Rachel Portman (1960-present)

Donald Macleod this week joins the Oscar winning film composer Rachel Portman in her studio in London, to chat about her life and music for film and the concert platform. Portman was the first female composer to win an Academy Award, an Oscar, and a Primetime Emmy Award for her various film music projects, as well as many other Academy and Golden Globe nominations. In more recent years her music for the film The Duchess has been added to the A-level music syllabus for students to study. Portman also has an interest in ecology and environmental issues. There'll be an opportunity to hear part of her choral symphony The Water Diviner's Tale, a collaboration with Owen Sheers, plus the orchestral work Endangered specially recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Throughout the week there will also be music specially recorded by the BBC Singers including Portman's Magnificat, and her Christmas Carol We Were There composed in collaboration with Michael Morpurgo.

In conversation with Donald Macleod, the composer Rachel Portman discusses her early musical influences, and the importance of her mother in encouraging her development in music. Portman was one of the first female students to study at Charterhouse, where she was first introduced to the music of Ravel, a composer she still greatly admires. After Charterhouse, Portman went on to study at Oxford which was both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand she was encouraged to write atonal music, which Portman wasn't interested in at all. But through collaborating with other faculties at the university she began to compose music for projects working alongside fellow students such as Hugh Grant. After university when Portman was in her twenties, she was composing music for film, radio and the concert hall, but this still didn't bring in a regular income, so she supplemented her composing work with a number of other jobs, including waitressing, and also cooking lunches for city directors.

Main Titles (Chocolat)

Studio Orchestra

David Snell, conductor

Chocolat (excerpts)

Concerto in G for piano and orchestra (Adagio assai)

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano

The Cleveland Orchestra

Pierre Boulez, conductor

Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis

Libby Burgess, organ

Benjamin Nicholas, conductor

Main Titles: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Where Angels Fear to Tread

In the Park (Benny and Joon)

J.A.C. Redford, conductor

End Titles: Ethan Frome

Rachel Portman explores her early career in discussion with Donald Macleod.

Donald Macleod this week joins the Oscar winning film composer Rachel Portman in her studio in London, to chat about her life and music for film and the concert platform. Portman was the first female composer to win an Academy Award, an Oscar, and a Primetime Emmy Award for her various film music projects, as well as many other Academy and Golden Globe nominations. In more recent years her music for the film The Duchess has been added to the A-level music syllabus. Portman also has an interest in ecology and environmental issues. There'll be an opportunity to hear part of her choral symphony The Water Diviner's Tale, a collaboration with Owen Sheers, plus the orchestral work Endangered specially recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Throughout the week there will also be music specially recorded by the BBC Singers including Portman's Magnificat, and her Christmas Carol We Were There composed in collaboration with Michael Morpurgo.

In Rachel Portman's studio in London, Donald Macleod joins the composer to chat about her film music projects in the 1990s. This included working with the American puppeteer and film-maker Jim Henson, where for one project they had to find a whistle that made the sound of rubies. Portman also discusses her process in writing for film, from playing freely at the piano without click-track, to providing a short-score with details of instrumentation for an orchestrator. In 1996 Portman worked on the film Emma, which won her an Oscar. Portman recounts her experiences of receiving that award, going to the ceremony, and how it impacted upon her career.

End Titles: Great Moments in Aviation

Studio Orchestra

David Snell, conductor

Chasing the Fox (War of the Buttons)

Terra Magica (The Adventures of Pinocchio)

Shostakovich

Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor, Op 99 (Passacaglia)

Nicola Benedetti, violin

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Kirill Karabits, conductor

Emma (excerpts)

Beloved (excerpts)

Studio Vocalists

David Arch, conductor

Donald Macleod meets Rachel Portman to discuss her Oscar-winning score for the movie Emma.

Donald Macleod this week joins the Oscar winning film composer Rachel Portman in her studio in London, to chat about her life and music for film and the concert platform. Portman was the first female composer to win an Academy Award, an Oscar, and a Primetime Emmy Award for her various film music projects, as well as many other Academy and Golden Globe nominations. In more recent years her music for the film The Duchess has been added to the A-level music syllabus for students to study. Portman also has an interest in ecology and environmental issues. There'll be an opportunity to hear part of her choral symphony The Water Diviner's Tale, a collaboration with Owen Sheers, plus the orchestral work Endangered specially recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Throughout the week there will also be music specially recorded by the BBC Singers including Portman's Magnificat, and her Christmas Carol We Were There composed in collaboration with Michael Morpurgo.

During the 1990s and into the twenty-first century, composer Rachel Portman was still very busy composing film scores. During this period she wrote one of her own favourite works, The Cider House Rules. Portman received a letter from an American soldier telling her that throughout his time working abroad, he would listen at night to her music from this film, to give him peace of mind. Portman found herself getting pulled more and more into films, working with legendary directors such as Robert Redford, yet she craved for something different and so turned her attention to composing an opera for children. The Little Prince was written to appeal to both adults and children, and it was Philip Glass who recommended Rachel Portman for the project.

