Sherlock: Music from Series 3 (Original Television Soundtrack)

Three seasons on, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ playful BBC reinvention of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary Victorian detective has become an international sensation. But while Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman have garnered much acclaim for their quirky contemporary takes on Holmes and Watson, the muscular musical contributions of composers David Arnold and Michael Price are responsible for much of the show’s nervy edge and frequently off-camber emotional aura. Anchored by the driving club beats of “How It Was Done” (which interpolates their memorable waltz of a main theme as screaming metal guitar riff), Arnold and Price use the season’s unlikely developments to infuse their often-dark electro-organic musical tapestry with eclectic new colors and dry wit. The aggressive “John Is Quite a Guy” even manages to channel the show’s instant-classic theme into Led Zep-“Kashmir” territory with tongue (presumably) in cheek, while a melancholy solo violin offers up a traditional “Waltz for John and Mary” that Doyle himself might have enjoyed.