By all accounts this was a fairly successful biopic of the life of Oscar Wilde and starred Britain's modern answer to the literary genius, Stephen Fry - whose resemblence to Wilde is quite uncanny and who is more than capable of supremely funny off the cuff wit. I always think that this kind of talky biopic must be quite a challenge to composer. They are of course duty bound to sum up the character of the person the film is about. Jerry Goldsmith neatly summed up Patton's different traits with some clever orchestral effects (the military march for his role in the army, the echoing trumpets for his belief in reincarnation and so on). However, a character such as Oscar Wilde has a much more subtle and complex personality, but Debbie Wiseman has created a proud, but somewhat sombre theme that would not be out of place in Nino Rota's canon. It is certainly one of the most appropriate and superb themes I've heard in a long while.

The second theme, which is in more of a romantic style that is actually introduced in I Do Need An Audience, but in a rather lively presentation. It is usually performed on woodwinds and winds as a more gentle melody and serves as a nice counterpoint to Wilde's own theme. Almost all of the score is based around one or other of the themes, although there are a few moments for occasional variety. For some reason (that is probably explained by seeing the film), extracts of Ah, Leave Me Not To Pine by Guilbert & Sullivan are worked in. I'm not a great fan of said writing duo, but the melody is pleasant enough and does provide for a little change from Wiseman's lovely, if overused material. Perhaps the most atypical cue is Wild West which, as the title suggests, has some of the off beat rhythms of Aaron Copland that are just worked in sparingly enough to not stand out excessively, but provide just the right Western mood. The final cue reprises the two main themes for a lengthy denoument and a great end to the score.

Despite some wonderful thematic material, one still can't help thinking that it is just a fraction overused and threatens to become repetitive at times. Scores like this are exceptionally annoying since there is no denying the effectiveness of the material, but at almost an hour, is just a fraction too much. The earlier sections have enough variety, but this tends to wane somewhat during the second half. Perhaps a little light pruning might have provided for a more compact representation of the score and as such could have been more satisfying. I could possibly be seen as being excessively harsh with the rating as the music itself is extremely good, but even the best music can become wearing after excess repetition. Even the alterations in the orchestration don't change the dramatic mood of each theme to any great extent. However, a score that shows a hugely promising future for Debbie Wiseman that is only let down by an over generous album presentation.

Rating ~

  1. Wilde (4:29)
  2. Wild West (2:41)
  3. I Do Need An Audience (1:48)
  4. Almost as Beautiful as His Mother (2:07)
  5. Nothing Should Reveal the Body but the Body (1:48)
  6. He Loves* (1:15)
  7. Gates Thrown Open (1:39)
  8. Love Goes Round (1:27)
  9. I Will Kiss thye Mouth, Jokanaan** (1:46)
  10. The Wounds of Love (3:53)
  11. Constant Constance (2:03)
  12. The Selfish Giant (1:09)
  13. Mr Wilde, You Must Go (4:31)
  14. Cast Into Outer Darkness (2:02)
  15. Don't Ever Change Your Love (2:04)
  16. What is the Love that Dare Not Speak It's Name? (1:20)
  17. Angel at my Side (1:52)
  18. Who has Dared to Wound Thee (3:11)
  19. De Profundis (1:39)
  20. So Wildly Worhsipped and so Madly Kissed (2:11)
  21. An Age of Silver (9:37)

Total Time ~ 55:10

*Arrangement of "Ah Leave Me Not To Pine" by Guilbert & Sullivan
**Arrangement of bars 1-5 of "Ah Leave Me Not To Pine" by Guilbert & Sullivan