A French animation about a child who finds various book characters coming to life, Eleanor’s Secret has yet to be released in many international markets, but its enchanting music is available courtesy of MovieScore Media. It’s composed by Christophe Héral and is a sweet, charming score. It features an orchestra as well as prominent solo parts for guitar and cymbalom. There’s a certain Gallic charm running throughout the strong melodies which dominate. Most notable is the main theme, which clearly owes a debt to Danny Elfman, with its cooing female chorus, but is especially impressive all the same.
Héral sends it through plenty of variations – whether for the full orchestra and choir, sometimes for guitar, at one delightful moment just for pizzicato strings. There are many other fine moments in the score too – from more comic ones (which never lose that charm) and some which are considerably darker and more dramatic (such moments are generally short-lived, but Héral displays an orchestral prowess which suggests that sort of score from him might be very interesting to hear). It’s not terribly original, but the composer does give it a certain flavour of its own through his use of soloists. This is just lovely music, consistently pleasant and tuneful and it comes recommended. *** 1/2
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