Period Drama Tag

Once again I must apologise for my long absence. The reason is the season (wow, I'm a poet today). At this time of year I identify a lot with bears as I too feel an urge to go into hibernation for the winter.

Hamlette tagged me with a period drama tag, and that was just the enticement I needed to get out from my blogging hibernation, at least for long enough to write this post;)


1. What's your favorite Period Drama movie? 

The Young Victoria, no doubt! That is  such a sweet and beautiful movie with brilliant actors!
                      


2. What's your favorite Period Drama series? 

Emma (2009)! I love every minute of it!

                     


3. Which Period Drama do you dislike the most?

I really didn't like the 1986 version of Northanger Abbey. It was just disturbing and all wrong.

4. Anne of Green Gables or Little Dorrit? 

Anne, of course! (I haven't actually watched Little Dorrit, but even if I had my answer would remain the same)

                       


5. Your favorite Period Drama dresses? 

Now, this ones a little harder... The list is very long, but I shall try to confine myself to a few:)

Emma (2009)

Agent Carter

The Young Victoria

Cinderella

6. Who's your favorite Period Drama character? (Okay, pick at least five) 

1. Elizabeth Bennet - do I really need an explanation?

                             

2. Peggy Carter - she is just perfection - independent, strong and with a wardrobe to die for.
                                   

3. Henry Tilney - he is sweet and funny and perfect in every way.

                    

4. Anne Shirley - imaginative, dreamy and my fictional bosom friend

                            

(I know the question said to pick 5, but my brain short circuited and I simply can not think of a fifth one)

7. If you could join a royal ball, which dress would you wear? (Pick a Period Drama dress) 

This was so hard! But in the end I went with this dreamy Cinderella dress (from an adaption of Cinderella no less).
                           


8. What's your favorite Jane Austen movie? 

As we're talking strictly of movies, I'm gonna go with Sense & Sensibility (1995). I've always loved how subtly they're incorporating all the humour. And the casting was brilliant!

                     

9. Downton Abbey or Call the Midwife? 

I don't particularly care for Downton Abbey and I haven't watched Call The Midwife, so I'll say neither.


10. Sybil Crawley, Jenny Lee, Emma Woodhouse or Marian of Knighton?

I don't know Sybil Crawley and Jenny Lee, and I like the 2 remaining almost equally. But for the sake of choosing one (and because I recently watched Emma) I'll go with Emma Woodhouse.

                     

11. Which couples of a Period Drama do you like the most? (Pick at least four) 

Margaret & Mr Thornton - what can I say to express the perfection that is this couple? I think what I like the most about them is that as they grow to really know each other love grows as well.
                                   

Anne & Gilbert - no 2 persons were ever as destined for another as Anne and Gilbert. And though it took Anne a while to realise that, Gilbert were always there for her.

                       

Emma & Mr Knightley - what I particularly like about Emma and Mr Knightley is that they've known each other forever and thus have a deep understanding and respect for each other. And then they realise they are in love, and I just can't properly articulate how much I love them as a couple.

                            

Queen Victoria & Albert - another couple where the key words are patience and longing. Their whole courtship was so sweet and innocent. And the length of it made it  all the more fulfilling when they finally got married.

                      


12. And last, which Period Drama villain do you like the most?

The villains I like are usually the ones who are kind of in a grey area, but if I should pick one who is definitely a villain it must be Sir Guy of Gisborne from BBC's Robin Hood. 
                               
This was fun!
Nothing beats reminiscing about period dramas:)

Inkling Explorations And Letters

It's been ages since I last did an Inkling Explorations posts! But now I return with vigour:)

                       

The theme this month is a scene involving a letter, package or post office in a film.

I have chosen a scene from The Young Victoria (one of my favourite scenes from the movie, actually).

Most of Victoria's and Albert's courtship consisted of them writing to each other, and there is this great scene that really underlines what that was like.

When a bell rings, indicating the arrival of the mail, we see Albert jumping up, leaving whatever he was doing behind, as he dashes through the entire house to see if any mail has arrived for him.

When he is told that there is indeed a letter for him, he quickly snags it up and rushes out to read it.

I just think it's such a cute scene, perfectly illustrating how it must have been to impatiently wait for letters from your love.


