MOVIE MUSIC UK

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton

A Gentleman in Moscow is an 8-part British TV mini-series directed by Sam Miller and Sara O’Gorman, based on the on the 2016 novel by Amor Towles. Ewan McGregor stars as the fictional aristocrat Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov who, after recently returning to Russia from Paris, is arrested by Bolsheviks following the October Revolution of 1917, tried, and convicted for being a traitor to the Community Party. However, instead of receiving a death sentence, he is sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest inside a luxury hotel – the Hotel Metropol Moscow – where he subsequently spends several decades, banished to a small attic room. However Rostov – who is a brilliant conversationalist, with expertise in everything from evolution and philosophy, to art, literature, poetry, and food – finds himself becoming an integral part of the hotel, interacting with guests, while observing the development of post-revolution Russia and the birth of the Soviet Union.

The score for A Gentleman in Moscow is by the brilliant Argentine composer Federico Jusid who, over the course of his career, has developed a magnificent catalog of work which is dominated by several spectacular scores for period and historical dramas: Isabel, Hispania: La Leyenda, Carlos: Rey Emperador, La Corona Partida, La Catedral del Mar, and the outstanding western The English from 2022. Whereas most of Jusid’s work has dealt with music from Spanish history, and had spiritual and religioso overtones, A Gentleman in Moscow has given him the opportunity to add another string to his bow by exploring the rich, deep sounds of Russian classical music – and, yet, again, the end results are outstanding.

The score is a sweeping, stirring work for a large orchestra and choir which takes inspiration not only from the great Russian romantic classical era but also from the choral music of the Orthodox church, from Russian folk music, and from several great film scores of the past set during that era and in that location, notably Maurice Jarre’s Doctor Zhivago and it’s iconic writing for balalaika and cimbalom. The score is thematic and melodic, and is mostly dramatic and serious, but still has time to explore moments of tender romance and even some subtle comedy.

In an interview with Christopher Rosen for Gold Derby, Jusid explained that “the score evolves with the characters more than with time. Because when the Count starts this saga, he is a young man. By the time you get to Episode 8, he’s a grown-up man. And not only is he a grown-up, he’s gone through a lot of really great and sad and difficult moments. So in the same way the score tends to be less candid or naive eventually and becomes more profound in the same way that the Count establishes more profound relationships.” Regarding the Russian influences of the score, Jusid also said he “didn’t go all the way there. The Count has this elegant aristocratic manner and he’s always humorous. His way of approaching his dark fate is always to be humorous, discreet, and elegant. So, in that way, his theme tends to have that and eventually gets more complicated as the score progresses as the show progresses.”

Elegant and aristocratic is an excellent way to describe a lot of the score. It teems with an orchestral opulence that perfectly describes Rostov and his privileged upbringing within Imperial Russian society. In the “Opening Titles,” there are hints of the waltzes that played at the balls he attended in palatial rooms, striking violin tones and rhapsodic pianos and choral harmonies emerging from the lush orchestral lines, and the recurring theme for Rostov emerges from this main title piece, as Jusid describes, is developed in numerous different directions and with numerous different musical styles as the score progresses.

In “A Last Walk On the Snow,” for example, the theme is underpinned with urgent, undulating strings and tinkling balalaikas. In “Remembrance: Helena and the Leaves” the theme blends sorrowful piano lines with impressionistic string textures to create a fascinating kaleidoscope of sounds. In “A Requiem for the Count” it has the deeply resonant sound one might expect, but then in “The Confederacy of the Humbled” and the bittersweet “I’ve Been Involved for Thirty Years” the main theme is arranged as a delicate piano solo, backed with a Golden Age string wash and more balalaikas.

There is also a great deal of darkness and sadness too. As the story is told from Rostov’s point of view, the sadness comes from life he has lost, his despair at being cut off from the country he loves, and his observations on the state of the world as he watches first Lenin, and then Stalin, take power. Cues like the beautifully morose “The Revolution Devours Its Children,” the melodramatic “Where Is Our Purpose Now,” the funereal “To War,” the stark “A Life Sentence,” and “Adieu” are important in this regard; there is a liturgical sound to many of these cues too, with heavy choral voices, and bells tolling for the future of Russia.

The final element of the score is to do with Sofia, the young daughter of an old friend to whom Rostov eventually becomes a guardian and father figure. The love that develops between them is addressed in the gorgeous “Sofia,” and then throughout much of the latter part of the score in cues like the beautifully tragic “Don’t Wait For Me,” “Sofia’s Plea,” and the crystalline “She’s Awake,” which is so fragile and tender you fear it may break.

Other cues worth noting include “Rooms Behind Rooms,” “The Kitchen,” and “Making Moves” which are playful and whimsical, with an almost with a caper-like sound. “Time in Abundance” is a fun piece of raucous folk music. “Remembrance: Salvame” is a huge and bombastic choral homage to Mozart. “Release” has a deeply emotional sense of relief and exhilaration, and “I’ll Cook for You” has a lovely romantic sweep. “Escape” is the score’s only real concession to action to music, and is intensely rhythmic and suspenseful, with some percussion ideas that recall the unusual textures Jusid used in The English.

Anyone whose musical tastes extend to the descriptors and adjectives I have used above – elegant, aristocratic, opulence, romantic, thematic, emotional, Russian, choral, orchestral – will find themselves drawn very much to the music of A Gentleman in Moscow. Yet again Federico Jusid has proven himself to be one of the most engaging and creative composers in the game; there is just something about the historical TV mini-series that brings out the absolute best in him, and it you appreciated his work on any of his previous lauded efforts – Isabel, Carlos: Rey Emperador, La Catedral del Mar – and want to hear that sound transposed to imperial Russia, then this is the score for you.

Buy the Gentleman in Moscow soundtrack from the Movie Music UK Store

Track Listing:

• Opening Titles (0:57)
• A Last Walk On the Snow (1:37)
• The Revolution Devours Its Children (1:24)
• Time in Abundance (1:13)
• Remembrance: Helena and the Leaves (1:35)
• Remembrance: Salvame! (Mozart Homage) (1:28)
• Release (2:01)
• Rooms Behind Rooms (1:35)
• Where Is Our Purpose Now? (2:34)
• The Kitchen (0:58)
• A Requiem for the Count (2:54)
• Remembrance: The Greenhouse (1:05)
• To War (1:23)
• The Confederacy of the Humbled (3:01)
• The Chasing Game (0:44)
• I’ll Cook for You (1:24)
• A Death in the Snow (2:03)
• Undercovered (2:37)
• Sofia (2:04)
• A Life Sentence (1:41)
• Making Moves (0:51)
• I’ve Been Involved for Thirty Years (2:25)
• Escape (3:29)
• Don’t Wait for Me (1:13)
• No Tomorrow for Nina (1:20)
• Remembrance: The Ball (1:00)
• Sofia’s Plea (2:19)
• Remembrance: Summer in Idlehour (0:47)
• The Nobility of Love (0:57)
• She’s Awake (1:18)
• Adieu (1:46)
• The Games We Play (1:32)
• Nocturne for Anna (1:05)

Lakeshore Records (2024)

Running Time: 54 minutes 36 seconds

Music composed and conducted by Federico Jusid. Orchestrations by Daniel Osiewala and Guillermo Pita. Recorded and mixed by Simeon Ogden. Edited by Marc Blanes. Album produced by Federico Jusid.