Customer Reviews

Pride and Prejudice: The Original Soundtrack from the A&E Special Presentation

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had hoped when I bought this soundtrack that I would hear all the wonderful songs played in the film. I eagerly opened it and listened through and heard... mostly repetition!
The chapter summaries included bits of some dance songs, like transposed snippets of Mr Beveridge's Maggot for piano, but there was not one complete song to be had, and I was disappointed.
Don't get me wrong! I love the sparkling, quick-paced Pride and Prejudice theme! But I thought it would have been nice to have included the songs played and sung in the film - maybe more professionally than some of the characters, say, Mary, had performed, but having it on the soundtrack, even if only orchestrally, would have been nice.
Where was the first dance song at the Red Lion on this soundtrack? I loved those country dances! Where was Lizzy's pianoforte performance of Mozart's aria "Voi Che Sapete"? Where was Georgiana's performance of Beethoven's charming "Andante Favori"?
It would have made the soundtrack so much richer and more complete if only they had included these songs!

As it is, this soundtrack absolutely sparkles, especially with Melvin Tan's fabulous performance at the pianoforte. The use of a pianoforte is a detail that I highly praise. I am a big "period instrument" enthusiast and love that Carl Davis chose to use the proper piano appropriate to the era. His music is lively, playful, dark at times, but never despairs, and is all around excellent. We get all the character themes nicely displayed in this soundtrack, so we do not miss out of that, at least.
An extremely fine score, but a somewhat lacking, though enjoyable, CD.

I have owned a copy of this soundtrack for some time now, and have listened to it countless times. From the delightful opening theme to the finale, every note of the score seems to fit Jane Austen's wonderful story perfectly. The orchestration is superb and the recording itself is outstanding. My favorite sections include the "Canon Collins," which has that wonderful bassoon obbligato, befitting of the bumbling Mr. Collins. And who can help visualizing Lady Catherine de Bourgh upon hearing the "Rosings" theme? An added bonus is experiencing the wonderful musicianship of pianist Melvyn Tan. As far as soundtracks go, this is one of the best!

With all the great dance music in the BBC's fabulous production of P&P, you'd think this would be a great CD. Unfortunately, and suprisingly, none of the dance music is included! Instead, the entire CD is the background music used throughout the series which, after a very little while, all sounds pretty much the same. This is very tame, fairly bland fare -- may be OK as background music for a tea party, but otherwise not worth the effort, or price.

This is a beautiful accompanying piece to the wonderful series, "Pride & Prejudice," from A&E...it definitely evokes the same feelings & emotions that were engendered when watching the film, which is an absolute must for any quality soundtrack score: that it must strongly bring to mind what is happening on screen at the time! This one does that.

My only suggestions for improvement on this soundtrack would be to include the complete "Mr. Beveridge's Maggot" (the song that Darcy & Lizzie dance to), as well as other missing music from the film (I know, I know: they can't feasibly include it all)...but I do miss the lovely song that Lizzie sings "to" Darcy...aaahhh! It can be a bit repetitive, as some songs strike very closely to the same feel as others, but if you love the music from the series as much as I do, you don't mind!

All in all, I must say that this is a beautiful soundtrack for anyone who enjoyed the movie, "Pride & Prejudice"...highly recommended!

Although the score for Pride and Prejudice was fantastic, there were even more songs that I wish had been included on this disc"

My favorite part was Lizzy playing the piano at Pemberly: Voi Che Sapete from the Marriage of Figaro. I also loved the Netherfield Ball dances with Mr. collins and Mr. Darcy: The Shrewsbury Lasses and Mr. Beveridge's Maggot. (these are very difficult to find anwhere and I especially loved the arrangement in the movie. I would have loved to have a recording of these). Grimstock played by Mary at the Phillips Christmas Party is also a favorite. Also, Andante Favore by Beethoven played by Georgiana at Pemberly. Fortunatly, these are easily found on popular online music sites.

When watching the movie, the music sets the mood perfectly, the piano is excellent in both the movie and the cd. What I found though, if you listen to the cd, many songs sound the same, well renditions of one of the main themes. I was disappointed with the piano summarys, because it cut out most of the songs for that portion of the movie--such as piano summary for chapter 3, where Darcy and Eliza danced, there is about a 10 second "summary" of it and only with piano, though it was so beautifully done in the movie. The music is perfect though for when you don't have the movie and crave to see it, you can recall many scenes from the cd, and it is nice to listen to when doing something else.

Be careful when buying it, because it is an import and costs more, though it is a really nice cd, it can get extremely repetitive.

For those who loved A&E's version of Pride and Prejudice, the soundtrack is just as good. Listening to this CD will instantly sweep you back into the movie. This CD is great to listen to when driving or when you need to be up-lifted. I highly recommend this soundtrack to anyone who loved the Pride and Prejudice miniseries, or the novel. Sit back, relax, and enjoy Pride and Prejudice all over again.

I gave this only three stars because the best two songs were left out! I was like everyone else...I wanted the song that Elizabeth and Darcy danced to! Someone said it was "Mr.Belvedier's Maggot" but that isn't right--or at least it is near impossible to find! Here is the song: "Abdelazer, or, the Moor's Revenge, incidental music, Z. 570 Rondeau
Composed by Henry Purcell." Amazon has it on a couple CDs and I think I've bought them all! Here's one that has it that I just searched: "Great Performances: Baroque Favorites
~ Raymond Leppard (Conductor), et al." Just do a search on Henry Purcell & Rondeau, and you'll get a lot of hits. Now I just wish I could get the song of Elizabeth's singing while she's playing the piano!

I would have liked to have heard more of the actual songs that were in the drama, perhaps Voi Che Sapete (Lizzy singing at Netherfield), or the piece that Georgiana plays the same night. Many of the pieces were compilations of themes from throughout the drama. It is very enjoyable, however, I especially like the Rosings piece, everytime I listen to it I can picture Rosings and the "Munificent" Lady Catherine De Burgh

If you liked the BBC drama, you will like the soundtrack.

Like all the reviewers, I too was ecstatic when I received this CD in the mail. I listened to it that very day, and I loved it. But I was disappointed when some of the score from the film was not on the CD, like "Mr. Beveridge's Maggot" (the scene where Darcy and Lizzy dance) and "Grimstock." These are important pieces, and I wished they had been included. Nevertheless, this CD is still wonderful, and a definite must for Jane Austen fans everywhere.