MovieScore Media release Gerard Pastor's highly thematic, epic historical score for Anna M. Bofarull's Barcelona 1714. Set during the end of the War of Spanish Succession, the film tells the story of Agnes, a young woman who only wants to escape from the horrors of the war and live elsewhere. But Jan, a young officer devoted to the defence of his city, refuses to leave with her. As forty thousand enemy soldiers are preparing to assault the city against a defence of six thousand soldiers, Agnes must choose between her heart and her homeland in the last siege of Barcelona...

Gerard Pastor throws just about everything into his wonderfully rich score for Barcelona 1714. From the opening 'Barcelona 1714', which is reminiscent of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, through to the heartbreakingly beautiful 'September 11, 1714', the attention to detail is instantly obvious. There's also a bonus track, '1714 Battle Remix' which rounds off the album. While it has a call to war feel to it, I thought the album ended more emotionally with 'September 11, 1714'. But, of course you can rearrange the tracks if this is an issue.

Prokofiev's spirit can also been heard in other tracks including 'Spy Infiltrated', 'Reencounter' and 'The Siege'.

Personal highlights include the melancholic 'You Know Nothing About Agnes'; 'Reencounter', 'Cousins', 'The Wheat Field', 'The Last Ship' (which has a flavour of John Williams about it), and 'September 11, 1714'.

The album consists of 29 tracks (1 hr, 03 min, 56 sec) and there really isn't a wasted note. From the opening track to the last, this is a wonderfully varied and rich score.

10

Darren Rea