Ilan Eshkeri is an emerging talent in the field of orchestral film scoring, and many film music fans were enamored with his large-scale fantasy score for Stardust. However, others claimed his score was far too reliant on existing film and classical music for inspiration, with some collectors blaming temp-track love as a major detractor to the score.
His latest major score, The Young Victoria, raises few of these questions. It does, however, feature a large amount of existing classical music, adapted only slightly to serve as score material. This was reportedly a conscious choice by Eshkeri and the producers (and a smart one, given the film’s subject matter), but it also means that collectors will still have a difficult time recognizing Eshkeri’s own musical voice in the surrounding abundance of classical numbers.
Dominant Classical Presence in The Young Victoria Soundtrack
While Eshkeri’s own original material is attractive and memorable enough in its instrumental constructs and thematic development, it sounds amazingly simple and even diluted when heard immediately alongside the far more complex and richly orchestrated classical adaptations.
As an example, cues such as “Archery” and “Rainy Gazebo” are somber, delicate cues for strings and piano (typical of Eshkeri’s score as a whole) which are separated by the Strauss-adapted “The First Waltz,” which is so colorful and lively in comparison that Eshkeri’s score seems somewhat bland and even forgettable by comparison.
The score album’s longest cue, “The King’s Birthday,” is entirely adapted from classical material; it is the most memorable highlight of the album, showcasing the original score’s general anonymity even more blatantly.
Solid, Simple Album for Ilan Eshkeri's Score
To its credit, however, the album has an agreeable flow and superbly elegant tone, and is a wonderfully effective background listen. The only cues which depart from the regal sobriety and swirling energy of the score as a whole are “Assassin” and “Riot”, the former a dark, tragic elegy and the latter a furiously percussive piece which recalls the busier moments of Stardust.
Overall, The Young Victoria is a score which is solid in composition and development, but simplistic in construction. Slow piano progressions supported by long, sustained string chords are saved by Eshkeri’s simple but well-employed four-note theme, which receives ample airtime in the score.
Conclusion
Surrounded as the score is by classical adaptations of a far richer nature, Eshkeri’s score is not the most memorable aspect of the album. As an imported CD, it can also be surprisingly expensive to obtain outside of the iTunes and AmazonMP3 download stores.
The embarrassing Sinead O’Connor song at the end is, unfortunately, likely to be the main selling point for most mainstream buyers. The score, however, is a pleasant enough endeavor which comes hesitatingly recommended: a regular romantic-period classical music compilation would certainly be cheaper.
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