The 2005 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice” celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, but even after two decades, the magic hasn’t faded. The movie, starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy, perfectly captures the feelings of Austen’s romance novel set in late 18th-century England. Screenwriter Deborah Moggach remained faithful to the book, describing the story as “the ultimate romance about two people who think they hate each other but who are really passionately in love.”
Along with the superb acting and period costumes, viewers are transported into the past through the gorgeous and intimate soundtrack written by Dario Marianelli. That’s no coincidence, as he wrote the music to match the era.
“With the directive from Director Joe Wright to create a soundtrack that would have appealed to Jane Austen during her own lifetime, the soundtrack uses pre-existing works and folk tunes taking from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries – including Purcell’s incidental music from Abdelazar and a theme in Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra,” Decca Records shares. “With an emphasis on keyboard music – and pianos a focal point of many of the film’s characters’ drawing rooms – influences of Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel and Brahms can be heard throughout the score.”
The most enduring piece of music from the entire film features during the very opening scene, setting the tone for the film’s elegant atmosphere. “Dawn” is a solo piano piece that draws inspiration from Romantic era composers, particularly Beethoven’s early piano sonatas.
Marianelli begins the piece with two bars of a single repeated note. Two of the first three eighth notes are treated with fermatas to give a sense of hesitation before an accelerando in bar two brings us up into the normal tempo, marked as moderately slow. Already, the composer is evoking the feelings of a restless mind, unsure of what to think.
The simple beginning was also written for a practical purpose.
“You know, the beginning of ‘Dawn’ was written for Keira Knightley who had never played the piano in her life,” Marianelli told Forbes earlier this year. “So it’s especially written as a sort of 18th-century small piece, so that she could learn to play with two fingers. The piece is really designed so that if the camera was looking at her hands for the first 30 seconds of the piece, she could actually play it, and it was written like that.”
Knightley learned how to play the piano to be able to nail the piece, but Wright directed the scene so she fumbles it as Mr. Darcy approaches. That’s why today we’ll be checking out this fantastic video of pianist Robert Peeters performing “Dawn.”
“Dawn” is written in 6/8 time, giving it a slight bounce and air of lightheartedness. The left hand provides harmony in gentle waves of arpeggios, reminiscent of the rolling hills in the film’s opening scene of daybreak. While the melody is simple and sweet, it is played in a two-against-three pattern to add rhythmic playfulness.
Peeters plays the piece to perfection, nailing the tender and thoughtful piece with wonderful expression.
Follow along with the sheet music for “Dawn” from Pride and Prejudice:
