Something for Thursday

I haven’t seen the movie since the year it came out–1998, I believe–but Shakespeare In Love has always boasted one of my favorite filmscores, composed by Stephen Warbeck. Looking over Warbeck’s filmography, it turns out that Shakespeare In Love is the only score of his that I’ve ever heard. He takes an interesting approach to the film, mostly eschewing the kind of “Elizabethan” sound one might have expected. He also keeps the score mostly on the introspective side, but he also depicts in music a rather optimistic London, which may not exactly be accurate. Warbeck’s musical focus is on the developing, and forbidden, relationship between Shakespeare and Viola. This short suite captures a bit of the emotional heft of the music, even though the complete score is well worth a listen. (It’s actually joined my rotation of filmscores I play while I write Seaflame! Book Two.)