A supremely accomplished romantic comedy, John Madden’s Shakespeare in Love is the most exhilarating British film since Much Ado About Nothing (1993). It is an apt comparison, for beyond the commonality of Shakespeare, this fourth collaboration confirms the quality of a composer/director team to rival Patrick Doyle and Kenneth Branagh.
Stephen Warbeck’s score is imaginatively orchestrated for modern and period instrumentation. In places it is reminiscent of Doyle, although the propulsive main theme brings Michael Nyman to mind. Yet the music has an individuality of its own – there is a lovely pastoral melody for the central romance; in darker mood a mournful cello is accompanied by a church bell, while soprano Catherine Bott appears on the wordless ‘The Play and the Marriage’ (track 16). ‘The End’ (track 23) has a glorious bittersweet uplift, assuring the listener that Stephen Warbeck has earned a place among the most talented of young British film composers.Gary S. Dalkin