Walton: Henry V

Anyone not fond of film music albums with dialogue are advised to turn away now as for them, this recording will not be a pretty sight. Sorry, very sarcastic of me and in fairness I find myself not entirely enamoured with having such an arrangement for orchestra and narrators. This adaptation is by the late Christopher Palmer whose services to film music's longevity cannot be underestimated and his contribution to the music selection is admirable, I just wished he'd stopped there. Much in the manner of Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky Cantata (although in that instance it was arranged by the composer for the concert hall), this isn't so much a re-recording of the score, as a Cantata based upon it, or A Musical Scenario after Shakespeare - a description with somewhat curious syntax, I always think.

Walton's music is constructed into a masterful extended concert work with all the major sections of the original score retained. The Prologue is undoubtedly the most recorded segment even if, in some ways, it isn't particularly representative of the score as a whole, since it accompanies an imagined staging of the play in Shakespeare's time at the Globe Theatre which opens the film, before cutting to the 'proper' film version. Thus after the impressive fanfare like opening, there are some pseudo period dance tunes added which seem a little out of place for such a dramatic story even if Walton's interpolation is admittedly seemless. This particular version of the Prologue is somewhat different to other concert versions and I would assume more authentic to the original, but also contains a break for the narration to start.

Only Touch her soft lips and part and the Epilogue contain no narration and while many of the dialogues are carefully placed, some are not nearly so unobtrusive. Embarkation is very much in the vein of Walton's famous Crown Imperial, patriotic and optimistic but isn't served well by the narration appearing while the music is in full flight. This is not always the case. The Once More Unto the Breach Dear Friends speech is given at the opening of Harfleur with no music underneath, only at the close of the speech does Walton's rousing music make itself known. Agincourt is a particularly frustrating track where dialogue starts the track, which is then replaced by music, but dialogue returns later and it seems a pity to spoil the flow of Walton's exciting, but fairly often fairly light and surprisingly cheerful, for the most part at least, battle music. The buoyant female vocal arrangements during At the French Court are not entirely to my taste, although they add a little more period colour.

By contrast to Branagh's more recent filmed version of the play and Patrick Doyle's bracing and thrilling score, Walton's is surprisingly upbeat most of the time. In fact it brings to mind more of a swashbuckler than a Shakespearean historical epic, although this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The quality of the music I suspect, would never be in dispute, it is large scale, memorably melodic and brilliantly conceived, but enjoyment of the album will largely depend on your taste for the Bard's words. I am not especially familiar with the actors Michael Sheen or Anton Lesser, but their delivery is passionate and exciting, although hardly surprising given that most of the speeches are battle cries and rallying calls. The performance by the RTE Concert Orchestra is top notch under the baton of Andrew Penny and the recording expansive, but still detailed. The packaging has a summary of the play in relation to the music, as well as the words of all the dialogue sequences (presumably for those who do Shakespeare karaoke). Superb music with a marvellous performance but if speech over and around music isn't your thing, then regretfully not easy to recommend.