MOVIE MUSIC UK

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton

There are few authors whose works have proved quite as enduringly popular with filmmakers as Jane Austen. For decades her novels have provided the basis for some of the most beloved period dramas in cinema, from the multiple adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and Emma to Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and of course Sense and Sensibility. The latter was most famously adapted for the screen in 1995 by director Ang Lee, with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman starring in a film which won enormous critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Thompson’s screenplay. That version also boasted a magnificent Oscar-nominated score by Patrick Doyle, which remains one of the great romantic film scores of the 1990s. Subsequent adaptations have included an acclaimed 2008 BBC television version, but the story now returns to cinemas in a new production directed by British filmmaker Georgia Oakley.

Based on Austen’s 1811 novel, Sense and Sensibility tells the story of sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, played here by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles, whose comfortable existence is upended following their father’s death. Forced to leave their family estate and confront the realities of diminished social circumstances, the sisters navigate romantic entanglements, heartbreak, and the restrictive expectations of early nineteenth-century English society. George MacKay plays the reserved Edward Ferrars, and Frank Dillane is the charming but unreliable John Willoughby, while Caitríona Balfe and Fiona Shaw round out the supporting cast. Oakley’s interpretation places particular emphasis on the emotional relationship between the sisters, offering a somewhat earthier, less idealized vision of Austen’s world than audiences may be accustomed to.

The score is by the 48-year-old London-based Spanish composer Roger Goula, who moved to the UK in the early 2010s to study at the National Film and Television School, and has since written a great deal of music for film, television, theater, and numerous documentaries, mostly within the British film industry, without really making much of a splash internationally, at least until now. He has a background in classical and jazz guitar performance, but as a composer he is mostly a ‘contemporary classical minimalist’ whose style reminds me a little bit of Max Richter, or perhaps Volker Bertelmann, in that he seems to be more interested in exploring tones and textures and combining acoustic instruments with electronic elements than he is in writing expansive themes and conveying broad emotions.

Given the different nature of Oakley’s film, it is perhaps unfair to compare Goula’s score with Patrick Doyle’s music for the 1995 film, but such comparisons are inevitable. Doyle approached the material with a wonderfully elegant, classically influenced orchestral sound, drawing on the musical language of the period while embracing the sweeping romanticism for which he is celebrated. Goula’s approach is rather different: where Doyle emphasized the grandeur and elegance of Austen’s world, Goula seems more interested in the private emotions simmering beneath its carefully maintained social conventions.

One of the most interesting aspects of Goula’s score is the way in which he approaches the two central characters. Rather than assigning Elinor and Marianne conventional melodic leitmotifs, Goula gives each sister a distinctive musical identity: a solo violin for Elinor, whose more formally structured writing reflects her rational, emotionally restrained personality, and a solo female voice for Marianne, whose freer, less predictable musical contours embody her passionate nature. As the story progresses, however, these two musical identities begin to overlap and exchange characteristics, reflecting the sisters’ evolving personalities and the shifting balance between reason and emotion. Goula described his intention as creating a ‘hybrid post-classical piece,’ combining period-inspired orchestral writing with manipulated acoustic sounds, extended instrumental techniques, and analogue synthesizers.

The result is certainly a departure from the more traditionally romantic approach of Patrick Doyle’s 1995 score, and under most circumstances I would find this sort of approach disappointing. Goula’s score is awash in those undulating string ostinatos and arpeggios that often litter films of this type, churning away, up and down the scales, creating a sense of movement and presenting a clear pastiche of classical norms, but usually without saying much or doing anything particularly interesting. However, for some reason, Goula’s music sparked something different, and I actually found myself quite taken with it all in a way I didn’t expect.

The score’s early cues establish the style with a lovely, florid sound, violins and pianos taking turns to shine at the forefront of the intimate orchestral ensemble. As I mentioned, recognizable recurring themes are not what this score is about, so instead Goula concentrates on creating an overarching atmosphere of broad emotional strokes that build on this contemporary classical sound, seeking to illustrate the conflicting emotions the Dashwoods feel regarding their dramatic change in circumstances. “Someone Is Coming” has an air of trepidation to it, “Excessively Comfortable” passes the arpeggios to a cello to give the music an even more dour tone, and “Leaving Norland” is filled with poignant regret, but then both “Elinor and Edward” and “Meeting the Colonel” have a sort of magical, mystical sheen, as Goula’s electronic embellishments blend with the violin and piano to capture the understated heart-fluttering attraction both sisters feel upon meeting their potential suitors.

“Meeting Willoughby” is based mostly around Marianne’s piano and vocal textures, and gives a romantic, almost quixotic edge to the famous scene in which Marianne, having sprained her ankle, is rescued by the dashing and impossibly handsome Willoughby, who literally carries her home. Thereafter, the score moves into the more complicated emotional territory surrounding the sisters’ romantic experiences. Goula’s minimalist inclinations are especially appropriate to Elinor, a character whose outward restraint conceals powerful feelings, and the score’s emphasis on intimacy rather than spectacle suits the film’s psychological perspective on her character. Similarly, the continued use of voices in cues like “Sad Girl” and “As Your Sister” contributes significantly to the romantic and sexual awakening Marianne experiences, as well as her frustrations at not being able to act on her desires. I also very much like the anachronistic but oddly soothing electronic textures in the lovely “Trip to London”.

