2015 (Production)

2015-06-26 (Production)

English (Original)

Interviewee: Rachel Portman
Interviewer: Timothy Burden

Professional production

Composer Rachel Portman is interviewed by Tim Burden at her London home in 2015. Portman discusses her musical education and her career scoring television and film, including from EXPERIENCE PREFERRED...BUT NOT ESSENTIAL (1982) to THE HUMAN STAIN (2003).

Rachel Portman is interviewed by Tim Burden at her London home on June 26, 2015. Born and raised in the small town of Haslemere in Surrey, Portman developed her music appreciation by listening to BBC Radio 3 with her mother, who encouraged her to pursue a music education. Portman began studying piano at age 8 and violin in her teens. She started composing at age 14 and later enrolled at Oxford University as a music composition major. Portman expresses the sense of freedom she experience writing for student dramas and theater. Despite discouragement from her professors, Portman developed an interest in film composition. She had her first opportunity with PRIVILEGED (1982), a film essay based on Oxford student life. Portman went on to land work with producer David Puttnam on EXPERIENCE PREFERRED...BUT NOT ESSENTIAL (1982). The film would serve as a segue into scoring television projects for the UK’s Channel 4and the BBC, including A LITTLE PRINCESS (1986) and Jim Henson's miniseries THE STORYTELLER (1987-88), which Portman remembers as a daunting but rewarding experience. She later returned to feature films with her BAFTA-nominated ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT (1989). She recounts how her first American film USED PEOPLE (1992) offered her a new opportunity to helm a 70-piece orchestra. Portman details the challenge of expanding her scoring repertoire on THE JOY LUCK CLUB (1993) and BELOVED (1998), through employing traditional Chinese and African instrumentation. In 1996, Portman received an Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score for Emma followed by future nominations for THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (1999) and CHOCOLAT (2000). Portman describes exploring other musical ventures by composing her first opera, THE LITTLE PRINCE (2003), an ode to her three daughters and mother’s musical encouragement. She returned to film and television scoring with Roman Polanski’s OLIVER TWIST (2005) and the HBO TV Movie GREY GARDENS (2009). Despite her numerous career milestones, Portman counts her appointment of Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to music as her crowning achievement.

Rachel Portman (born 1960) is a British film and television composer best known for EMMA (1996), THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (1999), and CHOCOLAT (2000). Portman was born in Surrey, England and began composing at age 14 while studying piano, viola and organ at Charterhouse School. In 1979 she enrolled in Worcester College at Oxford University as a music major. She scored her first film PRIVILEGED (1982), a documentary short based on Oxford students’ experiences. Later that year Portman was tapped by producer David Puttnam to compose for EXPERIENCE PREFERRED...BUT NOT ESSENTIAL (1982). Portman would later transition into scoring for television films and miniseries with such works as A LITTLE PRINCESS (1986), Jim Henson's series THE STORYTELLER (1987-88) and ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT (1989). Portman began her American film career in 1992 with USED PEOPLE, followed by BENNY & JOON (1993), THE JOY LUCK CLUB (1993), and MARVIN’S ROOM (1996). Her score for Emma earned her the Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score, and was nominated for CIDER HOUSE RULES (1999) and CHOCOLAT (2000). In 2010 Rachel Portman was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to music.

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