Le Chevalier D'Eon is set in France during the 18th Century, a couple decades or so prior to the French Revolution. The music of the time was acoustic in nature, with the symphonic orchestra being a primary recipient of the largess of King and Court. Thus, it is fitting that all music for the show, excepting the opening and closing theme, are symphonic pieces. A full symphonic orchestra was not used, based on the liner notes for the album. Rather, a smaller group of twenty musicians formed a small chamber orchestra. If you are used to larger symphonies (featuring around 100 total musicians), you can quickly tell that this album was produced by a smaller group. That doesn't mean that the sound of this album is small, though. On the contrary, the musicians do an excellent job of adding an intimate warmth to their performance, which was a touch I very much appreciated.

Outside of the vocal themes, there are two main styles of music on this album. Right after the opening theme are the pensive, darker tunes. The show itself has a number of dark moments to it, and the music is used to increase dramatic tension or show the melancholy of the title character. A good example of this is track 20, Coup. It is a sad piece, and the music hints at things forever out of reach, that you did not grasp when you had a chance. This fits D'Eon de Beaumont perfectly, as he is a pretty emo fellow who mopes through a good part of the show, bemoaning the various fates that doth so foully beset him. This style takes up a bit more than half of the album.

The rest of the album generally consists of happier, more lively tunes, whether in the form of waltzes or other short, peppy tunes. Cafe - Paris' Tumult is a good example of this kind of tune. These tracks are interspersed throughout the album, rather than being put into their own section, and they do a pretty good job of keeping the album from getting too ponderous. I really like most of these tunes, as the music is excellently performed and the compositions are well written.

There is one stand-out exception to the general pattern that I want to mention. Track fifteen, Auguste, seems to straddle the border between the two styles. While not being one of the heavier, dramatic tracks, it also isn't really an upbeat one. This kind of music occupies a middle ground, and ends up feeling pretty introspective. I found its placement at the middle of the album to be a good fit for this track, and it acts as a solid center point for the rest of the album to revolve around.

The Le Chevalier D'Eon Original Soundtrack is a good album, though I wouldn't consider it a great one. It lacks any true stand-out tracks to make me recommend it without reservation, but it also doesn't have any weak points. If you like orchestral music, there is a lot of good stuff on this album, but you can find good orchestral music in other places, as well. A fan of the show can't really go wrong with picking this up, but the rest of you can find similar music elsewhere.