Search - Bronislaw Kaper, Johnny Green :: Quentin Durward [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Music Composed by Bronislau Kaper Conducted by Johnny Green. Like Ivanhoe, Quentin Durward was based on a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, but took on a comic dimension as it depicted a 15th century "when knighthood was a drooping blossom." Taylor starred as the title character, an honorable but penniless Scottish knight sent to France on a minor mission that grows into a battle for the country's future. The film featured lovely European photography, a mostly English supporting cast, and a charming turn by Taylor as the chivalrous but somewhat hapless knight. Bronislau Kaper's score for Quentin Durward is a delightful swashbuckling effort in the best tradition of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's '30s and '40s efforts and the CinemaScope-era scores by Waxman, Rozsa and Steiner. The themes range from a lighthearted Scottish jig to a yearning love theme, and melancholy strains of unrequited affection -- with solidly symphonic action music for the derring-do.