Isn't the theme music fantastic?

[David cgc]

The "Flavia" theme (which I guess is going to be a lot more common as a name, now the the Doctor has a new, exclusive personal theme) is this one. It plays after the Doctor walks away from Rose, rather than during the speech, but it's probably what you're thinking of.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxlG15BcCyE[/yt]

The producers apparently thought it sounded like Flavia, and the name stuck. Looks like the last time we'll ever hear it is the start of Ten's regeneration.

ETA: That's weird. Half the post vanished when I edited it. Doubly so, because I checked it after I edited it, and it was fine. Maybe I used the back button when I shouldn't have. Anywho, I've recreated it.

 

[Stevil2001]

^ Link doesn't work. But it's the one that's a lone woman's voice singing.

It generally played when things got all "Time Lord-y" (I think it's first use is the fan blade scene in "The End of the World"), and Russell Davies used to joke that it was Chancellor Flavia singing in the Vortex.

 

[The]

OOH! Gotcha. Didn't know that. Same song as what I'm talking about. So it is connected to Flavia!

 

[G2309]

The teaser could be the Doctor and Amy shopping in Scunthorpe and I'd still be excited when the music kicked in.

True

I love the way the music suits so many different scenes from the serious to the bizzare. It plays during the dr's tense flight into the Tardis explosion but also during his fun arrival at the wedding.

 

[tomalak301]

I loved the music this season. Might even buy the soundtrack when it comes out.

I'm listening to the Doctor's Theme now, and some of it reminds me a little of the theme to The Dark Knight. Not that that's a bad thing though.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Didn't feel like making a new thread for this series music, and thought this one was adequate to continue discussing the music. I know we're just three episodes in but I have to say that Murray is still in the zone this season. I've noticed a ton of new music as well as new variations of "I Am The Doctor" (I think it's obvious he really loves playing around with this theme as much as possible).

 

[Cutter John]

Yeah, it was really nice to hear Elevens theme again. Its been conspicuously absent of late.

And there was a great little theme we only heard it bits and pieces while the Doctor was chasing the Tardis through the vortex.

 

[23skidoo]

My only disappointment is the apparent - note I said "apparent" - lack of a distinctive theme for the "main guest character" in The Doctor's Wife. Rather than hearing Eleven's theme near the end (I'm being spoiler-sensitive in my discussion here since this isn't marked as a spoiler thread and Australia and NZ have yet to see it) I'd have preferred a distinctive piece of music for the character.

Having said that, I fully intend to watch the episode several more times, so maybe there is a theme hidden away in there, just like I never really noticed the beautiful Madame De Pompadour theme until I bought the soundtrack CD. The epitome of Gold's use of motifs is when Rose appears at the end of The End of Time and she is identified solely by her distinctive theme. I didn't notice anything of similar nature in The Doctor's Wife.

I don't know what annoys me more - people bashing RTD or Moffat or people who bash Murray Gold's music. Personally I consider him the best TV composer we've seen in years, right up there with Jerry Goldsmith, Barry Gray and Ron Grainer in my books. Most TV (and film) music is just elevator muzak to me, but Gold's stuff stands on its own to be enjoyed even without the visuals of the TV series accompanying it. The fact he apparently wrote the song Katherine Jenkins (Katherine Jenkins!) sang in A Christmas Carol in only a couple days (a few hours?) shows how remarkable a talent he is.

Alex

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ Agreed, I was surprised there was no theme or motif for that character as well. Maybe Murray was instructed not to compose one? Murray along with Bear McCreary are my two favorite television composers right now. Ben Foster's music for "Torchwood" is very strong as well and I'm looking forward to his score for "Miracle Day".

 

[David cgc]

The epitome of Gold's use of motifs is when Rose appears at the end of The End of Time and she is identified solely by her distinctive theme. I didn't notice anything of similar nature in The Doctor's Wife.

That actually wasn't Gold's idea. He wrote a new arrangement of "Song For Ten" for that scene, but (IIRC) Julie Gardner overruled him and they used Rose's theme instead.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

don't know what annoys me more - people bashing RTD or Moffat or people who bash Murray Gold's music. Personally I consider him the best TV composer we've seen in years, right up there with Jerry Goldsmith, Barry Gray and Ron Grainer in my books. Most TV (and film) music is just elevator muzak to me, but Gold's stuff stands on its own to be enjoyed even without the visuals of the TV series accompanying it.

I've been critical of Gold's work, though I recently picked up the fifth season soundtrack and I've reappraised my opinion somewhat.

I think Gold is fiercely inventive, and he has a real talent at pastiching other styles. "The Eleventh Hour" was very Elfmanesque, and there's one episode's suites that are positively Gershwin. (I don't recall which episode off-hand, sorry.) I don't dispute Gold's talent at all, and I've found the fifth season soundtrack to be an enjoyable listening experience on its own.

My issue with the use of Gold's music stems from 1) the way Gold's suites are butchered in the editing room and 2) rather than having a new piece written for an episode that incorporates one of Gold's motifs in a new way an extant suite will be repurposed for the scene.

Basically, Gold's music isn't written for the purpose. He's not seeing an early cut, he's not in the editing room spotting his score. He's writing suites, and then they're slotted in. There's nothing wrong with this approach -- it's the way George Lucas and James Cameron work with composers -- but it also means that sometimes the music just doesn't fit. The music isn't organic to what's on screen.

To give you an example, I love "I am the Doctor." I don't love hearing it exactly the same way thirteen times a year, and I find it especially jarring when watching a marathon of episodes on BBC America. I'm not criticizing Gold for that, though; it's not his fault that the producers have chosen the edited suite approach for scoring the episodes. It's a cheaper way to work, and Doctor Who is a series on a budget. Yet I'd love to see what Gold could do if he were allowed to score directly for the episodes.

 

[Cutter John]

^^ No argument here. Granted, tv production is by necessity done in a rush. But it would be nice if they could use editors with a better ear for music.

I suspect its the same reason we get the frquent compaint from viewers that they can't hear the dialogue over the music.

 

[irononreverse]

My favourite themes have been flavia's theme and the lilting first half of The Doctor Forever with the vocals.

Stood out particularly well for me when a variation was used in the Titanic Christmas special.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=844_IkhcP-g

Matt Smith's action theme is looking good for me so far too.

 

[Cutter John]

I love Matt, but I do miss Ten's themes sometimes, and the more 'in your face' music style of that era.

 

[Admiral_Young]

That's an interesting view, I tend to think that in the case of Matt's themes and most of the music for this era is more bombastic than it was for RTD's era. There are quieter/beautiful themes like Amy's...which kind of is similar to the Ninth and Tenth Doctor themes. I kind of look at "I am the Doctor" as being "I'm not angry or guilty" any more about the Time War. Both the Ninth and Tenth's themes seemed sad or gloomy.