Music for Nothing

One of the newest soundtracks in my collection is the score from Joss Whedon's recent film adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. It's a particularly interesting addition in that is was composed by Whedon himself. The idea of the writer-director as composer isn't completely without precedent; he wrote all the songs for the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ("Once More With Feeling"), and many of the songs for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Still, this is his first foray into creating the underscore for one of his own works.

The results are mostly successful. The music certainly works within the context of the film itself. He's chosen a palette of instruments very appropriate for the mostly playful, but sometimes serious tale that is Much Ado About Nothing. Strings are the backbone of the score, often used in pizzicato for the more comedic moments, while moving into lower registers for heavier moments. Piano is also used in a similarly dual mode -- sometimes light, sometimes dark.

The melodies of the tracks are often carried by woodwinds. Again, things are higher up the register for lighter moments, with clarinets taking the lead, and lower for more serious moments, moving to oboe and bassoon. There's virtually no brass in the score at all, which at first I took to be an interesting artistic choice, but have since come to suspect as being a more savvy, intellectual one instead. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe the music has all been created on synthesizer rather than performed by live orchestra. It's an increasingly common choice among low-budget productions (particularly on television), but it has reached the point where many instrument sounds are rendered faithfully enough that can sometimes be hard to tell. The dead giveaway on any synthesizer score is the brass instruments, and it's possible Joss Whedon avoided them here to avoid using blatantly electronic sounds in a score for a very organic story.

It's a very atmospheric score overall that isn't nearly as strong for independent listening as it was in the film itself. That said, there are a few highlights. The villainous character of Don John has a theme that's all dark, bluesy jazz. It's featured in the track "If I Had My Mouth," and is the single strongest composition in Whedon's score. There are also two songs, using lyrics written by Shakespeare in the original play, and set to music by Whedon. The best by far -- and the highlight of the soundtrack -- is "Sigh No More," a wonderful slow jazz number laced with the feeling of a secluded tropical island band. It's performed by Whedon's brother and sister-in-law, keeping things in the family, but it doesn't feel like nepotism to give them the job; their voices are perfect for the track.

As I said, the soundtrack is a bit sedate overall, so it hasn't become a true favorite of mine that I listen to obsessively. But the tracks fit well in the shuffle of background music I often enjoy, and it's been a good addition to my collection overall. I'd give the soundtrack a B (with an A for "Sigh No More," if you're looking for a single track to sample).