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According to Guinness World Records, Sherlock Holmes is the most portrayed literary human character. Considering all of the TV shows and movies we've had in just the past few years, it's easy to see the truth behind this claim. With all the various tales of Sherlock finding their way to screens, this particular film starring Sir Ian McKellen, is pretty unique. We've seen Holmes young, middle aged, and know as an older gentleman coming to the end of his career. I haven't seen the film yet and will now have to wait for it to be released on Blu-Ray, but I am pretty excited to see this story about the world's most famous detective.
Carter Burwell was tasked in coloring the story with music and he certainly is quite an accomplished composer for the job. Burwell has scored films such as The Alamo, Fargo, The Hudsucker Proxy, Miller's Crossing, Rob Roy, The Twilight Saga, and my personal favorite True Grit. The music he gives audiences here reflects the age of the character and is serene, dignified, and melancholy. Burwell has developed a theme for the character and we are introduced to it on the first track entitled "Mr. Holmes". The theme is easily recognizable and appears throughout the score. It's a great theme that I feel represents the character at this stage in his life quite well. My favorite treat of the theme takes place during the last track entitled "The Consolation of Fiction". This last track really is a beauty.
Most of the score floats along and is the polar opposite of other Sherlock Holmes score music that we've heard. No super dramatic and noisy action romps here. The music is slow, careful, and gives me the imagery of Holmes involved in a very thoughtful and challenging investigation. There are a few surprises in the music as well. Burwell's use of traditional Japanese instruments on select pieces like in "Holmes in Japan" and "Hiroshima Station" add to the atmosphere of this story. There is also this wonderful piece called "The Glass Armonica" (track 4). I wonder if that is a real Glass Armonica? It has such a unique sound but unfortunately there is no musician credits in the liner notes. You hear this sound a few more times in other tracks and I wish I knew if someone was playing a real one or is this some sort of electronic effect. Glass Armonicas were music instruments that Ben Franklin made that used spinning glass bowels and the musicians wet fingers. Mozart and Beethoven even wrote music for them. It's a pretty cool instrument with a "mesmerizing" history.
The music is quite thoughtful and relaxing. If you enjoy background daydreaming music or just music to unwind to...this score is a great choice. The music hints at the sadness of Holmes losing his greatest gift...his powerful investigative mind. But the music has a great solemn strength to it as well. It reassures us that Holmes may just have one more go at it before all is lost.
The CD is produced by Lakeshore Records and comes packaged in their standard digipack case. Like many of their physical CD releases, this one has a big gold sticker stating that it is a "Limited Edition CD" with only 1000 copies going to print. This release has 16 tracks and runs a little short for me at 39 minutes. There is a 4 page insert located in a sleeve in the front cover that contains 3 pictures from the film and a few production credits for the music.
It's a great score and is a perfect fit for a movie dealing with an aging Sherlock Holmes. The score can easily be enjoyed as a stand alone piece and is quite nice to relax and read to. I'm looking forward to watching this film and hearing how this music weaves itself through the story. Sherlock Holmes, "the most portrayed character" indeed. I wonder where we will find him next?
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I will just be brief here, although some people (justly) believe it is impossible for me to be brief. The soundtrack to Mr. Holmes by Carter Burwell has the same bittersweet quality to it that the movie has. It's sad, it's beautiful, and it is a journey taking one into the twilight years of a fascinating man, not a character of fiction, but a man we can really believe once lived on this planet whom we have all come to love...whether he liked it or not. I waited until I received my copy of the Mr. Holmes soundtrack, after enjoying the movie very much, to read the original book by Mitch Cullin, A Slight Trick of the Mind, which I also ordered through Amazon, and listening to the music while reading the book improved my appreciation of them immeasurably.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 28, 2015
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 1, 2017
I will just be brief here, although some people (justly) believe it is impossible for me to be brief. The soundtrack to Mr. Holmes by Carter Burwell has the same bittersweet quality to it that the movie has. It's sad, it's beautiful, and it is a journey taking one into the twilight years of a fascinating man, not a character of fiction, but a man we can really believe once lived on this planet whom we have all come to love...whether he liked it or not. I waited until I received my copy of the Mr. Holmes soundtrack, after enjoying the movie very much, to read the original book by Mitch Cullin, A Slight Trick of the Mind, which I also ordered through Amazon, and listening to the music while reading the book improved my appreciation of them immeasurably.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 24, 2018
