MUSIC BY SIX-TIME OSCAR NOMINEE, GRAMMY AND GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER
ALEXANDRE DESPLAT
Sony Classical is pleased to announce the release of the original motion picture soundtrack of THE IMITATION GAME, a biographical drama about the English code-breaker Alan Turing starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley. Composed by Alexandre Desplat, the score soundtrack will be available digitally on November 10 and on CD November 24.
The opening track of Desplat’s score for The Imitation Game introduces a descending, rippling keyboard theme that reappears in variations in later tracks – first as a string accompaniment that sets the mood for a tragic, dramatic story. The second track skillfully interprets its title, “Enigma” (a reference to both the man Alan Turing and to the code-breaking project that made him famous), with fascinating sounds that evoke the ping of a sonar location and the underwater world, thus playing on the main theme of the story. While “U-Boats” features military sounds, other tracks such as “Carrots and Peas” provide contrasting quietness and emotion, and the musical complexity of “Crossword” relates to the workings of Turing’s brilliant mind. Throughout the score, the full range of Desplat’s big orchestral sounds come into play, and the composer once again displays his ability to enhance dramatic film scenes with fine music that is worthy to be heard in its own right.
French composer Alexandre Desplat made his breakthrough on the Hollywood scene in 2003 by composing a highly regarded score for The Girl With the Pearl Earring. He has contributed to over 100 films in France and Hollywood, received six Oscar nominations, and won a Golden Globe in 2006 for The Painted Veil and a Grammy for The King’s Speech in 2011, both in the category Best Original Score. Desplat has also composed for the theatre, including the Comédie Française. He has conducted performances of his own music by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as giving master classes at the Sorbonne in Paris and the Royal College of Music in London. He has scored music for a wide range of films from Twilight Saga: New Moon to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (parts 1 and 2). Desplat has received six Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score for his work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Queen, The King’s Speech, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Argo and Philomena.
About the movie
During the winter of 1952, British authorities entered the home of mathematician, cryptanalyst and war hero Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) to investigate a reported burglary. They instead ended up arresting Turing himself on charges of ‘gross indecency’, an accusation that would lead to his devastating conviction for the criminal offense of homosexuality – little did officials know, they were actually incriminating the pioneer of modern-day computing. Famously leading a motley group of scholars, linguists, chess champions and intelligence officers, he was credited with cracking the so-called unbreakable codes of Germany’s World War II Enigma machine. An intense and haunting portrayal of a brilliant, complicated man, The Imitation Game follows a genius who under nail-biting pressure helped to shorten the war and, in turn, save thousands of lives.
TRACKLIST
1. The Imitation Game
2. Enigma
3. Alan
4. U-boats
5. Carrots and peas
6. Mission
7. Crosswords
8. Night research
9. Joan
10. Alone with numbers
11. The Machine Christopher
12. Running
13. The Headmaster
14. Decrypting
15. A different equation
16. Becoming a spy
17. The Apple
18. Farewell to Christopher
19. End of war
20. Because of you
21. Alan Turing’s legacy
The Imitation Game Trailer from InSync + Bemis Balkind on Vimeo.
