Mists of Avalon : Original Television Soundtrack

Amazon.com Director Ulrich Edel's miniseries adaptation of Marion Zimmer Bradley's bestseller turns the Camelot fable inside out, examining the drama and moral lessons from the perspective of its female characters. Composer Lee Holdridge was thus presented with the challenge of not only reinventing the genre's hoary clichés yet again, but imbuing them with the perspective of the powerful women behind the throne as well. By turns airy and ominous, Loreena McKennitt's ambitiously pagan mini-epic "The Mystic's Dream" essentially shows the way, neatly segueing into Holdridge's initially quiet strains in a way that's increasingly rare among such hybrid efforts. The veteran composer takes that magical introduction and deftly gives it flesh and blood, the bucolic harps, strings, and woodwinds punctuated by brass, percussion, and foreboding choral flourishes. It's a score of impressive range and mature character, from the largely pastoral "Morgaine's Journey" through passages of mystery and medieval folk tonalities to the thundering percussive passages of "The Cave Ceremony" and the inherent drama of "Mordred Confronts Arthur/The Battle Ends." "I Will Remember You Still," Holdridge's ethereal collaboration with Aeone, brings the album full circle and serves as a worthy bookend to McKennitt's memorable prelude. --Jerry McCulley