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Along similar lines, Gabriel Yared composed the Academy Award-winning score for The English Patient several years prior to Sylvia. Both scores exhibit a morbid sense of drama, skillfully extending the inevitable personal destruction playing out on screen. The music for Sylvia, however, doesn't feature the same broad scope of orchestral depth, remaining close to the characters through the use of a collection of personal, solo performances set over pleasant, though underdeveloped orchestral backing. Among those featured are performers on cello, oboe, clarinet, cor anglais, and Yared himself on the piano. Typically, these performers operate with simple themes and motifs that contain meandering chord progressions of harmonious, but generally uninteresting progressions. The title theme is so elongated that it comfortably nestles in with this material without much notice. The rhythms of "The Cows" and the piano of "The Star" are reminiscent of Glass and Kaczmarek, respectively. The 1950's era of the tale does come to life in the same stark, realistic way that Elmer Bernstein was able to generate in Far From Heaven the previous year as well. This page taken from simpler days grows ominous in "Seeds of Doubt" and intensifies through "Fire" with heavily quivering and screeching strings. Yared doesn't follow too obvious a predictable path with Sylvia, though, because as Plath is preparing and succeeding in killing herself, the score regresses back to just a solo piano. The attitude conveyed throughout the score is perhaps a touch noble, but the most surprising aspect of Sylvia is Yared's choice (perhaps directed to him) to keep the highs and lows of the film's emotions absent from the score. The overall affect of the music, therefore, is one of a consistently dapper mood, and while the more frightening emotional moments do feature some intense string work, the more passionate side of the story (in the first half of the score) seems somewhat lost. The music for "First Meeting" is especially curious in its lack of romantic spark. Thus, the score becomes a dreary piece of music for a dreary movie about a dreary character. As a 45-minute listening experience, it ranks about average in Yared's collection of works, but if you're at all familiar with the horrific display of human failures in the story, then the album for Sylvia could be just as depressing as the film itself.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Gabriel Yared reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.11 (in 10 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.19 (in 18,532 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

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