Death and the Maiden

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Along with several other American releases, and along with The Ninth Gate, Kilar composed yet another score for Roman Polanski namely Death and the Maiden. I never saw the movie but this score must again stand out in it because it is short but intriguing. Being short is actually not really surprising. Death and the Maiden in the end was written and composed by Franz Shubert namely: Quartet in D Minor D 810 "Death and the Maiden" by the Keller Quartet. So the original release had 13 tracks, with 44 minutes being the classical piece and the rest just devoted to Kilar's composition. I do understand why but if one composer masters the supreme classical style, it has to be Kilar and his score then also sounds the way it should be. It is more importantly a mix between the following scores, The Portrait of a Lady and Bram Stoker's Dracula, with of course a dash of suspension a la The Ninth Gate. So, it is a fine score, not really assisted by its short running time but still delivering something of a fine and intriguing test of time.

Of the 9 tracks, not one really is that brilliant but there is one that really sounds great. The others are really a breed of different styles. 'Paulina's Theme' is kinda The Portrait of a Lady influenced, with its flute based theme, later accompanied by piano and strings, really only Kilar could compose this. But the more you notice the better it gets because especially during track 3 'Paulina's Escape' we hear John Barry's influence (the use of the flute like it is heard for instance in the score The Living Daylights). The darker moments then create more the mood of Dracula, tracks 4 and 6 have the strongest feeling towards this and in 6 'Paulina in Charge', Kilar almost uses a broader use of Hermann's famous Psycho style. While the theme for Paulina is really the only reoccurring motif, it is yet the dangerous theme during track 8 that demands all the attention. 'Roberto's Last Chance' is a continuously building suspension piece that explodes in gothic wonder during the third minute and by then doesn't stop to impress you until the end. It is really the only piece I find worthy to really mention and for this only, the score is better than the average short release.

Of course, again, I haven't heard a lot of word about this score. It seems that the release is either not that easy to find or simply not interesting enough with the classical load of score present on the soundtrack. Of course, Shubert's piece is the actual score for the movie and how sad it may sound, you have to accept it. But I do want to mention that the short score is equally good and really a try worthy. I rented this score and recorded the interesting stuff, if you have the exact same chance, than perhaps you should do it too. Of course buying it is perhaps really for the fans alone of the genre or the composer. Death and the Maiden really has one moment I'm really crazy about and it decided to copy it yes or no. Now, the opportunity about hearing it without wanting to hear the rest, or simply wanting more can all be solved with the compilation release Kilar: Warsaw to Hollywood. So check it out and for the rest, don't be discouraged about the minimum load of score, the minimum is still maximum in its effect on disc.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Paulina's Vigil (2.40)

2. Paulina's Theme (3.48)

3. Paulina's Escape (0.59)

4. Roberto Trapped (0.59)

5. Paulina's Revenge (3.34)

6. Paulina in Charge (1.14)

7. Paulina's Secret (2.46)

8. Roberto's Last Chance (3.32)

9. The Confession (4.49)

Total Length: 24.31

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Wojciech Kilar ===