The Crown Soundtrack - Season 2

To be perfectly honest, I am a sucker for anything and everything that involves British accents. So, it was no wonder when I fell in love with The Crown and watched the first season in a little over a week. I’m not sure if it was the sass of young Queen Elizabeth or the charm and slight disdain of Prince Phillip but it was definitely, at least in part, due to the dramatic and beautiful music featured.

If you are unaware, the 2nd season just recently came out and I sped through it just like the first season. However, not before watching a scene from episode 7 over and over again because, to put it simply, it was perfection. The scene I’m talking about, of course, is the mini montage of Princess Margaret and her new love interest, Antony Armstrong-Jones. THE MUSIC… WOW. It was as if the music was made specifically for this scene!

The scene begins with the rebellious Antony waiting for Princess Margaret on a motorcycle as she deliberates getting on behind him or getting in the car that she knows she should get in, which is when the music begins… At first all you can hear is the familiar whistling of violins that resemble a bird’s song. If you are at all familiar with baroque classical music then you would most definitely recognize the looped violin melody that drives this instrumental piece - Antonio Vivaldi’s “Spring” from the Four Seasons.  However, the composer, Max Richter not only loops a minuscule portion of the piece but adds an incredible yet simple bass line that changes the entire mood of the original composition. The piece is dramatic, heartbreaking, and romantic all at the same time, which is why it works so perfectly in this two-minute slice.

The scene shows the tumultuous beginning of Margaret and Antony’s relationship as they ride through the streets of London and engage in the start of their passionate romance. The no-dialogue scene, instead, replaced with Max Richter’s recomposed “Spring 1” was the perfect addition to the development of the characters, especially as we get a deeper look into Princess Margaret’s mind this season. This was truly one of my favorite episodes from The Crown thus far and “Spring 1” by Max Richter is now in my top ten instrumental favorites. Listen below!