"Period music can be a trap. That's the one advantage to being the last person to see the completed film, as usually I am. I see with fresh eyes what's already there on the screen and I take its pulse. So if a film is set in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century I can see how far the costumes and production design and the dialogue already tell the audience that". – Alexandre Desplat[1]
The musical score to the film Girl with a Pearl Earring was written by the French composer Alexandre Desplat.[2] 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".[1] 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.[3] 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.[3]
Recording his score at Abbey Road, Desplat employed a large string orchestra with piano, woodwinds, celeste, and brass instruments.[3][4] 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.[5] 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".[4]
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".[11] 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".[12] Danny Graydon from Empire called the score "a supremely elegant work that should gain him much-deserved attention on the international stage".[4]
