Tunesday 6.24.25 - Ladyhawke OST by Andrew Powell

80s Fantasy Adventure at its Synth-iest

I did not have a horse-girl phase as a kid. But I did, to some extent, have a dog/bird-girl phase.

Upon considering my current stage of life, I’m not entirely sure that I ever left the dog/bird girl phase. So…there’s that.

The Fluffy Assistant and my Yard Birbs make up a good deal of my camera roll

Still. I read every Jim Kjelgaard dog-book I could get my hands on in middle school and high school, and My Side of the Mountain is still one of my favorite children’s books. At some point, I stumbled across the Animorphs show on Nickelodeon, and I was sold. I immediately checked out every early-2000s YA shapeshifter book I could find at my library (mostly Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’s Kiesha'ra Series), and wrote some pretty cringe-worthy middle school fanfiction, which, quite fortunately, is lost forever after some virus or other forced a wipe of the family computer's hard drive.

There’s a good chance that this lines up with when my brother discovered Napster, but I’m not sure there’s any way to confirm this.

Anyway. This also meant that when I stumbled across this VHS at the local thrift store, there was no chance I was going to leave without it.

What is the music from?

Ladyhawke is an 80s fantasy adventure movie, where pickpocket Philippe “The Mouse” Gaston escapes a death sentence by fleeing the prison of the Bishop of Aquila. He is caught again by the bishop’s guards, only to be rescued by Captain Etienne Navarre and his hawk.

As Navarre pulls Philippe into a quest of revenge against the bishop, Philippe learns that the hawk is actually Isabeau of Anjou, Navarre’s wife.

Jealousy had caused the bishop to put a curse on the couple, forcing them to be "always together, yet eternally apart”, with Isabeau living in the form of a hawk by day, and Navarre turning into a wolf at night.

What more could a mid-2000s dog/bird-girl teen ask for?

What is the music like?

I will admit that I didn’t remember the soundtrack for this movie well. I had generally fond associations with it, but other than a few CDs that my library happened to have when I was in high school, I didn’t start seeking out movie and video game scores to listen to until the mid 2010s. And even then, I don’t know that there was an easily accessible version of this one.

Upon looking up some background information before writing this article, I was surprised to find that not everyone remembers the soundtrack fondly. And some people downright hate it. Because apparently the synth-y sound that places it so solidly in the 80s feels out of place in a medieval fantasy setting. You know… because full orchestral compositions are just very “medieval”.

I mean. The guy included Gregorian chant [here] and recorders [here]. That’s closer to time-period-appropriate than 95% of other movie soundtracks.

I can understand why some people might be a little thrown off by Powell’s score when they’re expecting different instrumentation, but I cant help thinking they’re missing some really awesome adventure-y music by dismissing it so quickly. I mean. The vibe might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but that opening [here] does such a great job of painting an epic, heroic background for an adventure. As do so many other sections where that driving 80s rhythm kicks in [like here].

If the electronic tone of the instrumentation was reduced, or he’d brought out the more traditionally orchestral instruments a little more, I think the response would be entirely different. Especially in sections like this one, where some of the great melody lines in the brass, woodwinds, and (a little later) strings get a little overwhelmed.

Powell’s talent is clearly there if you’re paying attention. Some of his themes [like this one. Or this one. Or this one] are just gorgeous, and fit the tone of an epic story of romance and revenge just perfectly.

Long story short, I get why it’s not everyone’s favorite, but I also feel like those people are missing out on some great epic music. Is it different from the “accepted” sound of a fantasy adventure soundtrack over the years? Sure. But that’s not a bad thing. There are far too many musical trends that modern composers mimic because John Williams or Hans Zimmer used them to great effect, to the point that I have to stop myself from laughing at them when I hear them tossed into scores willy-nilly.

Just going to close by recommending that you listen to this section, which is possibly my favorite part of the whole thing. I’m not entirely sure what purpose that rhythm melody serves for the movie (it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen it) beyond planting a flag on the “It’s the 80s” hill, but I love it.

I feel like we could all benefit from a little more epic 80s music in our lives now and then. And also that I need to go rewatch this movie.

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