The King’s Speech (Alexandre Desplat)

(2010)

Isn’t it ironic. Instead of giving The Social Network the awards it deserved of Best Picture and Director, the Academy gave those awards to The King’s Speech whilst giving the Best Original Score Oscar to the truly horrible score for the former film. I still think John Powell should have got the award for his score for How To Train Your Dragon, which was easily the best of 2010, but Alexandre Desplat came in a close second with his score for the Best Picture winner.

It isn’t Desplat’s best score of 2010 – that was Harry Potter, but again, this comes in at a very close second. It was Desplat’s fifth score of 2010, following The Ghost Writer, Tamara Drewe, The Special Relationship, and of course, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt.1. It seems that Desplat is rapidly becoming the composer of choice for films that deal with British monarchy and politics – he had already written music for The Queen in 2006, which earned him his first Oscar nomination, and of course he jokingly noted in his BAFTA acceptance speech that after writing music for the film about the life of Queen Victoria, he didn’t expect to be called upon for royal duties again. But he was, and this time he is writing music for a film about the life of her father.

The score is orchestrated for a medium-sized orchestra, with particular emphasis on strings, piano, and woodwinds. The main theme, an elegant piano piece is excellent. Powerful string performances, reminiscent of the cue ‘Obliviate’ from Desplat’s Harry Potter score are heard in ‘King George VI’. The best cue is ‘The Rehearsal’ which features prominent piano and string performances with occasional flutes. The score is so simple – it’s a very light touch to the film, and yet, it works so well. The album concludes with an excerpt from a Beethoven Symphony and Piano Concerto.

It’s a very good score to be sure, but if you aren’t a fan of Desplat then this score isn’t going to convert you. If you are however, this score comes highly recommended. This is just one of several excellent scores in yet another strong year for the composer, and is certainly among the 10 best scores of 2010.

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Track Listing

1 – Lionel and Bertie

2 – The King’s Speech

3 – My Kingdom, My Rules

4 – The King is Dead

5 – Memories of Childhood

6 – King George VI

7 – The Royal Household

8 – Queen Elizabeth

9 – Fear and Suspicion

10 – The Rehearsal

11 – The Threat of War

12 – Speaking Unto Nations (Beethoven Symphony No.7)

13 – Epilogue (Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5)

Credits

Music Composed, Conducted & Produced by Alexandre Desplat

Orchestrated by Alexandre Desplat & Jean-Pascal Beintus

Awards

Academy Award for Best Original Score (nominated)

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score (nominated)

BAFTA Award for Best Music (Won)

Insert Notes

None – Purchased as MP3 Download

All images and artwork are Copyright © 2010, Decca/Universal.