Posted on: December 15, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Dario Marianelli has a hard job; how exactly does ey create music that fits with the period nature of the movie but do it in such a way that individuals in 2005 will be able to properly appreciate it? Well, with compositions like “Stars and Butterflies”, a strong arrangement really carries the day. It is not only the piano that keeps individuals interested, but rather the atmosphere created by Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s piano playing that really brings these compositions to a whole other level.

The atmosphere is deep, to say the least; the flowing compositions of Marianelli search emotional highs as well as shattering lows, doing more with only a minimum of instruments than other individuals can do with entire orchestras. “Meryton Townhall” is the first track that has a more activist sound to it; the bouncy nature of the track showcases a wider array of instruments and sounds in a sense like the instrumental version of Michael W. Smith’s “Rince De”. Shifting things slightly to allow for a more martial sound, the flutes and drums of “The Militia Marches In” does much to change the entire feel of the disc in the shortest period of time (barely breaking one minute in total runtime). Considering many of the compositions on this soundtrack have minimal instrumentation at each point of the track (“Postcard To Henry Purcell” seems to be a minor bending of this theory), the fact that Marianelli can create such full-sounding compositions really shows unmatched skill.

Compositions like “Liz On Top Of The World” are familiar without sounding derivative in the least; this ploy works extremely well in getting individuals who may not be willing to take that jump into completely new styles of arrangement. By using specific forms from the period in which the movie took place, the range of styles available to Marianelli is actually increased instead of decreased. This is due to the fact that one of these earlier-sounding compositions would sound downright odd if used in a movie that is set in the current period; this is not as off-putting if Marianelli throws in some newer styles. Aside from fitting in with the movie, this soundtrack would work admirably on its own. One can turn the disc on and zone out for a good two-thirds of an hour; there are no quotes from the movie to break the momentum of the disc.

Top Tracks: Meryton Townhall, Militia Marches In

Rating: 6.4/10

OST: Music From The Motion Picture Price & Prejudice / 2005 Universal / 17 Tracks / http://www.prideandprejudicemovie.net / http://www.universalclassics.com / Reviewed 26 February 2006

[JMcQ]

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