Rachel Portman
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"My utter commitment is to write the music that works for the film, not write the music which works for me."--Portman quoted in The Hollywood Reporter, January 1994.
Biography
One of a handful of contemporary female film composers, Rachel Portman created lush and colorful scores that enhance or reflect the emotions of the feature's characters. Using minimal cues for effect, she designed her work to appeal directly to the viewer's sensibilities. Equally at home scoring heavily dramatic motion pictures as well as light romantic comedies, Portman proved to be adept at compositions that reflect humanity. Raised in England, Portman began her musical education at an early age, trained to play a number of instruments. As she progressed, she became particularly interested in concentrating on composition and orchestrating, creating her first work as a teenager. After completing music studies at Oxford, she landed her first assignment to score the TV-movie "Experience Preferred ... But Not Essential" (1982; released theatrically in the USA in 1983) and entered films with Michael Hoffman's "Privileged" (1982). She subsequently alternated between TV and features, creating melodic scores that do not upstage the screen action. Portman forged a successful collaboration with Beeban Kidron on the feminist telefilms "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" (1989), "Antonia and Jane" (1990), and "Great Moments in Aviation" (1993). She subsequently created a jazz-tinged score for Kidron's "Used People" (1992) and the disco-tinged soundtrack for the director's "Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" (1995). Critics praised Portman's score for "Where Angels Fear to Tread" (1991) and "Ethan Frome" (1993), both of which were instrumental in illustrating the frustrations and colors of the central characters. Her bouncy, lively score for "Benny & Joon" (1993) nearly functioned as a separate character in the film, while her quiet compositions for "The Joy Luck Club" (also 1993) highlighted that feature's sadness and tragedies as well as its occasional pleasures. Portman created the background music which reflected the changing moods of the characters in "Marvin's Room" (1996). She earned an Oscar for "Emma" (also 1996), which captured the mischievous qualities of the title heroine. That achievement made Portman the first female composer to win a music Academy Award. Constantly in demand, her scores over the next decade included Lasse Hallström's "The Cider House Rules" (1999) and "Chocolat" (2000), Jonathan Demme's remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" (2004), and time-shifting romantic comedy "The Lake House" (2006). Portman's facility for romantic scoring led to consistent work in love stories such as "The Vow" (2012). In 2015, she won an Emmy Award for her score for "Bessie" (HBO 2015), a biopic starring Queen Latifah as blues icon Bessie Smith.
Filmography
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Music (Special)
Music (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1982
Wrote first feature score, "Privileged", directed by Michael Hoffman
1982
Composed first score for the TV-movie, "Experience Preferred ... But Not Essential"; released theatrically in the USA in 1983
1987
Contributed the score for episodes of the NBC drama series "The Storyteller"
1990
Scored the TV-movies "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" and "Antonia and Jane", both directed by Beeban Kidron
1991
Won acclaim for the music in "Where Angels Fear to Tread"
1992
Reteamed with Kidron for the jazzy score to "Used People"
1995
Scored Kidron's "Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar"
1996
Provided the score for "Emma"; became first female to win an Oscar for composing a full musical score (as opposed to working on a song or song score)
1998
Scored Jonathan Demme's "Beloved"
1999
Composed the atmospheric and lyric score for "The Cider House Rule"; picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score
2000
Wrote the underscore for the motion picture "Chocolat"; received Oscar nomination
2000
Wrote the jaunty themes for "The Closer You Get"; produced by her husband
2000
Penned the music for "The Legend of Bagger Vance"
2002
Composed the score for "Hart's War"
2004
Scored "The Manchurian Candidate"
2010
Scored science fiction drama "Never Let Me Go"
2012
Scored romantic drama "The Vow"
2015
Scored Emmy-winning TV biopic "Bessie," starring Queen Latifah as Bessie Smith
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"My utter commitment is to write the music that works for the film, not write the music which works for me."--Portman quoted in The Hollywood Reporter, January 1994.
