stands as one of Doyle's most uniquely charming dramatic scores.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Patrick Doyle reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.67 (in 42 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.39 (in 27,998 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.