Rachel Portman, Composer

The other day I was watching The Woman In Black (1989), a Victorian ghost story, and noticed that Rachel Portman composed the music for the film. That prompted me to look up this composer who I already knew from the Emma soundtrack.




Her website says: "Rachel Portman was born in west Sussex, England. She began composing at the age of 14 and read music at Oxford University. Whilst there, she became interested in writing music for student films and theatre productions. She gained experience writing music for drama in BBC and Channel 4 films such as Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Mike Leigh's Four Days In July and Jim Henson's Storyteller series, however the majority of her work has been in film."


Here are some of the film soundtracks that Rachel has worked on:


She was the first woman composer to win an Academy Award for Best Musical Score for her work on Emma in 1996. I bought this soundtrack as part of my Jane Austen collection a few years ago and I really love listening to it! You can listen to samples at Amazon.

The soundtrack for Because of Win Dixie in 2005. It's funny that when I first saw this film I recognized a few strains of music in the background as being similar to the Emma soundtrack. I was so surprised to find out that this sweet film has the same composer!

A beautiful soundtrack written for Nicholas Nickleby in 2002. I didn't really like this as an adaptation of Charles Dicken's book but it was nominated for some awards. Listen to samples at Amazon.


Rachel composed the music for this 2005 big screen adaptation of Oliver Twist. I haven't seen this film yet but long to see actor Ben Kingsley in his role as Fagin! The samples from the soundtrack on Amazon are delightful!

Worked with composer Nigel Westlake on the delightfully charming soundtrack for the sweet Miss Potter film in 2006. This soundtrack is on my wishlist! Listen to samples at Amazon.

I was surprised to see A Little Princess (1986) on her list of credits. This film has long been a family favorite as it faithfully tells the story. The music is light and pretty and I remember enjoying the beginning and end themes especially. I really need to get this film on DVD it's so lovely!


Here are some other films that Rachel Portman composed music for which I've seen but don't really recommend for viewing: The Lake House (2006), Ethan Frome (1993), Chocolat (2000) for which she was nominated for a Grammy and an Academy Award, The Manchurian Candidate (2004). And there's a whole list of other films that she's composed for which you can read about on her informative website and at Wikipedia.

Here's a video with music from The Woman In Black (1989). I am working on an Emma video which I hope to post soon.

The Woman In Black from Miss Laurie on Vimeo.

While working on this post I just enjoyed listening to the Main Titles from Emma (on her website) and also previewing clips from other films at Amazon.com. Rachel Portman is my new favorite composer! Her work is so lovely I could listen to it for hours!

Thank you Ms. Portman for your contribution to making period dramas that much more beautiful with your music!

Do you have any favorite movie soundtracks?

Blessings,