Gabriel Yared's The English Patient: A Film Score Guide

Anthony Minghella's 1996 film won nine Academy Awards™, including one for Best Original Score. Though Gabriel Yared had previously composed scores for several films, including , , and , his work on launched him into international public consciousness. His score for this film testifies to the continued appeal of a classical, noncommercial style of scoring, eschewing the use of contemporary pop music for a more 'timeless' sound.In The English Patient , author Heather Laing offers the most in-depth examination to date of the work of the composer. Laing examines Yared's approach to film scoring, his compositional techniques and the impact of his partnership with Minghella before and after —through an exploration of such films as .The integral role of music in is contextualized within a detailed analysis of the film's narrative construction, themes, and motifs. The soundtrack is examined as a whole, and the specific 'soundworlds' of each character, location, and relationship are drawn out as the basis for the overall style and construction of the score. Musical themes are viewed in both musical and narrative terms, and musical connections between the themes are identified. A close analysis of the placement and development of musical themes throughout the film reveals the complex musical journey that forms a unique and integral element of the characters.