Much Ado About Nothing (Original Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2012 film Much Ado About Nothing directed and produced by Joss Whedon, who also composed the film score as well. The album featured 32 tracks, including two songs from the William Shakespeare's play. The album was released through Bellwether Records on June 6, 2013, through digital platforms.
Contents
Background
Whedon composed the score for the film in his first and only film scoring assignment till date. He had chosen to score the film as he could not afford another composer due to monetary constraints. While he found the experience of scoring a film as "terrifying", going on to say that "when I'm terrified, I know I'm having fun", while admitting on how music enhance dialogues in particular scenes. He was further assisted by co-editor and arranger Daniel Kaminsky on working on the score pieces. Deborah Lurie was further enlisted to produce the score. Much of the score was driven through piano and minimal orchestra for quieter and intimate moments. He also arranged music to "Sigh No More" and "Heavily", two songs that William Shakespeare had written into the play. These tracks were performed by Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon. The score was recorded during March 2013.
Reception
Justin Chang of Variety called it a "lightly applied score". Catherine Shoard of The Guardian wrote "There's a smoky jazz soundtrack, big on bass, sounding for all the world like an extended Seinfeld sting, which helps keep things perky." Dana Stevens of Slate admitted that Whedon's music helped in creating a collective atmosphere on Shakespeare's play, over the individual performances. Christopher Schobert of IndieWire wrote "the music is a bit daft". Matthew Razak of Flixist wrote "some of the score sounds like it's from a made-for-TV movie, but even this helps feed into the quick and playful spirit of the film". Alan Zilberman of Tiny Mix Tapes called it "simple but catchy".
Credits
Credits adapted from liner notes: