"In this score Patrick Doyle attempted the most difficult of things for an artist - simplicity. His challenge was to write music that would serve the words and yet, over the course of the film, could build a profound resonance in itself. As with our other Shakespearean work we wanted the instant accessibility that Patrick's gift for melody could provide - a chance to direct the audience's mood through difficult passages, and yet not patronise the viewer or dilute the power of a scene. I think he has succeeded superbly well.
As with Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing the score is unashamedly romantic. Our Hamlet is not presented as a man predisposed to melancholy. His usual character, described so often in the play, is vibrant, curious, positive. So it is with the music. We wanted, wherever possible, to stress the potential for joy in this court. Hence the wedding fanfares at the beginning of the early court scenes speak of glorious possibility, of a relationship between Claudius and Gertrude which could be full of hope, and a bright new era for the Danish nation. Only we, the audience, and Hamlet himself suspect otherwise. This contrast, expressed through music, between the darkness of Hamlet's mood and the potential for happiness in the lives of the other characters was something we pursued constantly.
Thus we play the sweetness of the Ophelia/Laertes relationship, the genuineness of the passion between Hamlet and Opheha, and the tenderness of Hamlet's relationship with his father, as positively as we can.
We resisted Gothic notions of a permanently gloomy Elsinore. For me, the Play is partly a search (through Hamlet's extraordinary mind) for what makes life worth living. When afforded a glimpse of those things that occasionally inspire Hamlet - love, friendship, the theatre - I wanted the music to soar with Hamlet's temporary optimism and hope. And finally, I wanted the audience to leave, not depressed, but shaken by an emotional catharsis that the music would support in the most full-blooded way. Aside from the great choral finale, Patrick gives us a beautiful funeral elegy. "In Pace" is sung (to our honour and delight) by Placido Domingo. That miraculous voice, expressing with such delicacy lyrics from The Book of Wisdorn, sends our hero on his way with a touching dignity. His journey, reflected in the musical score, resolves itself into a peace, which he has pursued throughout the film. We are moved to accept the tragic inevitability of his fate. It seems to me that, through his score, Patrick has realised a very fine musical response to the play. It has lifted the rest of our work in a way I could scarcely hope for, and I thank him for his remarkable talent."
-- Kenneth Branagh
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