My hopes for music that would feature an energized tone of romantic adventure were quickly dashed when I began listening to "Tristan and Isolde" by Anne Dudley.  Surely, I thought a subject matter like this would be ripe for a composer's taking.  I was wrong. Another lesson in establishing a benchmark of expectations, I suppose.

 

The music is largely content to linger in the background with an underscore that never escalates.  I was quite hoping to hear a melodic theme that would be interpretated throughout the score in multiple variations.  Sadly, I was lucky to come away with even one track that could identify the movie.

 

The score is not all bad and truth be told, it's serviceable.  However, serviceable isn't cutting it for me anymore.  It feels like I am stuck in a wormhole by listening to soundtracks that fail to reach greater heights than what's been unfolding.  In this case, there are a few moments when instrumentation is used to signify the era, and while it's not bad to listen to, the flow never ascends to the stature I was hoping the music would climb to.

 

Another drawback, and this is by no fault of Dudley's, is that the orchestra is minimaly sized and doesn't have the depth that would give the music a fighting chance.  Whether there was a suitable number of orchestral players or not (which would then revert the fault to fall upon Dudley), but the end product is less compelling because of this lack of depth to the music.

 

I cringe when an opportunity is wasted, especially when the film's subject matter would allow for a higher level of creativity than what the end product offered up. In the final tally, the music is ultimately forgettable and box office numbers indicate that it follows the pattern of the movie itself.  

 

Final Score: If serviceable is what you seek, look to "Triston and Isolde".  If you prefer a soundtrack with more of a soaring musical context, you'll have to look elsewhere.