• Composed by Simon Franglen

Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, Notre-Dame Brûle (a French phrase that even I can translate) tells the story of the fire in Paris’s iconic cathedral. While his films have tended to fall somewhat below the radar of late, there’s no doubting Annaud’s ability to create a visual spectacle – nor indeed his appreciation for grand film music. His previous two films were both scored by James Horner and both were highlights of the great composer’s later years, the underrated Black Gold and his final sweeping epic, Wolf Totem, and it’s great to see Annaud retaining some of that musical DNA by enlisting Simon Franglen to score this film (as he did with the tv miniseries he directed a few years back). As with the composer’s previous score, The Curse of Turandot, there are times here when it is like listening to new Horner music – but these times are pleasingly spread out amongst a swathe of music which is in this composer’s own voice. The dramatic architecture of the score is perhaps not a surprise – it opens all big and majestic, with a liturgical air thanks to the vocals, in “Paris Morning” – we have some sprightly, lovely music in “The Workmen Arrive” – but not long later things very much go south.