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Much Ado About Nothing
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Composed and Co-Produced by:
Conducted by:
David Snell
Orchestrated by:
Lawrence Ashmore
Co-Produced by:
Maggie Rodford
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LABEL & RELEASE DATE
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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Regular U.S. release.
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AWARDS
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None.
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ALSO SEE
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Buy it... if you're a fan of Kenneth Branagh's Shakespearian
adaptations and want the Patrick Doyle score that most heavily
influenced a Branagh film of the era.
Avoid it... if Doyle's hopelessly optimistic orchestral and vocal
themes are nothing more to you than useless, whimsical fluff.
BUY IT
 | | Doyle |
Much Ado About Nothing: (Patrick Doyle) Four years
after their successful cinematic debut in Henry V, director/actor
Kenneth Branagh and composer Patrick Doyle would return for a second
Shakespearian adaptation, Much Ado About Nothing. Met with
enthusiasm by audiences, and affirming the renaissance of Shakespearian
stories on the big screen in the 1990's, Much Ado About Nothing
is one of the author's most jubilant comedies, typical in its hilarious
battles between the sexes, mistaken identities, and storybook ending,
but benefiting from an especially sharp wit above and beyond many of
Shakespeare's stereotypically light-hearted, fluffy circuses. Among the
film's strengths were a phenomenal acting ensemble (including
non-Shakespearian actors Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, and Kate
Beckinsale, though most would agree that Keanu Reeves was out of place),
as well as its ability to learn Pat Doyle's songs quickly enough to sing
them on the fly during production. Once again significantly involved
with the project during its shooting, Doyle would not only appear as a
solo vocalist in the film, but also worked with Branagh in altering his
themes to better fit scenes while located on the set. The resulting
score has been highly acclaimed through the years, with some Doyle
collectors considering it to be among the composer's very best efforts.
It's a score that floats above the film with a whimsy, orchestrally
buoyant and exuberant in such a flighty fashion that its fairy tale
ending is never in doubt. Doyle's approach to taking us on this sunny
journey involves his identification of the two sexes as the inspiration
for the score's two primary themes. As with any Shakespearian comedy,
several duos run in circles of flirtation, lies, and misunderstandings,
with several predictable marriages resulting at the end. Fluttering
about these proceedings is the interaction between Doyle's two themes
for Much Ado About Nothing. Both themes receive fanfare and song
performances, with the martial male theme performed in chorus in "Pardon
Goddess of the Night" and Doyle himself more prominently performing the
female theme in a courtyard in "Sigh No More Ladies."
While the score offers these themes in various
intriguing incarnations of rhythm and instrumentation, the hopelessly
optimistic fanfare performances of the two together are the highlights.
As the men of the story march back from war, they're led by snare and
brass in "Overture" and "Contempt Farewell." Their theme mingles with
the one for the waiting women, and as the women eventually win the
hearts of their appropriate mates, this theme receives its own dramatic
statements in "Hero's Wedding" and "Strike Up Pipers." There is always
scheming going on in any good Shakespearian story, however, and Doyle
treats these sequences (especially involving Reeves' treacherous Don
John) with the few moments of minor-key rumblings that the score has to
offer. Even in these slightly more ominous cues, however, a general lack
of emphasis on the bass region helps the score retain its endlessly
positive attitude. Several individual cues should be mentioned; the
preview of the women's theme exists softly under Emma Thompson's
recitation of a line from the play in "The Picnic." While her voice is
always appropriate for the genre, her spoken words sound a bit forced
into the rhythm of the score, especially compared to the other vocal
performances, which are all sung. The only distracting period piece is
"The Masked Ball," with an accentuated percussion section and more
heathen rhythms. Doyle's own two performances (he also has an interlude
in "Pardon Goddess of the Night") are as enticing as his short
appearance in Henry V. The short "The Prince Woos Hero" is an
outstandingly sophisticated rendering of the men's theme in an almost
faux romantic setting, complete with clanging sword-like percussion.
