Jane Eyre


Silva Screen Records 1988 CD (0723723682222)
Silva Screen Records 1999 CD (5014929020426)
Movie Film release: 1970
 

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# Track   Duration
1.Jane Eyre Theme3:13
2.Overture - Main Title3:53
3.Lowood2:35
4.To Thornfield1:50
5.String Quartet - Festivity at Thornfield2:08
6.Grace Poole and Mason's Arrival3:01
7.Trio - The Meeting3:06
8.Thwarted Wedding2:40
9.Across the Moors2:36
10.Restoration3:55
11.Reunion4:22
 33:19
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Jane Eyre - 08/10 - Review of Tom Daish, submitted at (English)
When Williams is asked about his favourite score of his, Jane Eyre is usually the one he cites. It is about as far removed from his Wagnerian/Korngold adventure stuff as you're likely to get. It is even more intimate than even recent efforts such as Stepmom with a chamber sized orchestra being chosen, augmented by harpsichord, piano and guitar. The Jane Eyre theme is fairly understated and has a gently, almost mourning quality to it. Often performed on flutes with piano and string backing, it is certainly most appealing. The score is pretty well monothematic and so a great main theme is a must and John Williams being such a master tunesmith certainly delivers.

For a period piece such as this, most of the music is to underscore dialogue and so doesn't really get too much chance to become too animated. However, there are some extremely diverting exceptions. To Thornfield is a wonderful scherzo (something that Williams always does brilliantly) that comes across as a chamber sized version of his Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. String Quartet is exactly what you'd expect, a pseudo-Mozart styled chamber piece, although it does a few concessions to a more modern sound world. It was this particular piece that made me think Jane Eyre really is the kind of film that Patrick Doyle would have scored had it been made today. Perhaps Williams' miniature string quartet piece is a bit more matured than something Doyle would have produced, but Doyle would almost certainly have produced something equally appealing. Some of the moments in the score such as Grace Poole and Mason's Arrival are somewhat darker and threaten to turn into slightly overdone melodrama, the kind of brooding material that Rosza might have produced. In the context of the rest of the score, it wouldn't have worked since everything else is so delicate and the balance could easily have been upset where the melodrama not just about restrained sufficiently. The Meeting adds a guitar backing to a performance of the theme on bass flute (I think), which is extremely delightful. Across the Moors has much more of a John Williams sound about it, if that is possible; in the sense that the orchestra builds and the material takes on a slightly less intimate take with a sweeping string performance of the main theme.

Of course this score has to be recommended if Williams himself is so fond of it. I was concerned that it might be a bit slow going, especially since much of the material is fairly dark, but it is thankfully always interesting. The drama is more often than not supported very delicately indeed, quite unlike his efforts of 10 years later. We should all be grateful to Silva Screen for re-releasing this score since it was a very hard to find CD and it's good that a new younger generation of Williams fans can get to hear something a bit different. The sound has been remarkably cleaned up and it sounds like it was recorded yesterday, with the distant sounding original now a, well, distant memory.
Jane Eyre - 06/10 - Review of Lammert de Wit, submitted at (Dutch)
Jane Eyre is al tientallen malen verfilmd en er zijn al evenzovele scores gecomponeerd. Dit is de eerste Jane Eyre score die ik beluisterd heb. Deze film over Jane Eyre komt uit 1970 en is van een score voorzien door John Williams.

John Williams wordt gezien als de grootmeester van de filmmuziek. Maar hij heeft een stijl van componeren die je meer of minder aan kan spreken. En voor mij geldt wat eerder het laatste, zo ook in deze score van Jane Eyre .

In de eerste track wordt meteen het thema geprestenteerd, die de hele score zal kleuren en steeds terugkeert. Het is een thema die een beetje inhangt tussen romantisch en dramatisch en heeft een nogal melancholieke kleuring, waarbij de score als geheel een behoorlijk dramatische toonzetting heeft. Er komen zeker ook redelijk vlotte tracks in voor met een wat vrolijker noot, zoals Festivity At Thornfield, die klinkt als een dans en ook allicht in de film zo zal uitwerken.
Het verhaal van Jane Eyre is natuurlijk dramatisch, maar kent ook vele romantische momenten, die niet goed terug te vinden zijn in de score, behalve wellicht in de laatste track. De score is vooral dramatisch en wat melancholiek van toon. En dat gevoel blijft hangen gedurende de hele score. Zelfs als Jane Eyre terugkeert naar haar geliefde Rochester blijft Williams die wat melancholieke sfeer vasthouden, al kent die laatste track zeker een romantischer kleuring.
De score is verder bijna nergens sprankelend of romantisch en wat dat betreft is de score heel constant. De openingstrack sprankelt bij vlagen wel, maar heeft door Williams toch een bepaalde lading meegekregen. De score is goed gemaakt, maar die melancholieke ondertoon doorheen de hele score maakt dat de muziek niet zo aanspreekt, waardoor het net geen zeven haalt.

Other releases of Jane Eyre (1970):

Jane Eyre (2012)
Jane Eyre (2011)
Jane Eyre (1971)
Jane Eyre (1988)
Jane Eyre (2000)
Jane Eyre (1971)
Jane Eyre (1971)


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