Rachel Portman Music

Rachel Portman

Rachel Portman’s score for Douglas McGrath’s Emma earned her an Academy Award. She has also been an Oscar nominee for scoring Lasse Hallström’s The Cider House Rules and Chocolat. Ms. Portman additionally received Grammy Award nominations for the latter two scores, and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Chocolat. She was recently an Emmy Award nominee for scoring Michael Sucsy’s HBO film Grey Gardens. She has since reteamed with the director on his upcoming The Vow; and with Mr. McGrath on the just-wrapped I Don’t Know How She Does It and the recently screened documentary feature His Way.

Ms. Portman has been composing music for the movies and television for nearly 30 years. Her early credits include Peter Duffell’s Experience Preferred…But Not Essential and Jim Henson’s television series The Storyteller.

She collaborated extensively with director Beeban Kidron, scoring such telefilms and features as Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, starring Charlotte Coleman; Antonia and Jane, starring Imelda Staunton and Saskia Reeves; Used People; Great Moments in Aviation; and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. For writer/director Mike Leigh, Ms. Portman scored the telefilm Four Days in July; the short The Short & Curlies; and the award-winning feature Life is Sweet. Notably, her theme for the latter picture was heard at the Oscars ceremony in 1992, accompanying a history of comedy in film.

Her many other film scores include the ones for John Madden’s Ethan Frome; Jeremiah Chechik’s Benny & Joon; John Duigan’s Sirens; Alan Taylor’s Palookaville and The Emperor’s New Clothes; Jerry Zaks’ Marvin’s Room; Jonathan Demme’s Beloved, The Truth About Charlie, and The Manchurian Candidate; Garry Marshall’s The Other Sister; Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher; Aileen Richie’s The Closer You Get; Robert Redford’s The Legend of Bagger Vance; Douglas McGrath’s Nicholas Nickleby and Infamous; Roman Polanski’s Oliver Twist; and Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod’s Bel Ami, starring Robert Pattinson. Ms. Portman has scored four features for Wayne Wang: The Joy Luck Club, Smoke, Because of Winn-Dixie, and the soon-to-be-released Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

She composed the 2003 opera The Little Prince, based on the classic Antoine de Saint-Exupéry story, which was subsequently recorded for airing as part of PBS’ Great Performances concert series. In 2010, the U.K. native was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s New Years Honours List for her services to the film industry.

Filmography Rachel Portman



One Day
de Lone Scherfig 2011

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