MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK AmazonUS
Download: Classicsonline

 

Adrian JOHNSTON (b. 1961)
Brideshead Revisited (film score) (2008)
Chris Garrick (violin); John Etheridge (guitar); Peter Dixon (cello); Jonathan Scott (piano)
BBC Philharmonic/Terry Davies
rec. Studio 7, New Broadcasting House, Manchester, England. February 11-14 2008.
CHANDOS CHAN10499 [47:20]
Experience Classicsonline

The Chandos Film Music series has until now concentrated solely on historic scores by eminent, formally trained composers - particularly British composers – composers of the calibre of Vaughan Williams, Alwyn, Bax and Bliss; and Korngold working in Hollywood, and Shostakovich working in Russia. This score for the new film of Brideshead Revisited breaks the mould. It seems that Chandos chose to release Adrian Johnston’s score because the BBC Philharmonic were selected to record the film’s soundtrack. It will be remembered that Chandos had used that Manchester-based orchestra for so many its film music recordings.
 
Clearly the new score begs comparison with the music for the original Brideshead TV series with music by Geoffrey Burgon (Silva Screen FILMCD723 - see review). Its title music, a majestic yet somewhat forlorn theme set behind the opening credits and a picture of the Brideshead estate (Castle Howard in Yorkshire in reality, of course), was so redolent of a crumbling aristocracy. The Burgon music became quite celebrated and, as I remember, the CD of the TV series’ music sold well. I have to say that I will be surprised if this CD will emulate its success.
 
I had not come across the name of the composer, Adrian Johnston before. The lavish colour booklet, printed on quality art paper, showing many stills from the new film, relates that Johnston was born in Cumbria in 1961 and read English at Edinburgh University but had decided to follow a career in music. There is no suggestion that he has had any formal music college training. Whilst still a student, Johnston began to play drums in pop groups, joining a band that would eventually become The Waterboys. Later he travelled around the world accompanying silent films as a one-man band. He has since worked: writing and collaborating on scores for theatre productions, films and TV. He won an Emmy for his score for Charles Sturridge’s mini-series Shackleton in 2002 and a BAFTA for his score for Poliakoff’s Capturing Mary in 2008. The conductor, Terry Davies - who with David Firman helped Johnston orchestrate this score - has also worked extensively in TV and films, as orchestrator and music director on many theatre, operatic, film and TV productions. His dance music was featured in Mira Nair’s Vanity Fair and he wrote songs for TV’s Tipping the Velvet.
 
I have not seen the new film yet, so I cannot vouch for this score’s effectiveness as set against its visual images, but I do remember the TV series and Evelyn Waugh’s novel. This film is directed by Julian Jarrold and was written by Andrew Davies and Jeremy Brock. Johnston’s score, to my mind, is very much an example of the present genre of film scores; this Brideshead score exhibits a slight tendency towards the formulaic. It’s often doleful with an ever-present mood of melancholic or wistful nostalgia and vulnerability. The music ruminates up and down the scales and meanders, often ambiguously, through ripples and tremolandos. It has to be said that no strong theme emerges although once or twice, in cues such as ‘A Crock of Gold’ and ‘Venice’ something like a theme tries to emerge. In ‘Venice’ there is an attractive violin solo. In fact there are interesting colourations and effects for the Venice-set cues and the harp and piano arpeggios of ‘Arcadia’ are pleasant. In its opening pages, ‘The First Visit’ has orchestrations and form very reminiscent of Eric Coates. There are some nice evocative touches in ‘Oxford’ - this cue has some of the very few upbeat passages in the whole score - suggesting rippling waters and dreaming spires. ‘Wise Old Wine’ is a jazz interlude for violin and guitar. I wonder if Johnston had been inspired by the partnership of Menuhin and Grappelli?
 
This is amiable and pleasing stuff but nothing really memorable. Maybe Chandos should concentrate on its historical film scores?
 
Ian Lace
 

 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.