Try Listening to a Composer

Want to listen to something soothing and inspiring in the background? Besides music? Try this interview with celebrated film composer Alexandre Desplat on David Poland’s web interview series DP/30.

Desplat has scored a ton of things you’ve probably seen at the cinema over the last 5 years, but you just didn’t know it. Try for example The King’s Speech, Harry Potter 7, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, all things Wes Anderson, and the list the goes on and on. That’s the funny thing, and the running joke in these interviews: he is incredibly prolific, scoring sometimes over 5 movie soundtracks per year and many, if not all, Oscar contenders.

What I love about these interviews is Desplat’s gentle way of expressing, his humility, his respect for masters like John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith, and his good old-fashioned model of working really really hard but loving absolutely every second of what he does. The man oozes passion for music and his love for the craft. As a creative professional in a completely different field, I find myself coming back for a listen as I work time and time again.

Go ahead, give it a listen, I bet you’ll find yourself in the same boat.