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Review

Andreas Kasulke and Geo Schaller are responsible for the background music in the German soap opera “Verbotene Liebe” (which means “Forbidden Love”). They may be formidable composers themselves, but at least for some of the recurring motifs they heavily rely on (or were “inspired” by) compositions by Eric Serra, Michael Nyman, Craig Armstrong, James Newton Howard, and very possibly other composers, made for movies. Kasulke and Schaller have an admirable taste for selecting themes and ideas, mostly string-based, which they often extend with respect to length, development, and orchestration. I am quite disappointed that they don't give credit at all to their role models (e.g. during the end credits of the show). The following are the movie score excerpts I recognized: 

1) The theme in the track “Leeloominai” on the commercial soundtrack of “The Fifth Element” (1997) by Eric Serra, “Love Is Worth Saving” on the promotional release. 
Beautiful and mournful. As far as I remember, often heard in the year 2000. 

2) The melodie from 0:37 to 1:16 in “The Miracle of Orléans” on the soundtrack of “Joan of Arc” (1999, also known as: “The Messenger”, “Jeanne d'Arc”, and “Johanna von Orléans”) by Eric Serra.
Beautiful and melancholy. Schaller and Kasulke really have outdone themselves with this. They featured a second voice more prominently and added a solo instrument (an oboe?). The result is nothing short of heavenly. It can be heard - among many other times - in episode 1462 (aired in week #8 of 2001, where Gabriella cannot hold Daniel back in the train), in episode 1468 (week #10 of 2001, when Henning searches for his wife Carolin), in episode 1535 and its successors (week #25 of 2001, in the story thread where Henning and Marie are led to believe that Henning is Martin's son), and again in recent episode 1769 (June 25, 2002, when this thread is continued). 

3) “Slow Movement” from William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1997) by Craig Armstrong. 
A suite of pure string themes, reminiscent of Michael Nyman because of their instrumentation and their “monotony”. Parts of that track have been adapted for Verbotene Liebe. As far as I remember, often heard in the year 2000. Heard again in episode 1707 (week #12 of 2002, in the scene where Martin and Beatrice talk about Mrs. Jones). 

4) “The One Moment” and “The Other Side” from Gattaca (1997) by Michael Nyman. 
A relatively simple, but beautiful theme, that used to occur quite frequently, but no longer does. 

5) “Swimming” from Waterworld (1995) by James Newton Howard. Played for example when Henning invited Mark to his attend his wedding in episode #1857 on Nov 8, 2002 and both times in the episodes #2051 and #2052 on Sept 8/9, 2003 when Florian leaves his new acquaintance's flat. 

6) “Second Date” from Unbreakable (2000) by James Newton Howard, too. The first 15 seconds were played quite often. I remember it from scenes related to Marie.  

7) “Carrying Audrey” from Unbreakable (2000) by James Newton Howard. The part heard from 0:42 through 0:52 was re-used numerous times, if I remember correctly often in the Cécile/Mark plot. 

I'd really appreciate any comments and additional observations you may have via e-mail. 

Related Links

Official “Verbotene Liebe” Page

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