Augie's Photos (Smoke)

Studio Orchestra

Jonathan Schaeffer, conductor

The Cider House Rules (excerpts)

John Lenehan, piano

David Snell, conductor

Junuh sees the field (The Legend of Bagger Vance)

Andrew Crowley, trumpet

Final Salute (Hart's War)

Opening Credits (The Human Stain)

The Little Prince (Act I: The Businessman; The Lamplighter; We Light our Lamps)

Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Pilot), baritone

Joseph McManners (The Little Prince), boy soprano

Timothy Robinson (Lamplighter), tenor

Richard Suart (Businessman), baritone

Vocal Ensemble

Children's Chorus

BBC Concert Orchestra

David Charles Abell, conductor

What If All This Is A Dream? (The Manchurian Candidate)

Theodore Sperling, conductor

Michael Kosarin, conductor

Lucas Richmond, conductor

Donald Macleod joins Rachel Portman in her studio to chat about The Little Prince.

Donald Macleod this week joins the Oscar winning film composer Rachel Portman in her studio in London, to chat about her life and music for film and the concert platform. Portman was the first female composer to win an Academy Award, an Oscar, and a Primetime Emmy Award for her various film music projects, as well as many other Academy and Golden Globe nominations. In more recent years her music for the film The Duchess has been added to the A-level music syllabus for students to study. Portman also has an interest in ecology and environmental issues. There'll be an opportunity to hear part of her choral symphony The Water Diviner's Tale, a collaboration with Owen Sheers, plus the orchestral work Endangered specially recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Throughout the week there will also be music specially recorded by the BBC Singers including Portman's Magnificat, and her Christmas Carol We Were There composed in collaboration with Michael Morpurgo.

In conversation with Donald Macleod, the composer Rachel Portman reveals how films can take over your life when you work on them. Specifically how a dark and traumatic film may impact upon her, to working on a lighter film such as Chocolat, and how during the process of composing for this film she kept on eating and craving chocolate. Portman also talks about her environmental concerns, and working with the poet Owen Sheers on the ecological music drama The Water Diviner's Tale. In recent years her music for the film The Duchess has been included on the A-level music syllabus, and Portman discusses how she thinks this came about.

The Battle of Watermelons (The Emperor's New Clothes)

Studio Orchestra

David Snell, conductor

The Little Prince (Act II: The Fox; The Taming; Here's my Secret; If We Don't Find a Well; The Walk to the Well)

Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Pilot), baritone

Joseph McManners (The Little Prince), boy soprano

Lesley Garrett (Fox), soprano

Vocal Ensemble

Children's Chorus

BBC Concert Orchestra

David Charles Abell, conductor

Oliver Twist (excerpts)

The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra

Thea Musgrave

I am my mammy's ae bairn; Ca' the yowes to the knowes (Songs for a Winter's Evening)

Lisa Milne, soprano

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Osmo V䀀nsk䀀, conductor

The Water Diviner's Tale (excerpt)

Nonso Anozie, narrator

Helen Williams, soprano

Frances Bourne, mezzo-soprano

Robert Burt, tenor

Riccardo Simonetti, baritone

Paul Reeves, bass

Hertfordshire Country Youth Choir

Berkshire Youth Choir

Bromley Youth Choir

Chantage

Taplow Youth Chorus

National Youth Choir of Great Britain

Water Children

The Duchess (excerpts)

Donald Macleod in conversation with Rachel Portman discusses her music for The Duchess.

Donald Macleod this week joins the Oscar winning film composer Rachel Portman in her studio in London, to chat about her life and music for film and the concert platform. Portman was the first female composer to win an Academy Award, an Oscar, and a Primetime Emmy Award for her various film music projects, as well as many other Academy and Golden Globe nominations. In more recent years her music for the film The Duchess has been added to the A-level music syllabus for students to study. Portman also has an interest in ecology and environmental issues. There'll be an opportunity to hear part of her choral symphony The Water Diviner's Tale, a collaboration with Owen Sheers, plus the orchestral work Endangered specially recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Throughout the week there will also be music specially recorded by the BBC Singers including Portman's Magnificat, and her Christmas Carol We Were There composed in collaboration with Michael Morpurgo.

In 2010 the composer Rachel Portman not only became the first female composer to win a top honour for Film and TV from BMI, but she also received an OBE. Her career as a composer has gone from strength to strength, including composing a programmatic orchestral work entitled Endangered, commissioned by the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, and premiered for the World Environment Day Concert in 2013. In more recent years Portman has been studying psychotherapy, and in conversation with Donald Macleod she discusses its parallels with her work in film: both involve getting to grips with understanding personalities and situations.

We Will Be Laotong (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan)

Studio Orchestra

David Snell, conductor

Never Let Me Go (excerpts)

Michael Seal, conductor

Skye Boat Song

Libby Burgess, piano

Benjamin Nicholas, conductor

Katya Remembers (Despite the Falling Snow)

Jeff Atmajian, conductor

The Final Event (Race)

Joris Batrsch Buhle, conductor

End Titles: Still Life