Soundtrack Review: W.E. (2011)

W.E. Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the film score W.E. by Abel Korzeniowski.

"I think it might just get better and better the more you listen to it"

W.E. is the second movie directed by pop icon Madonna and it stars Abbie Cornish, James D'Arcy and Andrea Riseborough. It's a romantic drama between two couples, one is King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson and the other is the story of a married woman and a Russian security guard. It has opened in limited quantity and the critics has not been too impressed. Ok, so the film might not be the greatest but there's a big reason to get excited about it because the score is composed by Abel Korzeniowski.

Track List

There are very few "new" composer that manage to impress me and certainly not in the way Abel Korzeniowski did in 2009 with "A Single Man". Such beauty! That was the first time I heard him even though he has been scoring films since 2000. It's such a rarity to hear a great orchestral score these days and so my anticipation of W.E. couldn't have been much higher. No pressure Abel!

Right off the bat, Abel still continues to impress me with 'Charms' that has a lot of the things I loved about "A Single Man". A beautifully orchestred track full of violins and a great melody. Superb! After that wonderful cue I was expecting another explosion of greatness. After listening to the whole thing a few times I still feel a bit hungry. I am not completely satisfied.

I think the reason this score isn't as great as I hoped was that a lot of the tracks seems a bit laid back, but not completely without emotion. The best cues on this score 'Abdication', 'Letters' and 'Dance for me Wallis' plus the first cue 'Charms' includes a buildup to a high point where I am completely mesmerized, even for a just a moment. Goosebumps appears. In tracks like 'I Will Follow You', 'Evgeni's Waltz' and 'Satin Birds' time passes without much emotion, without impressing me.

Conclusion

So Abel Korzeniowski failed to live up to my sky high expectations, but this is still a really good score. There's just great quality here in brief moments carefully sprinkled in the various cues. I think it might just get better and better the more you listen to it. I don't need to say it, but you need to get this. Clearly the best score I have heard so far in 2012.

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Listen to the W.E. soundtrack by Abel Korzeniowski below: