Patrick Doyle | |
|---|---|
 Doyle at theDoha Film Institute in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1953-04-06)6 April 1953 (age 72) Uddingston,Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Genres | Film score,classical,Celtic,electronic,ambient |
| Occupations | Composer, actor |
| Years active | 1979–present |
Patrick Doyle (born 6 April 1953[1]) is a Scottish composer and occasional actor best known for his film scores. During his 50-year career in film, television and theatre, he has composed the scores for over 60 feature films.[2] A longtime collaborator of actor-directorKenneth Branagh, Doyle is known for his work on films such asHenry V,Sense and Sensibility,Hamlet,Carlito's Way,Quest for Camelot, andGosford Park, as well asHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,Rise of the Planet of the Apes,Thor,Brave,Cinderella,Murder on the Orient Express andDeath on the Nile.[3]
He has scored the films of many renowned directors includingRobert Altman,Ang Lee,Alfonso Cuarón,Mike Newell,Brian De Palma,Chen Kaige,Amma Asante,Régis Wargnier andKenneth Branagh.
Doyle has been nominated for twoAcademy Awards and twoGolden Globe Awards,[3] oneBAFTA and twoCaesars and he won theIvor Novello Award for Best Film Theme, for 'Henry V'. He has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from bothThe World Soundtrack Awards[4] andScottish BAFTA, the PRS Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Music and received the ASCAP Henry Mancini Award for "outstanding achievements and contributions to the world of film and television music."[5]
Patrick Doyle was born inUddingston,South Lanarkshire, Scotland.[6][7] He is a classically trained composer who studied at theRoyal Scottish Academy of Music graduating in 1975, and from which he was made a Fellow in 2001.
Patrick Doyle began his career as an actor in the mid-1970s, appearing in television as well as film.[8] His first television acting role was as Archie in a 1978 episode of theBBC teen drama seriesScene. In 1981, he played the role of Jimmie in theBAFTA andAcademy Award winning historical sports drama filmChariots of Fire.[9] The same year, he appeared in a prominent role as Alexander Smith in the Scottish television drama programmeMaggie, which ran for two series onBBC Two.[10] From 1982 until 1983, he played the role of Percy Simmonds/Alec Simmonds in theITV children's television seriesNo. 73.[11][12] Other roles include Balthazar in the 1993 romantic comedy filmMuch Ado About Nothing, and Amiens in the 2006 romantic drama filmAs You Like It, both adapted from plays byWilliam Shakespeare and directed byKenneth Branagh.[8]
Doyle joined Kenneth Branagh'sRenaissance Theatre Company in 1987 as composer and musical director, composing music for plays such asHamlet,As You Like It, andLook Back in Anger.[13] It was here that he established his relationship withKenneth Branagh, scoring his first film,Henry V, in 1989[14] with the score being conducted bySir Simon Rattle. The song "Non Nobis, Domine" fromHenry V won the 1989Ivor Novello Award for Best Film Theme.[15] He has since composed for 14 more Branagh films, includingDead Again (1991),Much Ado About Nothing (1993),Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994),Sense and Sensibility (1995),Hamlet (1996),Love's Labour's Lost (2000),As You Like It (2006),Sleuth (2007),Thor (2011),Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014),Cinderella (2015),Murder on the Orient Express (2017),Artemis Fowl (2020) andDeath on the Nile (2022).
In October 1997, shortly after composing forGreat Expectations, directed byAlfonso Cuarón, Doyle was diagnosed withleukemia. He managed to write the entire score for the animated fantasyQuest for Camelot (1998) in hospital whilst undergoing treatment, and eventually made a full recovery.[16]
Other films he scored in the 1990s have become cult gangster classics, such asBrian De Palma'sCarlito’s Way (1993) andMike Newell'sDonnie Brasco (1997).
In the 2000s, Doyle composed for iconic British movies such asBridget Jones' Diary (2001),Gosford Park (2001) andCalendar Girls (2003).
He collaborated withMike Newell again onHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005.
In the 2010s, he wrote scores for Hollywood blockbusters includingThor (2011),Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) andCinderella (2015).
Other notable work includes his scores for family movies such asBrave (2012),Nanny McPhee (2005) andA Little Princess (1995).
He has scored multiple films for celebrated French directorRégis Wargnier, includingIndochine (1992),Une femme française (1995) andEst-ouest (1999). His scores forIndochine andEst-ouest were nominated for aCésar Award for Best Music Written for a Film.
Doyle regularly collaborates with artists from other fields in his scores. From theclassical music world,Plácido Domingo sang "In Pace" onHamlet[17] andJane Eaglen sang "Weep You No More Sad Fountains" onSense & Sensibility,[18] with both films earning DoyleOscar nominations for Best Film Score.
Pop artists Doyle has collaborated with includeJarvis Cocker onHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,[19] as well asPulp andTori Amos onGreat Expectations.[20] He co-wrote "I find your love" with Nashville-based singerBeth Neilsen Chapman forCalendar Girls, and co-wrote the song "Never Forget" withKenneth Branagh forMurder on the Orient Express, which was performed byMichelle Pfeiffer.[21]
Doyle'sMusic from the Movies concert, in aid of Leukaemia Research UK, was staged at theRoyal Albert Hall in 2007. Directed byKenneth Branagh and written by Daniel Hill, it included appearances fromEmma Thompson,Sir Derek Jacobi,Dame Judi Dench,Alan Rickman,Imelda Staunton,Richard E. Grant,Adrian Lester, andRobbie Coltrane, with music from Doyle's scores performed by theLondon Symphony Orchestra.[22]
Doyle's work was celebrated in two concerts at theCeltic Connections festival in Glasgow in 2019,[23] both performed by theBBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conducted byDirk Brossé. The first concert was the world's first live performance to film of the music Doyle composed forPixar'sBrave, which took place at the Glasgow Concert Hall. The second, "Patrick Doyle – A Celebration", took place at theGlasgow City Halls and featured two original works composed by Doyle for the concert: "Sweet Rois of Vertew" and "Scottish Overture". The concert also featured a performance of "Corarsik", a solo violin piece he originally composed forEmma Thompson's 50th birthday.[24]
Doyle has composed numerous concert pieces, including "The Thistle and the Rose," a song cycle commissioned byPrince Charles in honour of theQueen Mother's 90th birthday, produced byGeorge Martin and premiered atBuckingham Palace;[25] "The Face in the Lake", commissioned by Sony and narrated byKate Winslet;[26] and "Tam O Shanter," commissioned by the Scottish Schools Orchestra Trust.[27]
The Syracuse International Film Festival commissioned Doyle to write a film score for the classic silent movie ‘It’ in 2012.[28] In 2015 it was subsequently performed by members of both the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Junior Orchestra as well as Lanarkshire's Arts and Film Orchestra, as part of pioneering music education initiatives which Doyle supports.[29]
Several French film festivals have hosted Doyle as their guest of honour, including Festival international du film d'Aubagne,[30] whereCinderella was screened; Festival International Musique et Cinéma à Auxerre Congrexpo;[31] and the 1er Salon du Cinema.[32]
In 2023, Doyle was asked to compose the Coronation March for thecoronation of Charles III and Camilla.[33] His composition,King Charles III Coronation March, was performed during the Commonwealth Processions.[34]
In 2013, Doyle composed an original concert suite,Impressions of America, released byVarèse Sarabande.[35] It was performed in 2012 by the National Schools Symphony Orchestra, of which Doyle is a patron.[36]
Doyle recorded a solo piano album in 2015, performing pieces from his film scores; it was released byVarèse Sarabande.[37]
In 2020, Doyle contributed the opening track "Château Ferguson" of the albumFresh Air… Breathe In, in aid of the not-for-profit organisation Breathe Arts Health Research, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[38]
In 2022, Doyle released a recorded album entitledRobert Burns – Love Songs for Solo Piano in which he performs a newly arranged collection of works penned by Scotland's world-famous National Baird.[39]
In June 2013, at the 28th annual Film & Television Music Awards, Doyle received the ASCAP Henry Mancini Award in recognition of his "outstanding achievements and contributions to the world of film and television music".[5]ASCAP President and Chairman Paul Williams observed, "Patrick Doyle's extensive body of work is some of the most compelling and affective in the industry. His flawless ability to cross genres in film, TV and beyond is why he can successfully score everything fromCarlito's Way toHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."[5]
In October 2015, Doyle received theLifetime Achievement Award from theWorld Soundtrack Academy during the Gent Film Festival in Belgium.[40]
In 2018 Doyle received an Honorary Doctorate from theUniversity of the West of Scotland.[41]
Doyle lives with his wife Lesley, with whom he has four children.
| Award | Year | Project | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Award | 1995 | Sense and Sensibility | Best Original Score[3] | Nominated |
| 1996 | Hamlet | Best Original Score[3] | Nominated | |
| ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards | 2006 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Top Box Office Films | Won |
| 2012 | Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Top Box Office Films | Won | |
| 2012 | Thor | Top Box Office Films | Won | |
| 2013 | Brave | Top Box Office Films | Won | |
| 2013 | Henry Mancini Award | Won | ||
| BAFTA Award | 1995 | Sense and Sensibility | Best Film Music[3] | Nominated |
| César Awards | 1993 | Indochine | Best Music | Nominated |
| 2000 | Est-Ouest | Best Music | Nominated | |
| D.I.C.E. Awards | 2014 | Puppeteer | Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition[47] | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards | 1991 | Dead Again | Best Original Score[3] | Nominated |
| 1995 | Sense and Sensibility | Best Original Score[3] | Nominated | |
| Ivor Novello Awards | 1989 | Henry V | Best Film Theme | Won |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | 1995 | A Little Princess | Best Music | Won |
| Satellite Award | 1996 | Hamlet | Best Original Score | Nominated |
| Saturn Awards | 1994 | Frankenstein | Best Music | Nominated |
| 2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Best Music | Nominated | |
| World Soundtrack Awards | 2001 | Bridget Jones's Diary | Best Original Score of the Year Not Released on an Album | Won |
| 2002 | Gosford Park | Soundtrack Composer of the Year | Won | |
| 2006 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Best Original Song Written for Film ("Magic Works") | Nominated | |
| 2011 | La ligne droite,Thor,Jig | Soundtrack Composer of the Year | Nominated | |
| 2015 | Cinderella | Best Original Film Score of the Year | Nominated | |
| 2015 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Won |
