For The Record: Gabriel Yared

Gabriel Yared (°1949) learned to compose music as a teenager at a Jesuit school in Beirut, Lebanon. In 1971 Yared went to live with his uncle for a year and a half in Brazil, where he learned new skills: "I love the Brazilian rhythms, harmonic sharpness and original melodic lines." In 1975 he wrote his first score, for the film Miss O'Gynie et les Hommes Fleurs by Belgian director Samy Pavel. He subsequently composed many more soundtracks, including those of The Lives of Others, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cold Mountain. His score for The English Patient won him an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Grammy Award. In 2004 Yared won Soundtrack Composer of the Year Award and Best Original Soundtrack of the Year at the World Soundtracks Awards, for his soundtrack for Cold Mountain. The album includes music from The Moon in the Gutter, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Possession, Camille Claudel, The English Patient, Betty Blue, L'Arche et les Déluges, Wings of Courage, Bon Voyage, L'Amant and La romana.