The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #110781   Message #2328413
Posted By: Marje
29-Apr-08 - 05:34 AM
Thread Name: Miss Austen Reels
Subject: RE: Miss Austen Reels
It does make you wonder why they didn't commission the soundtrack from someone who had an elementary understanding of the music of the time. I know the incidental music doesn't need to be of the time, but the featured dance music should. We've already identified the following weaknessed:

A well-known Irish reel with a few bars omitted is attributed to a modern composer.

It is weirdly described in the CD blurb as "a wild highland fling".

It's named as "Jane's Jig" although it's not a jig, it's a reel.

The dancers are later shown doing the waltz with full ballroom hold, which simply didn't happen at that time.

If their "experts" who advise on costume, interior decor, language and social customs are as inaccurate as that, the drama probably bore no relation at all to the life of Jane Austen.

Marje