Escape to Scotland With More Music From Braveheart

Today marks the release of Heritage, the first Celtic Thunder album to consist almost entirely of traditional Irish and Scottish music. I pre-ordered it, so it’ll probably be a couple of days before it lands on my doorstep. In the meantime, I’m getting my Celtic fix with More Music From Braveheart, the gorgeous Scottish-flavored soundtrack composed and conducted by James Horner and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and the 1st Battalion Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders. Additionally, in a rather unusual move for a soundtrack, several tracks incorporate dialogue from the movie. It’s a follow-up to the original soundtrack, which I really ought to get my hands on one of these days. James Horner is one of my favorite composers, and I find his scores especially irresistible when he turns his attention to Celtic themes. Like his Titanic soundtrack, More Songs From Braveheart is a soul-stirring masterpiece.

Most of the tracks on this album incorporate dialogue, so if you plan to see the movie but haven’t yet, I wouldn’t recommend listening to this. However, some tracks will give you the flavor of the score without any potentially spoilerish speechifying. Outlawed Tunes on Outlawed Pipes is the first purely instrumental track, and the bagpipes, the instruments most readily associated with Scotland, weave a plaintive melody that in two short minutes effectively conveys the sense of longing felt by the beleaguered Scots, with faint drum beats hinting at the fierce battle to come. The brief Scottish Wedding Music has a fun, jaunty jig feel to it that dissipates into discord, while the whistle-heavy Prima Noctes feels mysterious and borderline mournful. Vision of Murron is quiet and melodious, with just a hint of the main musical theme, which is visited much more explicitly in the tender For the Love of a Princess, which is probably my favorite of the instrumental tracks despite the lack of bagpipes.

Point of War / Johnny Cope / Up in the Morning Early is a medley of traditional bagpipe music with a lively tone to it, sounding like something one might hear at a military tattoo. Similarly, The Road to the Isles / Glendaural Highlanders / The Old Rustic Bridge by the Mill is a bagpipe showcase, starting out on the slow side, then becoming almost playful before turning into a more solemn march that fades out. Scotland the Brave is one of the most instantly recognizable bagpipe songs out there, so it’s nice to have it here, and it’s performed well, though it feels like a bit of an afterthought, as do Leaving Glenhurqhart and Kirkhill, the final tracks on the album. These five tracks are all performed by the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders and consist entirely of bagpipes and drums.

The two characters most represented on the album are William Wallace, portrayed by Mel Gibson, and Robert the Bruce, played by Angus McFadyen. One of only two dialogue tracks that doesn’t include either of them is the creepy ”The Trouble With Scotland”, in which Patrick McGoohan as King Edward the Longshanks gives a 40-second spiel, free of accompanying music, announcing the plan to institute the custom of Prima Noctes in an effort to breed the Scots out. The other is The Legend Spreads, a pipe-heavy track in which various Scotsmen discuss the wild stories cropping up about William Wallace, the unassuming farmer-turned-fierce freedom fighter.

Robert the Bruce provides narration on four tracks. Prologue: “I shall tell you of William Wallace” is a haunting piece of music that starts off the album, and McFadyen’s quiet narration sets the stage for the epic tale to follow. His narration continues with The Royal Wedding, which starts off with him speaking before yielding to somber choral music. ”After the beheading” includes Robert’s reflection on William’s immediate legacy. Its stirring whistles continue into ”You have bled with Wallace!”, to be eventually replaced with triumphant-sounding pipes.

William shares the spotlight with other characters on several tracks. The Proposal, which introduces the film’s poignant main theme, is the only one to include Catherine McCormack as Murron, the love of William’s life. Romantic and playful, their dialogue and the gorgeous music that accompanies it is an oasis of simple joy in the midst of a terrifying time and is probably my favorite track. Conversing With the Almighty features dialogue only as William meets up with Stephen, Hamish and Campbell, men who will become staunch allies.

”Why do you help me?” is another music-less track and features a short, murmured conversation between William and the sympathetic Princess Isabelle, played by Sophie Marceau. She returns in ”Not every man really lives”, which begins with a conversation culminating in one of the film’s most memorable lines and before giving way to the music. Tender and wistful, the track rivals The Proposal for sheer loveliness. On ”The prisoner wishes to say a word”, he shares a bit of the limelight with the man holding him captive before bellowing out the word “Freedom”. The music surrounding this proclamation is achingly poignant.

Like Robert, William has four solo tracks. The first is ”Scotland is free!”, the shortest track, which includes no music and merely features William shouting his defiance to the English lords trying to exert their control over the Scottish people. By contrast, ”Sons of Scotland!” is the longest track at over 12 minutes in length. The instrumentation is varied, with the low rumble of war mingling with the high beauty of the ideals for which William and his countrymen are fighting. Around the three-minute mark, William begins speaking, starting off on a light note but building up into one of the most stirring rallying cries ever to turn up in a movie. The speech itself, which ends with the movie’s ferocious tagline of “They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”, only lasts two minutes, but the bagpipe-heavy segment that follows it captures the epic nature of the battle that ensues. ”Unite the clans!” is another brief, non-instrumental track which finds William trying to talk Robert into taking on his rightful leadership position. The last track specifically tied to the movie is ”Warrior Poets”, which has William narrating the outcome of the Scots’ final surge against the English.

Anyone who enjoys Celtic music should appreciate the beauty of James Horner’s score, particularly the standout instruments. Tony Hinnegan plays the kena and whistle, Ian Underwood is in charge of synthesizers, Mike Taylor plays the Bodhran pipes and Horner himself plays the keyboards. As I wait for Heritage, I’m content to let Horner and his crew of talented musicians sweep me off to the Highlands.