Logically, the cinema seizes this extraordinary life and, from 1908, the adaptations flourish. After John Ford or more recently Charles Jarrott, it's the turn of the English Josie Rourke to offer her Mary Queen of Scots, a vision sublimated by the luminous charisma of Saoirse Ronan and the cold rigidity of Margot Robbie. If the personalities oppose, it is the same crushing crown that weighs on these young heads, two women at the top of a patriarchal system. Emancipation, a fragile bond, quickly parasitized by the ambitions of rogue aristocrats, but an obvious source of nourishment for the soundtrack of Max Richter.
Women, salvation of the world
By drawing his inspiration from Zadok the Priest, one of the four hymns of Handel's coronation, the composer immediately dressed Mary Queen of Scots with a certain majesty. The broad and elegant theme is, however, from the first second, the tragic destiny of the queen, musically meant by the bass drum. With a quick tone, Max Richter brings a real variety to his work, creating a remarkable synergy, highlighting Rourke's staging ideas, John Mathieson's photography or the wild sumptuousness of Scottish landscapes.
In The Poem, to accompany Lord Darnley's seductive game, declaiming a few verses, the composition offers a more intimate side with a nice harp work, from the concert instrument to its Celtic version. Darnley's Visit allows him to highlight the English horn and extirpate the main theme of his romantic inclinations. If one pushes a little work of appropriation of the music of Haendel, one could also find certain proximity with its famous sarabande, in particular on the piece Rizzio's Plea, announcing a turn in the destiny of Mary Stuart.
Modern and yet classic, Mary Queen of Scots remains above all a composition of Max Richter. One recognizes certain minimalism and care brought to the progression of the musical discourse, with very beautiful and powerful rises, like Outmaneuvered, placed at the end of the album but located paradoxically in the opening of the film. From nothingness is born the light and the intelligent connivance between the image and the music makes it possible to close the listening the light heart with Finale. By bringing her expertise, finding a balance between her style and a rich lyricism, the German responds brilliantly to the challenge of Josie Rourke and undeniably signs one of her most beautiful soundtracks. A pretty crown.
Mary Queen of Scots, a soundtrack of Max Richter, to be found in physics at Deutsche Grammophon.