Girl with a Pearl Earring (soundtrack)

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Girl with a Pearl Earring: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Alexandre Desplat
Released10 February 2004 (2004-02-10)
Recorded19–23 July 2003
StudioSony Studios (London)
Length50:31
LabelDecca
Producer
Alexandre Desplat chronology
Inquiétudes
(2003) 		Girl with a Pearl Earring: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(2004) 		Birth
(2004)

Girl with a Pearl Earring: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 2003 film Girl with a Pearl Earring starring Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, Cillian Murphy and Judy Parfitt. It was composed by French film composer Alexandre Desplat.

Desplat was a veteran of primarily French films since the early 1990s. His work for Girl with a Pearl Earring raised his international profile as his breakout score in Hollywood; it led to a prominent career composing major films like

BAFTA Award for Best Film Music
.

Development and composition

"Period music can be a trap. That's the one advantage to being the last person to see the completed film, as usually I am. I see with fresh eyes what's already there on the screen and I take its pulse. So if a film is set in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century I can see how far the costumes and production design and the dialogue already tell the audience that".
– Alexandre Desplat[1]

The musical score to the film Girl with a Pearl Earring was written by the French composer Alexandre Desplat.[2] Desplat had to work quickly when composing his score, and sought to avoid creating "a period, baroque score", as he felt that genre could "be a trap".[1] According to Desplat, the film's director Peter Webber wished to avoid making a period film, believing the story was timeless. Desplat thought the use of choirs and baroque-like instrumentations "seemed too obvious" for the film.[3] To Desplat, the film's story depicted the repression felt between the two main characters. "The music had to reflect that, so it couldn't be too busy", Desplat said.[3]

Recording his score at

Empire notes a central theme which "dominates the score, appearing in a variety of instrumental forms, including solo piano and violin. Elsewhere, Desplat creates a captivating atmosphere of cautious emotion and wonderment, the true highlight being 'Colour In The Clouds', so simply majestic that it really captures the heart of the story".[4]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Empire
[4]

Girl with a Pearl Earring was Deplat's breakout score in Hollywood, despite it being his 50th production as composer.

BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.[10]

In a 2004 interview, the film's director, Peter Webber commented that Desplat "has done a fantastic job. He's quite rightly been nominated for a Golden Globe. Music is a difficult trick to pull off, because the wrong score could have dragged this film down. Alexander [

Empire called the score "a supremely elegant work that should gain him much-deserved attention on the international stage".[4]

Track listing

All music is composed by Alexandre Desplat

No.TitleLength
1."Girl with a Pearl Earring"2:18
2."Griet's Theme"4:07
3."A New Life"3:06
4."Master's House"3:16
5."Camera Obscura"1:33
6."The Birth Feast"2:46
7."Cornelia"1:43
8."Vermeer's Studio"3:09
9."Winter Nights"2:08
10."Van Ruijven"3:32
11."Home"1:15
12."Colours in the Clouds"3:28
13."The Master Is Painting"2:07
14."By the Canal with Pieter"1:46
15."Catharina's Pearls"1:23
16."Colours in the Clouds" (strings)3:27
17."Girl with a Pearl Earring" (reprise)2:19
18."Silence and Light" (piano solo)1:40
19."Griet's Theme" (reprise)4:19
20."Griet Remembers"1:09

References

  1. ^ a b Dowd, Vincent (10 December 2014). "How Alexandre Desplat creates a film score in three weeks". BBC News. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. ^ Goldwasser, Dan (January 2006). "Interview". Soundtrack.Net. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Guerin, Ada (11 November 2003). "Alexandre Desplat: 'Girl With a Pearl Earring' Lions Gate release date: Dec. 12 (limited)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d Graydon, Danny. "Girl With a Pearl Earring". Empire. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  5. ^ a b Hischak 2015, p. 174.
  6. ^ Appelo, Tim (24 February 2014). "'Philomena' composer Alexandre Desplat at Polo Lounge: Ban temp tracks, 'capture the soul of a film'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  7. ^ Burlingame, Jon (5 November 2014). "Billion dollar composer: Alexandre Desplat has ears of world's top auteurs". Variety. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  8. ^ Hammond, Pete (23 November 2011). "Composer Alexandre Desplat is music to Oscar's ears again this season". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  9. ^ Burlingame, Jon (7 January 2007). "Thinking in colors and textures, then writing in music". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Anthony Asquith Award for Original Film Music in 2004". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  11. ^ Grandon, Marisol (15 January 2004). "'On set, Scarlett would tear strips off Colin'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  12. ^ Mitchell, Elvis (12 December 2003). "Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003) film review". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 June 2015.

Bibliography

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