#listeneveryday 8 Feb 2021
We're stepping into the world of film today, and Rachel Portman's music for the 2000 film Chocolat, which starred Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp. It tells the story of Vianne, who sets up a small chocolate shop in a sleepy French village at the beginning of Lent, and how her arrival affects the community.
Rachel Portman is a very successful and prolific film composer, who studied at Charterhouse School and Oxford University and began her writing career in television. She was the first woman to win an Academy Award for best musical or comedy score (for Emma in 1996) and she has been nominated two further times, for The Cider House Rules and Chocolat.
Rachel has been writing for films for nearly forty years, and has scored some very well-known titles including Mona Lisa Smile, The Manchurian Candidate, The Duchess and Never Let Me Go. She has also written for the concert hall and the theatre, and was made an OBE in 2010.
More to listen to
A short video about Rachel Portman and her music.
The full performance of a suite of music by Rachel Portman, from which the Chocolat extract was taken.
A new #listeneveryday post is published every weekday! Comment below or tweet @SimonRushby with your suggestions for future music.