PATRICK DOYLE

haven't researched him very much, but nothing about him particularly puts me off, though I might be biased because I love his truly fantastic name.

I adore Patrick Doyle. I grew up watching A Little Princess, so I’m definitely partial to that score and others of his that are more romantic ones (and ones I play on the piano), but Shipwrecked it truly excellent! Though I’m not the biggest fan of the swashbuckling musical style, Doyle’s take on it is most delightful! I’ve never seen the film and didn’t know it was Scandinavian, that super cool too - thanks for your informative review!

So I thought as a way to contribute more, I'd revisit narrowing down my top 3 favorite scores from individual composers. I thought next I'd talk about Patrick Doyle. He's one of the few current composers that I follow closely and get very interested and excited about their upcoming projects. I've loved his music since I saw A Little Princess (clearly you'll be sick of hearing this because I mentioned it the last time this thread was active, lol) in my early teens and was immediately struck by the beautiful compositions and unique instruments. And I think I've loved world elements in orchestral music ever since.

You won't be surprised at all by these top choices, because they're all in my Top 50 Scores of All Time list.

1) Cinderella
This score is just so joyful. I love the sweetness, lightness and elegance of it. And it makes me want to dance when I listen to it - and I'm no dancer! There's something just so unencumbered and magical about this score. I know it's a fairy tale movie, and Doyle captured that aspect so perfectly and gave it such a purity of heart, much like the title character. I can't help but feel happiness when I hear it.

2) A Little Princess
This score is what first drew me to Doyle's music and it has such a special place in my heart. The blend of instruments is just amazing - that sitar is just so gorgeous and I love the flutes and gentle percussion. It's just such a beautiful merging of cultures.

3) Sense & Sensibility
This score is truly a classic and some of the most delightful and touching music I've heard. Several of the themes are also some of my favorite to play on piano. It's truly fantastic, and I just love this score!

Here's the rest of my collection and other ones I've heard.

Artemis Fowl
As You Like It
Brave
Eragon
Death On The Nile
Gosford Park
Great Expectations
Hamlet
Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire
Henry V
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Mrs. Winterbourne
Much Ado About Nothing
Murder On The Orient Express
Secondhand Lions
Shipwrecked
Wah-Wah

A 4th Runner-Up for me might have to be Murder On The Orient Express, because you know how much I love the Armenian duduk, but it couldn't beat out Sense & Sensibility of course!

Any other great Doyle scores I've been missing?? I know there are several on my wishlist that I haven't heard...but I guess I can listen to them now because I have a streaming subscription at the moment. Still getting used to the streaming music thing, since I was doing CDs only for SO long! I'm sure there are many more great Doyle scores out there that I've missed out on, and I would love to hear what some of your favorites are!

And since he just won the Oscar, I'm going to rate my favorite Zimmer scores next!

Many great Doyle scores out there, but usually a forgotten gem is Nouvelle France

Here's my review
http://www.maintitles.net/reviews/nouvelle-france/

Here's one of the best tracks of the score (and for me his career). It shows the theme in all its glory
Les Retrouvailles
Celine Dion Song using that same wonderful theme in song version, powerful intimate stuff as well

And another knock-out is Nanny McPhee, especially magical stuff in the film itself. A bit too chaotic on album. But again having one of his all time greatest tracks. It literally sets the scene on fire

"Snow in August"
Look it up at Spotify

Nanny McPhee

Nanny McPhee and Cinderella are prime examples of how Doyle sets the film on fire. Scores are incredibly loudly mixed and get the time to shine. They are wonderful examples of how music makes the film more magical

Nanny McPhee has been on my wishlist for awhile. I haven't heard of Nouvelle France or East-West and will have to check those out! Will try to find those and the other three you mentioned Thor on Amazon Music. I'm glad you really enjoy Cinderella like me Thomas!

And I don't mind a longer running time. It makes the special parts that much more special I think, like little nuggets and surprises, and portions to look forward to. But I know you like to make edited playlists Thor, so I think we just like to listen differently.

By the way, I hereby retract my recommendation of THE EMOJI MOVIE. I relistened to it just now, and can't understand why I kept it in my iTunes collection in 2017. I mean, it has some absolutely fine segments, themes and ideas, but there's soooo much non-descript stuff inbetween. So it again falls into that category with "one or two good things, but the rest is meh" type of category that a lot of Doyle's post-2010 stuff falls into.

Let me instead replace that recommendation with a score by Patrick Doyle's SON, Patrick Neil Doyle. He has also ventured into film music at this point, and his score for NAE PASARAN from 2018 is excellent.

Cailin, I'll ask my brother to rip Nouvelle France (I've copied it so many years ago and I still got a physical CD of it). Give me a couple of days and I'll post it here for all the people that are interested

I can understand that. It's more "minimalist" in style. But then I'm a sucker for that kind of sound, so I was immediately attracted to it. Curious to hear what you think of ALL IS TRUE, once you hear it.

I have one that's called Jane Austen's World that has a mix of pieces from different films of her books. It was printed in the late 90s, so there's no Dario Marianelli, but it does have Portman's Emma, and Doyle's Sense & Sensibility, and also the BBC Pride & Prejudice by Clive Davis, and Persuasion by Jeremy Sams (a film and score I actually haven't seen/heard). They are easy to play and sound lovely. I'm only a beginner/intermediate level piano player, so they're just at the level I can relax and just enjoy them. It would be great if they could make a more complete book of Doyle's scores though! I know they have a Cinderella piano book. It might be a challenge for me but perhaps I should try it sometime.

And I also listened to the THE EMOJI MOVIE, Thor. On the first track, I thought it was a lot of fun and had promise, and I loved the theme. But to be honest, it then got a bit repetitive, and the "Nintendo" sounds started to annoy me after not too long. Those digital 80s electronic sounds have never been my favorite. I really appreciate Doyle's work on the score though! I agree with you a lot of fun, interesting ideas and great themes. But for me, the retro video game sounds made it not very easy to listen to overall.

As promised, the link to Nouvelle France

Nouvelle France

Wow, this is awesome Jurassic Shark! You're definitely inspiring me to start playing piano more!!

And, I'm only on the fourth track Thomas, but wow, this Nouvelle France is a beauty so far! Will follow up with more thoughts after I've heard more - thanks so much for sharing!

Thanks, Thomas! I downloaded it too. Known about it forever, but never owned it. Great stuff!