Pride & Prejudice [Original Score]

Overview

One reason why it is better to be a music critic than a film critic is illustrated by this album. The poor film critic may be left to ponder why filmmakers have chosen to do so many screen adaptations of Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice for both theatrical release and television broadcast, especially in recent years, and to weigh the competing talents of, say, Laurence Olivier, Colin Firth, and, now, Matthew MacFadyen in portraying the character of Mr. Darcy. But the music critic isn't really called upon to compare Herbert Stothart's score for the 1940 film with Carl Davis' music for the 1995 TV mini-series, and, now, Dario Marianelli's. They are entirely different entities and can be treated separately. As stated in a producers' note, the intention of the creators of the 2005 theatrical film Pride & Prejudice was to have Marianelli compose music that conceivably could have been heard at the time the story is set, in the late 18th century. Thus, he has come up with a couple of dance cues ("Meryton Townhall," "Another Dance") that actually recall the dance music of the period, as well as a march ("The Militia Marches In") that a military band actually might have been expected to play at the time. But the main scoring, calling upon Beethoven's sonatas for its inspiration, finds Marianelli providing music for pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, sometimes accompanied by the English Chamber Orchestra, that has a strong Romantic flavor to accompany the familiar romantic plot. No doubt Stothart and Davis (among others) also did their homework in preparing their scores, but they may not have been as concerned as Marianelli with essentially impersonating an 18th century composer.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/10/2006
Label:	DECCA
UPC:	0028947630883
Rank:	27111

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jean-Yves Thibaudet   Primary Artist,Piano
Dario Marianelli   Primary Artist
English Chamber Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra
William Lyons   Conductor
Aidan Broadbridge   Violin
Benjamin Wallfisch   Conductor
Caroline Dale   Cello

Technical Credits

Dario Marianelli   Composer,Audio Production,Liner Notes,Producer
Gary Thomas   Engineer,Engineer
English Chamber Orchestra   Performer
Nick Wollage   Engineer
Olga Fitzroy   Assistant Engineer
William Lyons   Arranger
Andy Walter   Mastering
Nick Marion Taylor   Assistant Engineer
Nick Angel   Executive Producer
Michael Tamarro   Photography
Michael Lewis   Piano Preparation,Piano Preparation
Andrew Walter   Mastering
Isobel Griffiths   Booking
Benjamin Wallfisch   Orchestration
Hilary Skewes   Coordination,Music Coordinator
Ruth Chan   Assistant
Michael Tammaro   Photography
Nick Woollage   Engineer
Tony Stanton   Music Copyist
Joe Wright   Liner Notes
James Bellamy   Music Editor,Editing
Katherine Nelson   Executive in Charge of Music
Nick Taylor   Assistant Engineer
Paul Webster   Liner Notes
Jake Jackson   Assistant Engineer
Maggie Rodford   Coordination,Music Coordinator
Kathy Nelson   Executive