Film Score Monthly raves about Conrad Pope’s The Sound of Violet score, saying it’s a “stunning romantic score,” and “a welcome chance to hear Pope’s original voice shine through once more.” Film Score Monthly is one of the leading voices in film music appreciation. In their review, they write:
The Sound of Violet, the new romantic dramedy by writer-director Allen Wolf (Harlem Grace), is an adaptation of his novel and focuses on a developing relationship between a young man with autism and the woman he believes to be his soulmate. Unfortunately, the man is unable to recognize that she is also a prostitute, and his family attempts to intervene. Conrad Pope is known to film music fans for his top-flight orchestrating and conducting, but his rare solo scoring endeavors have also proven to be quite fruitful. Alas, his last feature was when he stepped in for Alexandre Desplat to provide additional material for the stunning My Week With Marilyn (2011). As such, The Sound of Violet offers a welcome chance to hear Pope’s original voice shine through once more.
“Every Date Is New” opens the album with a gorgeous piano theme with some twisted melodic shifts that hint at what is to come. There’s a gentle innocence conveyed by the material, with rich harmonies helping to provide color. As the album gets going, light touches of harp with piano and shimmering strings make for an attractive palette. The same goes for some of the mallet percussion gestures, which have a Thomas Newman feel at times.
“Beneath the Surface” takes a darker turn as low strings and a plaintive English Horn (later a French Horn) make their presence felt. Higher strings cut across the top of the sound picture to add a sense of unease, moving us to a more dissonant territory as we learn about “Violet’s Secrets.” Countering that darkness is the bittersweet “Violet’s Story,” which approaches a Puccini-esque poignancy.
The arpeggiated ideas of the score’s opening take on a web of mystery and urgency in “Entrapment,” which also features some striking instrumental timbres. “Breaking Free” boasts a warm cello statement as the score attempts to recapture some of the hopefulness that began the presentation.
A touching quotation of “Amazing Grace” highlights the penultimate cue, “United.” Slowly but surely, the album’s final tracks move us back into the attractive, romantic idiom that kicked off the score, wrapping things up with a nice end credit summation.
The Sound of Violet is an often stunning romantic score with strong thematic content and expectedly engaging orchestrations. The album presentation closes with a song featuring Brandon Heath, “You Could Be Anywhere.” —Steven A. Kennedy
The Sound of Violet is now playing only in theaters. The original soundtrack is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and wherever you buy or listen to music.
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