Restoration

When writing music for a historical film the usual question is whether to use actual music from the period, write music similar to the music of the era or simply write a traditional romantic score. Composer James Newton Howard and director Michael Hoffman worked closely together in this film, studying much 17th century music together. They decided to keep with music from the period but to mix Howard's score with period music, a very unusual approach. First they had to decide what instruments to use and decided period instruments would have to be used for the music of the era, mostly by Henry Purcell. These pieces are mostly trumpet fanfares and bright overtures used as ceremonial and court music in the film. But what about the rest of the music?There had already been a famous score(at least among film score enthusiasts) written for a movie set in the same period with King Charles II (George Sanders) and climaxing with the Great Fire of 1666. That was 1947's Forever Amber and the score by David Raksin, who had achieved success with Laura, was a sumptuous, fully romantic film score of the era. Howard decided to go with a romantic score, but one reigned in a bit with Baroque rhythms and a feeling for the music of the times without getting as big and lush as he often likes (The Prince of Tides, Wyatt Earp). He decided modern instruments had to be used. Baroque instruments have beautifully transparent textures, particularly in the strings, but also have a thin, astringent sound which takes some getting used to. For a general audience the warmth of modern strings would be necessary to accompany the picture and fully complement it. This is just the kind of challenge James Newton Howard, noted for his ability to write music in a wide variety of styles would love.He succeeded in creating a score where both elements blend so perfectly that there's no jarring effect when slipping from Purcell to Howard's romantic score. There is a gradual shift as Purcell's music is used mostly in the relatively early court scenes and later on Howard's score predominates as the film becomes more serious. There are two main themes amid the many minor ones that are a Howard trademark. The first, which Howard refers to as "The Healing Theme" is a pastoral theme that would fit in as a movement in any Baroque suite or concerto as an Air or Idyll. Introduced in A Creature of the New Age, it changes as he does reaching a climax with grandly swelling tones in The Right Knowledge, when Merivel finally finds himself by returning to his original calling as a physician.The second theme is even more memorable and is the melancholy five-note melody that goes through a series of chord changes, climaxing in a nine note passage. This is "La Folia" a famous and very old theme that became so wildly popular in the Baroque Era that numerous composers wrote variations on it including Lully, Corelli, Vivaldi, Geminiani and Handel. Handel used it as a movement in a harpsichord suite which was given a huge orchestration to great effect in Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. It has been studied extensively by music historians and first written down with its usual melody by Lully in the 1660's it was actually much older than that and likely was a folk melody from Spain or Portugal where it was a dance melody played very fast, as fast as some of Vivaldi's variations. In the 17th century it became popular as a slow Sarabande (a slow, stately dance) among the aristocracy. The most remarkable aspect is its flexibility, suiting itself to almost any instrument and according to instrumentation and tempo can convey many feelings form a light dance to a romantic feeling to a theme of destiny. It is used ten times throughout the soundtrack, especially well in The Wedding and with timpani and full orchestra in The Fire. Howard has written his own variations on a theme of La Folia here in beautiful orchestrations that reveal the many nuances of the piece.This is a beautiful score to listen to even if you haven't seen the film, full of the wonderful textures Howard gets from the string section. Absolutely spectacular looking, the film rightly won Academy Awards for costume and set designs but has been somewhat forgotten today. That the soundtrack is still in print is a testimonial to the brilliant score.

The soundtrack from the film 'Restoration' is a wonderful interpretation by contemporary composer James Newton Howard of the baroque sensibilities of England during the restoration of Charles I. There are 31 selections on the CD, of which 9 are the works of Henry Purcell, 1 is the work of Marin Marais, and the other 21 selections are by James Newton Howard. The 9 selections from Henry Purcell include work from his "Fairy Queen", "King Arthur", and "The Indian Queen". Notice that it was then in fashion to have composers write music about monarchy. Prior to the restoration of Charles I, puritan dictator Cromwell ruled England and outlawed most secular music and all theater. Thus with the restoration of Charles I we see an out bursting creativity as evidenced by the elegant works of Henry Purcell. We really know very little about Purcell other than in a three year period of production he produced 1,000 compositions. He died at age 35 like Mozart. He is buried in Westminster Abbey next to Vaughn Williams. He is a mysterious genius but his music is exactly what would have been heard in the court of Charles I, William and Mary, and Queen Anne. James Newton Howard's compositions follow a few basic musical themes on which he has created variations depending on the dramatic scenes in the film that they accompany. However this does not really distract from the soundtrack since there is a blending of the works that makes the distinctions between tracks seem to melt into each other. Howard's ability to compliment Purcell's elegance and graceful work is to be commended.

great movie and great music! you will enjoy i guarantee it!

The movie is beautifully done. A pleasure to watch along with the musical score that highlighted the movie. I also bought the musical cd.

Love the music

I lost my original cd and had to buy another one. That's how good this music is. Don't miss the movie either.

Love the movie and the music...

Love this music.

MY WIFE AND I LOVE THE MOVIE AND THIS SOUNDTRACK CD