{"id":1589,"date":"2010-11-19T12:49:15","date_gmt":"2010-11-19T17:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=1589"},"modified":"2011-02-14T01:29:35","modified_gmt":"2011-02-14T06:29:35","slug":"cd-doctor-who-series-4-the-specials-2009-2-disc-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=1589","title":{"rendered":"CD: Doctor Who, Series 4, The Specials (2009) – 2-disc set"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: Silva Screen\/ Released: October 4, 2010<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length:\u00a0CD1: 21 tracks \/ (52:14) —\u00a0CD2: 26 tracks \/ (64:21)<\/p>\n

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Composer: Murray Gold<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Unlike\u00a0prior Doctor Who<\/strong> compilations, the scope and sound of Murray Gold\u2019s music for the Series 4 specials is much grander, and fans ought to be delighted material from the first 3 are organized onto Disc 1, and the full score from the 4th fills out Disc 2.<\/p>\n

Gold\u2019s personal writing style is a unique fusion of classical Hollywood and concert styles with electronic and rock elements that always feel completely natural, regardless of whatever mode \u2013 action, romantic, heroic \u2013 is in play. Each cue is energized by the composer\u2019s own sense of humour, which often comes out through tiny little quotations and nods to films and characters that are part of cinema pop culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cHidden in the Closet,\u201d for example, snaps into a fast-moving action cue, set to a groovy beat inspired by Neal Hefti\u2019s\u00a0Batman<\/strong> TV theme, but before the cue\u2019s finale, Gold also quotes the chilling high register notes David Buttolph used to characterize Vincent Price\u2019s creepy presence in\u00a0House of Wax<\/strong>. The cue eventually reaches a calm denouement, but not before a harmonic slope reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann.<\/p>\n

In his liner notes, Gold admits his cues are goosed with some well-known homages, such as the tongue-in-cheek references to Prokofiev\u2019s Romeo and Juliet (which also made its way into Paul Clemente\/Bruno Nicolai\u2019s\u00a0Caligula<\/strong> score). The Prokofiev riff appears in \u201cNot the Doctor\u201d as well as a few subsequent cuts, and Gold uses the homage to add lovely moments of old-style romantic lyricism, giving the teleplays thematic richness and emotional scope far different than prior seasons.<\/p>\n

Romance also dominates introspective cues such as \u201cA Special Sort of Bus,\u201d and there\u2019s lovely interplay between plaintive strings and trumpet in \u201cA Dream of Catastrophe\u201d on Disc 2. The Bondian sounds of John Barry also work their way into the brassy \u201cA Bit of a Drag,\u201d recalling the action writing in\u00a0You Only Live Twice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If Disc 1 is dominated by emotionally mercurial cues, then Disc 2 is Gold\u2019s closing symphony which salutes the outgoing and current Doctor on a grand scale, augmented by a chorus.<\/p>\n

The 2-parter \u201cEnd of Time\u201d special is filled with lengthy cues and potent emotional statements, each of which guide the listener towards a large choral finale before Gold wraps up this collection with the rock-styled salute in \u201cThe New Doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stylistic highlights on Disc 2 include the swaggering heroism in \u201cAll in the Balance,\u201d and an homage to the western (\u201cThe End Draws Near\u201d). Minimalist figures anchored to a jazz rhythm in \u201cThe Ruined Childhood\u201d is where Gold employs an electric bass and orchestrations reminiscent of seventies action thrillers. A cartoonish mechanical figure in \u201cA Chaotic Escape\u201d is beautifully performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and invokes a deadly cat and mouse game between man and some blasted thing edging closer and closer to the Doctor with its destructive power.<\/p>\n

Chorals are integral to the emotional thrust in \u201cThe End of Time,\u201d and highlights are found in \u201cThe World Waits,\u201d with a chant that sounds like \u201cHurry up you people!\u201d and \u201cSpeeding to Earth\u201d where a rock rhythm allows Gold to easily switch gears between strained heroics and full-tilt action mode with large background chorals.<\/p>\n

Gold\u2019s other action highlights are \u201cBy Water Borne\u201d with an alternating 5-beat rhythm, and \u201cThe Time Lord\u2019s Last Stand\u201d that\u2019s heavily dominated by brass writing reminiscent of Jerry Goldsmith.<\/p>\n

Much like Michael Kamen, Gold knows how to have fun with film scoring, and while the quotations and homages are functional components of his scores, Gold\u2019s style dominates every cue, and reflects the huge emotional depth the he\u2019s given\u00a0Doctor Who<\/strong> since the series was rebooted in 2005. The original series was heavily affected by tight budgets, and while its respective composers managed to create a musical world that complimented the older BBC productions, it\u2019s stunning the way the overall series\u2019 musical scope has evolved over the past few years.<\/p>\n

Silva\u2019s 2-disc set is a fine sampler of Gold\u2019s beautiful writing, and the composer should be proud of this stellar accomplishment.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2010 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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Related links:<\/p>\n

CD: \u00a0Doctor Who<\/a><\/strong> (2006) — Doctor Who: Series 5 <\/a><\/strong>(2010)<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

Interview with composer\u00a0Murray Gold<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews . Rating: Excellent Label: Silva Screen\/ Released: October 4, 2010 Tracks & Album Length:\u00a0CD1: 21 tracks \/ (52:14) —\u00a0CD2: 26 tracks \/ (64:21) . Composer: Murray Gold . . Review: Unlike\u00a0prior Doctor Who compilations, the scope and sound of Murray Gold\u2019s music for the Series 4 specials is much grander, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[155,31],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-pD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1589"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1943,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589\/revisions\/1943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}