“Oscar Wilde was obsessed with beauty and one of my aims was for the score to be beautiful,” comments Debbie Wiseman in the booklet-notes for this, her second score for director Brian Gilbert. True to her stated aim, Wilde is one of the loveliest film scores of recent years.
Wiseman gives free rein to her most romantic sensibilities in a sensitive musical portrayal of Oscar Wilde’s incompatible loves: the heartfelt affection for his wife and children, the destructive passion for Lord Alfred Douglas. The composer’s principal theme for the “love that dare not speak its name” articulates Wilde’s feelings for Bosie; languid solos for oboe, cello and piano add a suggestively erotic veneer; the cumulative effect of this consciously ‘beautiful’ melody is poignantly melancholic. In contrast is Constance’s theme, a subtle portrait of Wilde’s devoted and forgiving wife whose unwavering love for her wayward husband is given due prominence in the film. Wiseman’s inexpressibly touching melody rises and falls with gentle nobility; its tenderness and warmth place it at the very heart of the score. Both themes are contrasted by an arrangement of Sullivan’s “Ah, leave me not to pine” from The Pirates of Penzance, which functions in the film as an ardent love song for Oscar and Bosie, and whose style dovetails sympathetically with Wiseman’s own.
Aside from a jaunty Western episode and a flamboyant fanfare (both of which are heard over the opening credits), the score remains focused on these central elements, but such is the strength and emotional depth of Wiseman’s music that within this narrow compass is to be found a wholly satisfying experience for the listener. Additional praise is due to MCI Presents on the occasion of this, their first CD release for their tasteful presentation and exemplary booklet. A beautiful score indeed.MTW