Much Ado About Nothing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Much Ado About Nothing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
又名: 都是男人惹的祸/无事生非
专辑类型: Soundtrack
介质: Audio CD
发行时间: 1993-05-04
唱片数: 1
出版者: Sony
条形码: 0074645400921
专辑简介
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.
曲目
Strike Up Pipers