That percussion section would be heavily employed throughout Much Ado
About Nothing, with the verbal swordfight complimented by an
equivalent metallic presence in the rhythms. Likewise, the expected
tolling of the chimes and rolling of the timpani grace the victorious
cues at the end of the film (as well as early fanfare performances). The
weakness of Much Ado About Nothing exists in its relative absence
of depth. For a score with so much personality, it lacks the resonance
in the bass section to really impress you in many of its middle
portions. Overall, the score compensates for this lack of bass presence
(which you can manually adjust to some degree) with undeniable charm,
and it would be a welcome addition to any Patrick Doyle collection.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| 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 26,342 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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Total Time: 59:02
• 1. The Picnic (2:57)
• 2. Overture (4:20)
• 3. The Sweetest Lady (2:05)
• 4. The Conspirators (2:39)
• 5. The Masked Ball (1:55)
• 6. The Prince Woos Hero (1:18)
• 7. A Star Danced (2:43)
• 8. Rich She Shall Be (1:42)
• 9. Sigh No More Ladies (1:58)
• 10. The Gulling of Benedick (3:12)
• 11. It Must Be Requited (1:58)
• 12. The Gulling of Beatrice (1:41)
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• 13. Contempt Farewell (1:32)
• 14. The Lady is Disloyal (2:14)
• 15. Hero's Wedding (0:47)
• 16. Take Her Back Again (3:10)
• 17. Die to Live (4:43)
• 18. You Have Killed a Sweet Lady (3:03)
• 19. Choose Your Revenge (1:48)
• 20. Pardon, Goddess of the Night (4:32)
• 21. Did I Not Tell You (1:40)
• 22. Hero Revealed (1:26)
• 23. Benedick the Married Man (2:06)
• 24. Strike Up Pipers (2:41)
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The packaging includes the following (March 18th, 1993) note from Patrick Doyle:
"During our earlier discussions on Much Ado About Nothing, Ken
suggested adapting 'Sigh No More Ladies' for the song that Balthazar
sings in the garden. When I arrived in Tuscany for the rehearsal week, we
immediately sat down and bashed our heads together and eventually made it
work.
Ken and I discussed preparing in advance many of the music cues required
for play-back purposes on the set. We both agreed consequently that the
atmosphere of being on a location in such a gorgeous setting would be a
crucial element in achieving the appropriate moods. By the end of the
rehearsal week, all the actors had learnt the melody and harmonies for
'Sigh No More Ladies', and the small strolling band of players had learnt
their dance tunes for 'The Masked Ball'. The melody for 'Pardon Goddess
Of The Night' proved to be the most elusive as each time I presented Ken
with what I thought he was searching for, I was sent back to the 'Drawing
Board'. After much hair pulling, I was fifth time lucky.
Although we had very limited resources and time on location, I managed to
grab the actors and teach them a very rough version of the funeral hymn,
which we recorded on the 'Villa Vignamaggio Tennis Court' during lunch!
Also I shall never forget the assembly line of actors in the central
courtyard, literally learning and recording a capella all the harmonies
and countermelodies for 'Sigh No More Ladies'. They were magnificent!
Much later back in London, with the help of Gavin Greenaway and a
barmoniser, we managed to save almost all of the frenetic work, which
proved to be invaluable for the previews as Ken predicted. There were
many difficult moments to address in the underscore. The most obvious one
was the opening montage sequence which needed to he big, romantic,
melodic and dramatic, but at the same time the music needed to have lots
of drive. Along with all these other requirements the music had to
underline the obvious masculine and feminine aspect. The end result
culminated in what turned out to be a traditional 'Overture', containing
virtually every theme.
The other difficult moment was where Claudio rejects Hero at the wedding
ceremony ('Take her back again'). Here, there were so many changes of
mood to capture and on top of that virtually non-stop dialogue. It was
one of the last cues I addressed for (apart from terror) every element
from either side of this scene had to be drawn upon to give me ideas. In
my view it became the most operatic use of underscore.
I am immensely proud and privileged to have been part of Much Ado
About Nothing and I don't know why I am surprised, but yet again I am
amazed at the talent, strength and inventiveness of its creator. He has
done a magnificent job. My many thanks to Ken yet again!"
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