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When you listen to the music of Rachel
Portman, you listen quality. Be in drama, romance or period films. Rachel
never lost herself. It's impossible to not see her with pride in the score
category, because she was the first female composer to win an Academy Award
for best score in 1997 (she beated names like Alan Menken and
Hans Zimmer).
In The Duchess score Rachel goes back
to the style that she really masters: the classic romance. The movie tells
the history of Georgiana Cavendish (Keira Knightley), The Dutchess of
Devonshire, that has a life marked by scandals but was considered one
wonderful person – a truly
precursor
to Princess Diana.
Rachel's score is something truly unique.
Escaping from the ordinary, Rachel shows why she has so much talent. The
first track “The Duchess”, the movie's main title, showcases an amazing
theme with a violin solo that reads the soul of the character, like she was
telling a history. Follows the beautifull and dramatic “Mistake of Your
Life”, the charming “I Think You All the Time”, “No Mood for Conversation”,
where the strings “sing” with full force, “Gee and Grey Make Love”, that
acts like an absolute piece for the involvement of the characters, untill we
arrive to the magnificent “Gee and Grey Together in Bath”, where the main
theme returns to the scene, with an essential subtlety. In this track The
Duchess becomes an enchanted score and we can, in a easy way, to touch
the fellings of the protagonist, understanding your emotions through this
clear and fabulous melody.
Rachel also employs one classical piece of the
Austrian composer Joseph Hayden, “German Dance No, In D Major from Twelve
German Dances” which is complementary for the development of the movie, like
the inclusion, moments later, of Beethoven's “Adagio from String Quartet
Opus 1 no. 3 in D Major”, that introduces the work into the usual classical
pieces of that period.
“Bess' Sons” is another very beautiful song,
with a sweet piano that gives space to the strings, that really shows that
they are the main strength of this score. The beauty in the melancholy of
the theme creates a connection with the melody. As well, the true quality in
the music of Rachel Portman for this movie is the singular beauty that
pictures the story, creating a remarkable tonality that leads the public to
fall in love for this soundtrack.
In the last track, “End Titles”, we understand why Rachel's
scores are so special. She manages, through her female sweetness, transport
us to a world where so many few composers can take you: right into the deep
of the heart, where the waves of the reason can't be reached, and where we
always want to be. And for this reason The Duchess is an excellent
work, a small masterpiece in fact, a gift for all the listeners who know how
to enjoy the special things in life. |