For more lovely scenes including letters, be sure to check out the rest of the links here.

Top 5 Period Drama Soundtracks

I love movie soundtracks.
And I love picking favourites too, so I thought it time for a delightful little top 5.

This is by no means a countdown to the all time favourite, for the positions shift almost daily depending on my mood, but one thing they have in common: they rise quite distinctly from the crowd of soundtracks to form a class of their own.

So without further ado...here they are:


Emma
                               

Apart from being a delightful series and one of my all time favourites, it is also filled to the brim with beautiful music. My absolute favourite number is The Last Dance (the music combined with the scene is simply perfection). But I can listen to it all  on repeat for hours and hours (and often do), for it is simply ideal as background music.



The Young Victoria
                                    

A truly wonderful movie filled with just as wonderful music. The music in here is quite varied in its moods; from grand and majestic to quiet and melancholic - it has it all. Picking favourites here is hard...there are so many. But if I have to choose one it must be Marriage Proposal, it contains the love theme that is just indescribably beautiful.



Sense and Sensibility
                                  

What I like the most about the music in this movie is the quiet feel of it. The orchestration is really beautiful and seems quite simple until you listen closely and suddenly discover just how many instruments are being played. I love to listen to this soundtrack just to relax, it is very soothing. My favourite of all the numbers is definitely My Father's Favourite. The simple piano voice is just so beautiful, and really underlines the mood of the song well.



Pride and Prejudice
                                

You can say what you want about the movie, but the music in it is some of the prettiest soundtracks of all  time. I love that much of it is solo piano (it does make it easier for me to play), it makes the contrast so much bigger when suddenly the whole orchestra joins in for the finale. My favourite is an example of just that: Liz On Top Of The World (which by the way is also a gorgeous scene).



The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
                              

When I first discovered this soundtrack on YouTube I didn't listen to anything else for days. I don't know exactly what it is that makes this music so special, but I really love the grand, epic and fairytale like sound of it. It is literally meant to transport you to another world, and it does just that. My favourite piece is Evacuating London. I love how it starts out quiet and sad and then transform into this big fully orchestrated piece that just set the mood for the movie.


So...it seems we have reached the end of this list.
Did we have any favourites in common?
What are some of your favourite soundtracks?

Classical music in period dramas

Do you know that moment in a period drama where someone starts to play the piano, and you think:
WOW, this is the most amazing piece ever, what is it called, I wanna find it and listen to it forever, find the sheet music and play it myself over and over and over?

Yeah..it's happened to me a few times...or maybe a lot of times.

Some of my favourite classical music I had never heard of before, and then it was in a movie, and I was thinking: Where have this been all my life?

My absolute favourite right now is this one from The Young Victoria

It's called the Swan Song (or Serenade) and is written by Schubert. The theme is used in the movie, when Albert is thinking of Victoria, from afar. It fits perfectly in the mood of those scenes, and then it is just altogether beautiful. I'm trying to play it myself, but it is a bit harder than you would think - but the struggle will definitely be worth it.

Another piece I love, is one i discovered the last time, I watched Pride & Prejudice (1995). It's the piece Georgiana plays at Pemberley, where Darcy and Elizabeth share a tender moment. Again the music is perfect for underlining the scene, but it is also a very nice piece in itself.

 It's called Andante Favori (or Andante in F major) and is written by Beethoven, if anyone is interested.

The country dances in P&P are wonderful too. There are links to all of them at The Republic of Pemberley, but my favourite to play myself is this one:

Some times I am a bit surprised to find which pieces are originally written for the movie, and which ones are actual period music. In Pride & Prejudice (2005) I was certain, that the music Elizabeth and Darcy danced to was specifically written for that scene. And I was very disappointed not to find the sheet music in the soundtrack. But after some research and a brief visit to Imdb, I discovered it was actually a variation of the Abdelazer Rondo. Who would have guessed it? Now I can finally play that one too.

So, yeah...it can be a bit trying sometimes to track down all the music I hear in period dramas, and even harder to find sheet music to it. But I guess that's what you get, when you just have to play the pieces yourself.

So, this was a few of my classical favourites in period dramas.
I'll probably do a post some other time completely dedicated to some of the best original music made for period dramas.