The Queen

Gorgeous musical soundtrack to the best movie of 2006. Desplat isn't in the same league as the great John Williams but this is a lovely companion to compliment the brilliant performance of Helen Mirren as the beleaguered Monarch of Great Britain and the superb direction of the talented Stephen Frears.

Desplat takes the movie subject matter deeper into the heart.What a master. Check out his soundtrack to THE PAINTED VEIL.

Alexandre Desplat's minimalist score fitly accompanies the taut psychological drama that is THE QUEEN. This 2007 motion picture imaginatively chronicles the tectonic shifts that were occurring in the royal family behind closed doors in the wake of Diana's tragic death in a Paris highway tunnel. Alternately brooding and winsome, Desplat produces a soundtrack that underscores Queen Elizabeth II's rather heroic change of mind regarding her family's role vis-à-vis 'the people'.The people were in the streets, not exactly manning the barricades but rather shedding tears that astonished themselves and challenged the stern facades of Buckingham and Balmoral. Desplat's music is almost spritely, as though hinting at a lightness of heart that would see the Queen through.The London Symphony Orchestra manages its task exquisitely. No one--neither composer nor ensemble--overpowers the dramatic screen images. Rather, they suggest, they illuminate, they hint at matters of the heart, as soundtracks and their performers are meant to do.This is not likely music you'll be playing for your grandchildren, obliging them to feel what *you* felt back then. Yet it *is* music perfectly adapted to its place. The staccato keyboard and the bubbling clarinet of track three ('People's Princess I') hint that such restraint will be the order of the day throughout. What follows does not disappoint.Fine writing, in a genre that is meant always to play a subdominant role, behind the curtain, off in the wings, subtly from the margins.Fitting, at moments, for a queen.

Hopefully we'll hear a lot in the future of Alexandre Desplat, because he's a very nice new colour in the realm of film music. His score for the Queen is majestic, sophisticated and haunting, beautiful, moving and elevating. It deserves all appreciation and is well worth listening to on and on again. Bravo maestro, I highly recommend it to all.

Although many consider this one of the less Desplat scores, I actually love it. It is playful, dark, grand and mysterious.

I saw the movie 4 times, and realized that I liked the music even better than the film! This is one of my favorite CD's and I listen to it all the time!

Loved the score made me cry a little

In a modern film about a modern queen it is only appropriate that Desplat does not give us the majestic score that would be present in a historical film. Instead, he is able to mimick Mirren's portray of Her Majesty with humor, grace, and tradition. The inclusion of Verdi's "Libera Me" is understandable and even more fitting as the closing track. The entire CD is a complement to the film and a compliment to the Queen herself.

Desplat at his finest.

I watched the film The Queen recently, and as well as enjoying the excellent movie, I was struck by the music throughout the film and, in particular, during the end credits. You might imagine that a film about the British Royal Family would inspire typically English, very marching-band music, however this is not at all the case. The soundtrack reminded me very much of music by Danny Elfman (who wrote the amazingly beautiful soundtrack of Edward Scissorhands, amongst many other films). It is haunting and ethereal, whimsical and delicate, and conjures up another world - not, in fact, the other world doubtlessly inhabited by the royals, but an enchanted world, full of fairies and elves and the otherworldliness we have come to expect from Danny Elfman. This soundtrack could easily have been used for a fantasy film, eg Narnia or Harry Potter. If Alexandre Desplat (whom I had not previously heard of) always writes music of this calibre, I shall look out for other work by him in the future.An album for Danny Elfman fans wishing they could find something else similar to his music, or for anyone who appreciates a magical, mysterious soundtrack.

Excellent film score by Alexandre Desplat (and film)