Customer Reviews

Gosford Park - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many people, I believe, buy a soundtrack because they are mesmerized by the movie and want to extend the experience by listening to something that reminds them of it. But "Gosford Park" is hardly that kind of movie. It is brilliant and atmospheric as it analyzes the British class system, but that's hardly the kind of thing that wins the heart. The soundtrack of this movie was my favorite CD from last year, and the reasons I liked it had nothing to do with the movie.

Why is this music so compelling and winning?

First, it is fun to discover the marvellous talent of Ivor Norvello. His music is half of the charm of the soundtrack. Some songs are funny ("Her mother came too"), some beautiful ("I can give you the starlight") and some poignant ("The land of might have been"). I had not encountered Norvello before this film. Jeremy Northam's perfect delivery of Norvello's songs would not leave me after I'd seen the film. Days later, I found the songs had taken up residence in the back of my head, insisting that I go back to the soundtrack to make them a permanent part of my musical life.

Second, there is the charm of the orchestral music composed by Patrick Doyle. Sometimes people wonder "why aren't they writing beautiful classical music any more?" Well, they are. It goes into soundtracks, however, rather than being commissioned by orchestras. The test for the quality of Doyle's compositions is that you don't need to refer to the film to appreciate this music. It simply charms and intrigues us with its own merits.

My third reason for loving this CD is too personal to mention here.

I give this CD my highest personal recommendation.

I saw the movie, Gosford Park, and I thought it was good-- it deserved the acclaim it got, but I will wait a few years before seeing it again.

On the other hand, the song, The Land of Might-Have-Been, mesmerized me. I had never heard of Ivor Novello before the movie, and I knew I had to buy this CD just for this song. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I have started to enjoy the other songs on the CD, too. All the songs that Jeremy Northam performs on this CD make this worth purchase. I Can Give You the Starlight is well-done, but the two novelty numbers (And Her Mother Came Too... and If You Wonder What a Duke Should Be) are guaranteed to give you a grin.

I am not a fan of instrumental music-- I really like lyrics. However, the instrumental music on this CD is wonderful while you are working on other things at your computer. This is especially true in the case of Waltz of My Heart.

I had never heard of Ivor Novello, but I can assure you that I will purchase more of his music. If you have parents who are over 60, I think this would make a very good gift for Mother's Day or Father's Day. They will love it.

I don't usually buy soundtracks, but music was such an integral part of the experience of seeing this movie that I just had to get the CD. It is wonderful. The highlights, of course, are the Ivor Novello songs, which Jeremy Northam (what a surprise) sang so very well. His style and phrasing were just so appropriate for the period that it was almost like stepping back in time and listening to all those vintage Coward songs as sung by stars of yesteryear. I was not very familiar with Novello songs before this movie, but I am quite a fan now. As for the rest (by Patrick Doyle), they were quite complementary to the period and the story, while standing out on their own as wonderful pieces. I've played this CD incessantly since I bought it. (I've also seen the movie twice, and just like the CD, it bears repeating.) I highly recommend both this CD and the movie.

I unwrapped "Gosford Park", popped it into the CD player, opened the sun roof in my Honda Accord and pushed the "on" button. Curling around via my car speaker system was a campy, teatime in the drawing room, cigars and brandy in the library, two-step score sprinkled with little vocal gems which gave me the most elegant driving music. I was transformed to a cool Englsh afternoon on the grounds of a mansion perserved by the National Trust with every detail delineated musically by Patrick Doyle, and his ensembles. I have yet to see the film, but the setting is perfectly clear in my imagination. My English friends would say it was "brill", or brilliant. It's a neat and delicious score, even on an unlikely steamy Florida highway. .....Madge Bruner Hazen

If you saw the movie and you liked the music then here you go, no surprises here really. My favorite parts are the singing, if you loved when the actor played the piano and sang then you're in luck because 4 or 5 (can't remember) of the tracks are his and sound just like the film (w/o the snide remarks from maggie smith) + there are a couple female vocal songs which are also nice and the theme was nice to, very relaxing.

When I saw the movie at the theater I kept thinking I've got to have the soundtrack to this movie because it is so beautiful. I also really enjoyed the sung songs 6.And Her Mother Came Too, 10.I Can Give You The Starlight, 11.What A Duke Should Be, 16. Only For A While, 20. The Way It's Meant To Be, 24. The Land That Might-Have-Been!! I think that Patrick Doyle did a wonderful job of scoring this movie the just fits right in with it all, I only wish there was more to listen to!! I highly recommend this album to everyone who liked the movie and people who love great soundtracks, you will not be sorry if you buy this!!!!

Much like the "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack spawned a revival in folk, bluegrass and Americana music, I believe this soundtrack will revive interest in the music of 1930s England. Like many viewers of the film, I was surprised to learn that Ivor Novello was not only a real actor but a talented composer as well. Jeremy Northam's pleasant baritone brings his pieces to life, particularly "The Land of Might-Have-Been."

This music brings back great memories of the movie. It also brings a picture image in the mind for a time and way of life that no longer exists. This is a wonderful soundtrack.

The movie started and without any warning Ivor Novello's music was filling the theatreand we were thrilled.
...
I absolutely love the cd and have already played it over and over. So many memories.
Tomorrow I'm giving a copy to a friend who I hope will enjoy it as much as I do.
Never mind that Love's Last word is not included - The Waltz of my Heart and the other tracks are lovely. If you're not familiar with Ivor Novello, here's a chance to be introduced to his work.

Play the cd and see how long it takes for someone to say "Oh I love that ! "

I thought the movie was fun but oh the music!!

I bought this after listening to an NPR review that highlighted the Ivor Novello songs, and I didn't read or listen carefully enough to recognize that the bulk of the disk would actually be made up of the instrumental compositions done for the film. They're quite good as that sort sort of thing goes [NOTE EDIT BELOW], but somewhat repetitious when played on their own rather than as backdrop to the action, and it wasn't what I was hoping to hear.

Just beware if you were hoping for lots more of "and her mother came, too," etc., rather than primarily a series of variations on a few instrumental themes.

That said, I do really enjoy the Ivor Novello tunes; I'm giving only three stars because I wouldn't have bought the CD had I realized how few it actually contained.

EDIT: I've revisited this, thinking I gave short shrift to the non-Novello pieces in the original review because I had mostly fast-forwarded through them as soon as I got bored. On reflection, though, I think I was much too generous in saying they were "quite good as that sort of thing goes."

In reality, the only instrumental piece that I find listenable (the first) turns out to be written by Novello, and the only vocal pieces I can't stand are not. The instrumentals are not just incredibly repetitious, but banal minimalist (and hey, I like Phillip Glass!) mood setters, which may work as backdrop to a picture, but which just make me itchy with impatience at home. (Since I also found the movie somewhat disappointing - nice set pieces, very professional execution, but ultimately very little new, though several characters were superb, among them Mary, Novello, and Maggie Smith's economically stretched aristocrat - perhaps the efficient but unimaginative professionalism of the music was actually making me impatient with the movie, too.)

The Novello pieces have a wonderful lightness and wit that only throws up the earnest, metronomic, modern-take-on-period-piece quality of the remaining works. What few moments worked for me were those that borrow most blatantly from the opening Novello instrumental.

Obviously, a lot of listeners disagree. But definitely listen to Amazon's samples before you spend the money to see which camp you fall into; 30 seconds is definitely more than enough of most of them for me. As a guide, the Novello tracks are: 1, 6, 10, 11, 19, 20, and 24. For the rest, "Bored to Sobs" (track 4) unfortunately borders on the truth.