Score album available today

(LOS ANGELES, CA) The Hollywood Foreign Press Association this morning announced acclaimed composer Alexandre Desplat is nominated for a Golden Globe for his score to the geopolitical thriller “Syriana.” Desplat was previously nominated in 2004 for his score to “Girl with a Pearl Earing.” RCA releases the score album today.

Based on Robert Baer’s novel “See No Evil,” “Syriana” stars George Clooney, Matt Damon, Amanda Peet and Jeffrey Wright, and is directed by Stephen Gaghan, the Oscar-winning writer of “Traffic.” The Warner Brothers release dramatizes the international oil industry, from the players brokering back-room deals in Washington to the men toiling in the oil fields of the Persian Gulf. The film's multiple storylines weave together to illuminate the human consequences of the fierce pursuit of wealth and power.

Desplat’s nuanced score unfolds against these tense themes. Carefully avoiding overpowering the delicate emotional tales of human beings with the intense drama of their situations, Desplat restrains his score and creates a complexity that mirrors the struggles of the characters. Blending groups of Eastern and Western influences to acknowledge the story’s characters and geography, his orchestra is heavy on strings and percussion, featuring exotic solo instruments to create a rich texture of intrigue and suspense. Master duduk player Djivan Gasparyan performs with famed woodwind artist Pedro Eustache on the ney, and famed cellist Armen Ksajikian gives an intricate performance.

Having scored over 60 films in his native France, Alexandre Desplat made his Hollywood breakthrough in 2003 with his sublime score for “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” which garnered him a Golden Globe nomination. In 2004, his score for “Birth” attracted widespread attention in film music circles and established his reputation as a diverse artist. As Stephen Gaghan recently said in Daily Variety, “I realized this guy has the crossover dribble: he can play the outside and he can play in the paint.” Now one of Hollywood’s most in-demand composers, five films released in 2005 feature his music: “The Upside of Anger,” “The Beat That My Heart Skipped,” “Casanova,” “Hostage,” and “Syriana.” Desplat has just finished the score to Harrison Ford’s “Firewall” and is preparing for “The Painted Veil” with Naomi Watts and Edward Norton.

In addition to his film work, Alexandre Desplat has conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic and gives master classes at La Sorbonne in Paris and London’s Royal College of Music.

CDs, interviews available – contact Costa Communications