Lover's Prayer

Joel McNeely's career has often rather unfortunately fallen under the long shadow cast by his mentor and inspiration, John Williams. He is able to produce a pseudo-Williams score of the sort that Williams himself rarely writes these days. However, after joining Varese to conduct some of their best Herrmann & Barry re-recordings, he has managed to break free to a greater extent and written far more original works and even managed to salvage some dignity from The Avengers by writing a quirky, dynamic retro score that was far better than the film deserved.

For Lover's Prayer, we see McNeely in far more reflective mood with a very classically inspired score that would make Georges Delerue proud. This is fairly intimate stuff, but unlike some of his contemporaries, he has avoided making the music too introspective and avoiding the tendency to meander through unending string passages that go nowhere and make no dramatic impact. The main theme is a fairly slight melody that doesn't impose itself to strongly on the listener, but combines civility with melancholy together with the required romantic overtones. In fact, the entire approach is fairly old fashioned, although McNeely doesn't indulge too fully in golden age Hollywood excess and retains plenty of restraint throughout.

There are more perky moments such as the jaunty Suitor's Dance which features a rare appearance of brass, with a perky trumpet solo. Death and the Maiden isn't perhaps quite as strikingly dramatic as its name suggests, but does inject proceedings with a darker edge and McNeely effectively introduces some interesting brass ideas (a two note figure that fades in then out again). The slightly more modern orchestration still fits fairly comfortably within the more restrained framework of the rest of the score.

The End Credit brings the underscore to a close, but is followed by an extra Nocturne beautifully by Clifford Benson on piano. Indeed Benson's graceful piano playing enlivens much of the score alongside the equally lush playing of the London Chamber Orchestra. Anyone looking for a flashy orchestral score will be disappointed, but those who appreciate something like Doyle's Sense and Sensibility or romantic Georges Delerue will find much to savour in a delightfully written and performed score.