Silva Screen Records release Paul Englishby's score for the second and third series of the BBC's The Musketeers TV series. The album doesn't include any music from series one, nor does it include the show's main theme...

This album contains Paul Englishby’s big and bold orchestral soundtrack from series two and three of the BBC show. It's an epic movie-esque score that perfectly complements the scope, ambition, humour and warmth of the series.

The first time I listened to this was on my iPod, through headphones, and my overriding impression was that the majority of the tracks closed like the conclusion of the end credits to a Hollywood blockbuster - in that they reached a crescendo as though there was nothing more to come. And, more impressively, the album's final track 'Season Three Finale' still manages to be the album's most memorable segment of music. It's as though all the epic music before was just building to this one big moment.

This 2 CD set (40 tracks - 1 hr, 51 min, 30 sec) is packed to bursting with big and bold themes and beautiful melancholic moments. There's no filler, background music here. In fact here's so many wonderful themes here that it's almost impossible to choose favourites, although I did enjoy both 'He Died For His Country'; 'Madman'; and 'Season Three Finale'.

It doesn't matter whether you're a huge fan of the series, or have never even seen it, this is an album that is well worth owning.

10

Darren Rea