February 10, 2012

  • Review: Doctor Who, Series 6 (Gold)

    Doctor Who—Series 6 

    MURRAY GOLD

    Silva Screen Records 1375

    Disc One: 31 Tracks – 68:22

    Disc Two: 35 tracks – 74:07

     

    By this time, most fans of the phenomenal reboot of Dr. Who will need very little convincing to continue to add to their musical collection this latest 2-disc Silva presentation.  Murray Gold has continued to be given a broad cinematic canvas to work with on these episodes which allows for often stunning musical support.  Series Six continues to follow Matt Smith’s Doctor through various adventures. 

     

    As with previous  releases, this set features a good collection of music from the opening two-part episode and the additional 10 episodes.  The opening “I am the Doctor in Utah” features one of the new thematic ideas Gold introduced in Series 5.  The music features beautiful vocalises by Mae McKenna with material that casts its shadow across the series.  From the outset, one is struck by the amazing orchestration and dramatic thrust of the scores Gold is providing for this series.  It continues to be the very best television music never over reaching and managing to create important thematic connections through episodes and over the season as a whole.

     

    The music for the opening two episodes (The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon) features some brass work that is straight out of a David Arnold Bond-score.  These at times jazzier elements are reminiscent of Gold’s recent Hoodwinked 2 score (this style is often associated with some of the action material).  They feature a bit more electric guitar and drumming than one has heard in previous musical supports and some slight electronic additions as well—though the thrust of the music continues to be conceived in a large orchestral sound.  In many respects, the music for Series 6 continues to build on the innovative touches introduced the previous season.  Strong thematic writing though really aids in providing for a truly engaging listening experience.  Throughout the presentation there are many recurring ideas that pop up in interesting moments in the score as the various stories unfold.  The music connected to River Song plays an important role in particular throughout Series 6.

     

    One of the things that certainly provides greater musical variety are the often unusual story settings that can find the Doctor and companion in historic or futuristic settings.  The Curse of the Black Spot is one such spot with a mesmerizing “Deadly Siren” and hints at swashbuckling music.  “I’ve Got Mail” from The Doctor’s Wife has some moments of cinematic soap opera and subtle humor.  But what is most striking is the wind writing that appears in “My TARDIS” accompanied with lush harmonic writing.  One of Gold’s hallmarks is the use of arpeggiated material, similar to Davis’ Matrix scores.  This is on display in several big action cues.  The additional ambient sounds that appear also create rather intriguing musical pictures in fine contrast to the orchestral sounds.  Gold’s inclusion of ethnic instrumentation often recalls Greg Edmonson’s Firefly music, but the budget here is a bit larger allowing for more orchestral sound.  This can be heard in the fascinating music for the two-part episodes of The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People.  Here more electronic instrumentation and ambient ideas are layered in to the textures more frequently along the lines of some of the dramatic writing Gold and Ben Foster (his orchestrator) used for Torchwood.  “Loving Isn’t Knowing” has some moments that feature some of the most acerbic as well as some simple lyric beauty.  “Growing Up Fast” from Let’s Kill Hitler (which opens disc two) is one of the more striking smaller ensemble numbers reminiscent more of light-British indie Romantic comedy.  This particular score features some of the season’s most beautifully scored music with a dash of comedic scoring.  Most fascinating are the ways melodic lines shift in unexpected directions in the selections presented here cast against unique harmonic combinations.  There are still plenty of the bigger orchestral moments to go around as well.  The music for Night Terrors features some of the creepiest music collected here (especially in “A Malevolent Estate”).  This will find a parallel musical reference later in “Tick Tock” from The Wedding of River Song.  Closing Time is another unique blend of scoring with some quite touching music integrating thematic threads into an almost sentimental sensibility in “My Time Is Running Out.”  Many of these hints at dramatic turns will find their culmination in the music for the episode The Wedding of River Song which features a character track for Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

    The accompanying booklet features brief comments for each episode.  In a rather unique move, Gold invited fans to suggest what musical moments should appear on the release by using Twitter.  Hopefully they will find much to be satisfied with here even if the presentation could not be as exhaustive as they may have wished.  There is plenty of music to enjoy however including a little surprise from “Day of the Moon” as a little send off.