Girl with a Pearl Earring (soundtrack)

Development and composition

The musical score to the film Girl with a Pearl Earring was written by the French composer Alexandre Desplat. Desplat had to work quickly when composing his score, and sought to avoid creating "a period, baroque score", as he felt that genre could "be a trap". According to Desplat, the film's director Peter Webber wished to avoid making a period film, believing the story was timeless. Desplat thought the use of choirs and baroque-like instrumentations "seemed too obvious" for the film. To Desplat, the film's story depicted the repression felt between the two main characters. "The music had to reflect that, so it couldn't be too busy," Desplat said.

Recording his score at Abbey Road, Desplat employed a large string orchestra with piano, woodwinds, celeste, and brass instruments. In his entry for The Encyclopedia of Film Composers, Thomas Hischak felt the score exhibits Desplat's "classical side", for a composer known to employ many different musical influences in his work. Danny Graydon of the film magazine Empire notes a central theme which "dominates the score, appearing in a variety of instrumental forms, including solo piano and violin. Elsewhere, Desplat creates a captivating atmosphere of cautious emotion and wonderment, the true highlight being 'Colour In The Clouds', so simply majestic that it really captures the heart of the story".

Release and reception

Girl with a Pearl Earring was Deplat's breakout score in Hollywood, despite it being his 50th production as composer. Desplat had contributed musical scores to primarily French films since the early 1990s but his score for Girl with a Pearl Earring raised his international profile, leading to a prominent career composing major films such as The King's Speech (2010), Godzilla (2014), and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). The album was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.

In a 2004 interview, the film's director, Peter Webber commented that Desplat "has done a fantastic job. He's quite rightly been nominated for a Golden Globe. Music is a difficult trick to pull off, because the wrong score could have dragged this film down. Alexander [sic] did the opposite". Writing for The New York Times, Elvis Mitchell described the score as "gorgeous" which "brushes in a haunted gloom that gives the picture life where none seems to exist". Danny Graydon from Empire called the score "a supremely elegant work that should gain him much-deserved attention on the international stage".

Track listing

Courtesy of AllMusic:

1. Girl with a Pearl Earring – 2:18
2. Griet's Theme – 4:07
3. New Life – 3:06
4. Master's House – 3:16
5. Camera Obscura – 1:33
6. Birth Feast – 2:46
7. Cornelia – 1:43
8. Vermeer's Studio – 3:09
9. Winter Nights – 2:08
10. Van Ruijven – 3:32
11. Home – 1:15
12. Colours in the Clouds – 3:28
13. Master Is Painting – 2:07
14. By the Canal With Pieter – 1:46
15. Catharina's Pearls – 1:23
16. Colours in the Clouds (strings)– 3:27
17. Girl with a Pearl Earring (Reprise) – 2:19
18. Silence and Light (piano solo)– 1:40
19. Griet's Theme (Reprise) – 4:19
20. Griet Remembers – 1:09