Much Ado About Nothing (soundtrack)

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Much Ado About Nothing (Original Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by
ReleasedJune 6, 2013 (2013-06-06)
Genre Film score
Length40:41
Label Bellwether Records
Producer Deborah Lurie

Much Ado About Nothing (Original Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2012 film Much Ado About Nothing directed and produced by Joss Whedon, who also composed the film score as well. The album featured 32 tracks, including two songs from the William Shakespeare's play. The album was released through Bellwether Records on June 6, 2013, through digital platforms.

Contents

Background

Whedon composed the score for the film in his first and only film scoring assignment till date. [a] He had chosen to score the film as he could not afford another composer due to monetary constraints. [1] While he found the experience of scoring a film as "terrifying", going on to say that "when I'm terrified, I know I'm having fun", while admitting on how music enhance dialogues in particular scenes. [2] He was further assisted by co-editor and arranger Daniel Kaminsky on working on the score pieces. Deborah Lurie was further enlisted to produce the score. [3] Much of the score was driven through piano and minimal orchestra for quieter and intimate moments. He also arranged music to "Sigh No More" and "Heavily", two songs that William Shakespeare had written into the play. [4] These tracks were performed by Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon. [4] The score was recorded during the March of 2013. [5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Joss Whedon, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Main Title" 1:12
2."Arrival" 0:55
3."Hero" 0:49
4."If I Had My Mouth" 2:06
5."To the Death" 0:42
6."Sigh No More" (featuring Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon) William Shakespeare 2:36
7."Beauty Is a Witch" 1:54
8."A Double Heart" 0:41
9."Perfectest Herald" 1:07
10."The Only Love Gods" 0:38
11."Borachio" 2:01
12."The Gulling (Part 1)" 0:27
13."The Gulling (Part 2)" 1:56
14."The Gulling (Part 3)" 1:03
15."Love On" 0:52
16."Disloyal" 2:46
17."A Thousand Ducats" 2:08
18."Wedding Day" 0:30
19."Madam Withdraw" 0:31
20."Wedding March" 0:57
21."Left for Dead" 2:14
22."Is Not That Strange" 0:43
23."I Am Engaged" 2:00
24."A Word in Your Ear" 1:39
25."How Innocent She Died" 1:10
26."Heavily" (featuring Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon)William Shakespeare1:58
27."The Balcony" 1:13
28."Will You Come" 0:33
29."Walk of Shame" 0:36
30."Another Hero" 0:50
31."A Giddy Thing" 1:10
32."Last Dance" 0:44
Total length:40:41

Reception

Justin Chang of Variety called it a "lightly applied score". [6] Catherine Shoard of The Guardian wrote "There's a smoky jazz soundtrack, big on bass, sounding for all the world like an extended Seinfeld sting, which helps keep things perky." [7] Dana Stevens of Slate admitted that Whedon's music helped in creating a collective atmosphere on Shakespeare's play, over the individual performances. [8] Christopher Schobert of IndieWire wrote "the music is a bit daft". [9] Matthew Razak of Flixist wrote "some of the score sounds like it’s from a made-for-TV movie, but even this helps feed into the quick and playful spirit of the film". [10] Alan Zilberman of Tiny Mix Tapes called it "simple but catchy". [11]

Charts

Chart (2013)Peak
position
UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC) [12] 44
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) [13] 24

Credits

Credits adapted from liner notes: [14]

Notes

  1. Whedon wrote music for the episode "Once More, with Feeling" featured in the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

References

  1. Golder, Dave (May 28, 2013). "Your Chance To See Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing At A Special Preview". SFX. Archived from the original on June 22, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  2. Hall, Ellie (June 6, 2013). "Listen To Joss Whedon Put Shakespeare's Words To Music". Buzzfeed. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  3. "'Much Ado About Nothing' Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. June 4, 2013. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Robinson, Joanna (March 12, 2013). "Joss Whedon on "Much Ado About Nothing": "It's the sexiest thing I've ever done"". Salon.com . Archived from the original on March 14, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  5. Leckie-Palmer, Kirsty (June 4, 2013). "Joss Whedon on Much Ado About Nothing | Interview". The Skinny . Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  6. Chang, Justin (September 10, 2012). "Much Ado About Nothing". Variety . Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  7. Shoard, Catherine (September 13, 2012). "Much Ado About Nothing – review". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  8. Stevens, Dana (June 6, 2013). "Much Ado About Nothing". Slate . ISSN   1091-2339. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  9. Schobert, Christopher (September 10, 2012). "TIFF Review: Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado About Nothing' Is An Unexpected Delight". IndieWire . Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  10. Razak, Matthew (February 20, 2020). "Review: Much Ado About Nothing". Flixist. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  11. Zilberman, Alan (2013). "Film Review: Much Ado About Nothing (Dir. Joss Whedon)". Tiny Mix Tapes . Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  12. "Official Soundtrack Albums Chart Top 50 - 14 to 20 July". Official Charts Company . July 14, 2013. Archived from the original on November 13, 2024. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  13. "Soundtracks – Week of July 20, 2013". Billboard . July 20, 2013. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
  14. Joss Whedon. Much Ado About Nothing (Original Soundtrack) (Media notes). Bellwether Records.