[This bit of meta combines 3 of my favorite things: music, over-analyzing text, & Downton Abbey. Please consider that forewarning.]
It’s fair to say that I’ve watched the 15 episodes of Downton Abbey a few times. It’s also fair to say that I’ve watched the Mary/Matthew portions of those episodes a bit more than a few times. (And even that is stretching the definition of “a few” into something closer resembling “a shitload.”) One of my favorite parts of the show (besides the faces and the clothes and the cinematography and the faces) is the music; John Lunn’s soundtrack is very nearly perfect in every single way, but it wasn’t until my 19th (or 90th) viewing of certain scenes that I realized just how amazingly constructed it is.
Mary and Matthew have two main themes, both instantly recognizable to even a casual fan: “An Ideal Marriage” and “Such Good Luck.” (Youtube links for reference.) The former is recognizable from some pretty important scenes: Mary and Matthew’s first kiss in 1.06, for example. The latter made its first appearance in the train station goodbye scene in 2.01 (which is surely where it gets its name). But these themes are used repeatedly in season 2, and in incredibly telling and beautiful ways.