Elsewhere in the score’s middle section, Goula’s music becomes increasingly concerned with disappointment and emotional repression. The longing violins in “She Hides Her Feelings,” the subdued piano lines and mystical vocals of “Mr. Ferrar’s Christmas Ball,” the almost dreamlike sound of “Calm Marianne,” and the agitated violins in “The Greatest Distress” illustrate the dramatic importance of emotions that cannot easily be expressed. “Rage – Lost” underscores the scene in which Marianne gets lost after being caught in a rainstorm, and expresses the darker consequences of her romantic disillusionment with a more dramatic treatment of Marianne’s vocal textures, including a fascinating sequence of shouting and chanting that stands in stark contrast to the rest of the score, while the restless nature of “Marianne Falls Ill” gives her sound a slightly desperate, panicky feel.

“Pistols!” and “The Duel” underscore the scene in which Brandon challenges Willoughby to a duel and contain the score’s most overtly dramatic material with an array of anticipatory tremolo strings and edgy, tension-filled electronic pulses; it’s not exactly action music, per se, but these cues do at least expand the story beyond the confines of drawing rooms and whispered conversations.

The score’s emotional trajectory eventually moves toward reconciliation and hope. The tender, intimate “No One Knows Your Heart Like a Sister” comes across as especially significant to the relationship that lies at the heart of Oakley’s interpretation, and offers a lovely blend of both sisters’ distinctive instrumental and vocal markers. “In Time I Can Feel Much More,” the breathless “Run to Edward,” and the warmly romantic “Elinor and Edward Kiss” allow the score to build to a satisfying romantic resolution – not as satisfying as Doyle’s “Throw the Coins,” but satisfying enough nonetheless – with the latter cue cleverly reintroducing the magical, thrumming synth textures from earlier in the score. The concluding title piece offers a final opportunity to reflect on the story’s central conflict between reason and emotion with a three-minute summation of all the score’s primary ideas.

I will say that anyone with an aversion to the pseudo-minimalist classical sound that has permeated so many British period dramas in recent years may find Goula’s work here frustratingly similar. There is a definite trend towards understatement and emotional restraint in these scores, favoring atmosphere and texture over themes and melodic prominence, and Goula’s score very much fits within that sound world. However, for me, something about this score worked; it cast a delicate, bittersweet spell that combined genuine romance with emotional repression, and a sense of longing concealed just beneath the surface tension.

Ultimately, this version of Sense and Sensibility is an appealing addition to the distinguished musical history of Austen adaptations. Goula does not attempt to recreate Doyle’s beloved 1995 score, and that is unquestionably the correct decision. Instead, his contemporary perspective offers a complementary interpretation, one more closely aligned with Oakley’s emphasis on emotional realism and the complex bond between the Dashwood sisters. Admirers of sophisticated, intimate period-drama scoring should find much to appreciate here, and the album represents a step forward in Goula’s career that could lead to more high-profile international assignments in the coming years, especially if the film itself becomes a player in the upcoming awards season.

Buy the Sense and Sensibility soundtrack from the Movie Music UK Store

Track Listing:

• The Will (2:33)
• Someone Is Coming (0:53)
• Excessively Comfortable (1:45)
• Elinor and Edward (0:55)
• Meeting the Colonel (1:38)
• Leaving Norland (2:57)
• Barton Life (1:20)
• Meeting Willoughby (1:18)
• A Gentleman Saved Her (1:31)
• Sad Girl (1:12)
• Preparing for the Trip (1:00)
• Trip to London (2:16)
• As Expected (0:54)
• As Your Sister (1:20)
• She Hides Her Feelings (1:49)
• Mr. Ferrar’s Christmas Ball (2:28)
• Calm Marianne (1:46)
• The Greatest Distress (1:47)
• At the Gallery (1:58)
• Rage – Lost (2:02)
• Marianne Falls Ill (2:45)
• Pistols! (1:01)
• The Duel (1:19)
• No One Knows Your Heart Like a Sister (2:59)
• In Time I Can Feel Much More (1:40)
• Run to Edward (1:06)
• Elinor and Edward Kiss (1:47)
• Sense and Sensibility (3:06)

Back Lot Records (2026)

Running Time: 49 minutes 05 seconds

Music composed by Roger Goula. Conducted by Hugh Tieppo-Brunt. Orchestrations by Hugh Tieppo-Brunt, Ananda Chatterjee, Harry George and Talia Morey. Featured musical soloists Marianne Haynes, Clifton Harrison, Nicole Crespo O’Donoghue and Nathan Williamson. Recorded and mixed by Tom Bailey. Edited by David Rodger. Album produced by Roger Goula.