Gabriel Yared - The Talented Mr. Yared

Born in Beirut and living in France for many years, Gabriel Yared initially studied law before switching to music studies. He has now been composing music for film and stage for some considerable time. Much of his earlier work has been for the French cinema, but more recently he has established his reputation in Hollywood with some noteworthy scores. The "English Patient" is brim full with wistful romantic love melodies which seem to have a life of their own, spanning time across the film's flashbacks. Against the musical accompaniment, some of these scenes have a serene beauty oblivious to the war being waged elsewhere. You'll find some pieces played by Benny Goodman on the soundtrack and Bach's famous "Aria from the Goldberg Variations" is also used to good effect within the film (popular in film, this also features on "Silence of the Lambs"). The English Patient deservedly won an oscar for the composer, and he was to come close again with nominations for "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain".

"Betty Blue" (called "37*2 Le Matin" for its original French release) is filled with music from an interesting variety of styles (including instruments such as Sax, Harmonica, Piano, Synth and sound effects), yet it is all unified by some common thematic elements. Yared incorporates an element of jazz into some of his scores, and it's true to say that his style seems to be very intuitive. Although it is not strictly improvised, it does give the impression of being a free-flowing stream of consciousness. Certainly the structure of his pieces is less evident than with other film composers, and that does mean that his scores are intrinsically interesting and a refreshing change.

A documentary film has been released about Yared and his film music called "Music by Gabriel Yared". Check out our review of Music by Gabriel Yared for details of our competition giving you the chance to win a copy of this film on DVD. It is also good to see Yared's name associated with the TV Series "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency".

Films by Gabriel Yared:

• Tennessee Nights
• Beyond Therapy
• Wings of Courage
• Camille Claudel - a biographical film about the lover of French sculptor Auguste Rodin (played by Gérard Depardieu) with a classical influenced score
• L'Amant (The Lover)
• Betty Blue - light yet quirky, employing a variety of styles
• The English Patient - with an epic feel to the broad emotional love theme
• City of Angels
• Message in a Bottle
• The Talented Mr. Ripley - the soundtrack has both classical and jazz source music and Yared's contibution is to bring a degree of unity to this mix, yet comment on the characters and their hidden motivations
• Autumn in New York
• Possession
• Sylvia
• Cold Mountain - with a classical lyricism, simple but moving, and a new departure for Yared with its touch of Americana
• Shall we Dance - credited for original music along with John Altman, with many variations on the song "Shall we Dance" from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical "The King and I"
• Breaking and Entering - an ambient musical collaboration with the British duo "Underworld" who specialise in Electronic Music
• 1408
• Adam Resurrected
• Amelia

TV Music by Gabriel Yared:

• The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - the first 2 episodes of this award-winning series based on the novel by Alexander McCall Smith