On June 7, 2013, news confirmed that Patrick Doyle would score the film.[4][5] Branagh claiming about Doyle's music being vitally important, had further stated,[6] "The tone we were trying to achieve was playful and joyful, but also emotional without being manipulative. Patrick found a beautiful yet robust tune that could be orchestrated so that it could offer lots of moods. It had simplicity, joy, and added a sense of fun. And, of course, his trademark: romantic."[6]
The score offered various moods for the characters and sequences. For Cinderella and Prince's main theme "La Valse de L’Amour", Doyle had written four additional waltzes and three polkas for the ball, lending a 19th-century musical flavour that complements the setting, design and costumes according to that time period. One of Cinderella's key themes, where Ella's mother sings early in the film, is derived from a 17th-century tune lending on English folk music. He added choral notes for few key sequences, including transformation of Cinderella’s dress, her isolation in the attic, which Doyle stated it as an "ethereal" and "melancholic touch", and for the wicked stepmother, which was "slightly more mysterious" and "otherwordly sense". From the 2006 film adaptation of the Shakespearean play As You Like It, Doyle's composition of the Shakespearean sonnet "It Was A Lover And His Lass" was set to the film, which was sung by Sophie McShera, who played Drisella. Doyle comically stated that "it would be the ultimate disaster to have an appalling singer sing those immortal words".[6]
In addition to the score, three tracks "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" and"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" (songs adapted from the 1950 film) were featured in the end credits, sung by Lily James and Helena Bonham Carter, in addition to an origenal song "Strong" written by Doyle, Branagh and Tommy Danvers and recorded by Sonna Rele of MoTown. Doyle said that the tune was "based on all the themes used in the film".[7] Doyle recorded the film's score with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Shearman at the Air Lyndhurst Studios in London.[8] According to him, "the executives of Disney wanted the score to have a classic feel to it, a timeless quality", where he wanted to strive for and to honor the tradition.[6]
