Two songs open and close this album. The first is "The Mystic’s Dream" written and performed by Loreena McKennin. At the end is "I Will Remember You Still" performed by Aeone and co-written with Holdridge. Aeone is the featured vocalist throughout the album, where her calming wordless voice is used as a colourful addition to the orchestral palette. The effect is very much Enya meets Gladiator (i.e. Lisa Gerrard), which I’m sure was either the brief or the composer’s intent.
The subtlety she brings is the score’s foremost tone. Combined with Celtic and ethnic flutes, esraj and Scottish pipes, it’s a quite beautiful approach. The contrasting tone is achieved with extremely prominent percussive moments. All manner of drums are thwacked in a closely-miked set-up and tear out of the quietude of many of the generously long cues (e.g. "The Cave Ceremony"). To be honest, it’s the more intriguing element of the score. Holdridge has made the most of what’s now becoming a familiar Hollywoodisation of the Celtic sound. Whenever the action strikes up, so does this album.
At the centre of the score is an adagio motif (a shade reminiscent of Elliot Goldenthal’s from Alien³). It’s usually backed by Aeone of course. For this Arthurian re-telling, it all seems extremely obvious in concept. I stress again however that Holdridge really has made this his own. As an adventure score with emotional subtext, it’s actually a whole lot more involving than it ought to be for modern television.
Paul Tonks
Original Television Soundtrack
