Alexandre Desplat

Alexandre Desplat's sublime compositions for Hollywood finally garnered him some well-deserved critical acclaim after scoring films in Europe in relative obscurity eversince 1991. Some of his best moments are the scores for Casanova, The Upside of Anger, Hostage, Birth, Syriana and The Girl With A Pearl Earring (the latter two of which landed him Golden Globe nominations). Whether he's using a computer program to compose with electronic music or fashioning a piece for the London Symphony Orchestra, Desplat's works are characterized by a seamless finesse in their instrumentation that gives birth to subtle ambiance, haunting tension, sparse beauty and the occasional outburst of galloping adventure.