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The King's Speech Soundtrack [ 2010 ]

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The Marriage of Figaro Overture

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Piano Concerto No.5 'Emperor' 2nd Movement

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Clarinet Concerto 1st Movement

Requiem 2nd Movement

Johannes Brahms

Symphony No. 7 in A Major Op.92 Allegretto

Who's Been Polishing the Sun

Ambrose and His Orchestra

Shout for Happiness

I Love You Truly

The King's Speech

Alexandre Desplat

Lionel and Bertie

King George VI

The King is Dead

My Kingdom, My Rules

Memories of Childhood

The Threat of War

The Royal Household

Fear and Suspiscion

Queen Elizabeth

The Rehearsal

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4 years ago

What was the final piece of music played during the credits of The Kings Speech?

6 years ago

I could've sworn that the music played as bertie walked to the Parliament, was from Beethoven's second piano concerto.

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The king's speech.

• Le nozze di Figaro Overture Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [During the first therapy session when King's voice is being recorded]
• Symphony No. 7 in A major Op. 92 II. Allegretto Written by Ludwig van Beethoven [Heard as George VI delivers his first wartime speech]
• Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major Op. 73 'Emperor' II. Adagio un poco mosso Written by Ludwig van Beethoven [Heard as George VI concludes his first wartime speech]
• Ein deutsches Requiem Op. 45 II. Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras Written by Johannes Brahms
• Clarinet Concerto in A major K. 622 I. Allegro Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [Heard during the montage of Lionel conducting lessons with Bertie]
• Who's Been Polishing the Sun? Music by Noel Gay Lyrics by Charles Gaynor Performed by Bert Ambrose and His Orchestra Vocals by Sam Browne and the Rhythm Sisters Published by Richard Armitage Ltd. Master courtesy of Decca Music Group Ltd. Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd.
• Shout for Happiness Written by Jack Hart and Tom Blight Performed by Al Bowlly and the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra Conducted by Ray Noble (uncredited) Published by Campbell Connelly & Co Ltd. Master courtesy of Post Perfect Vintage Music, UK
• I Love You, Truly Written by Carrie Jacobs Bond and Irving King Performed by Al Bowlly with Ray Noble (uncredited) and His Orchestra Published by Campbell Connelly & Co Ltd. Master courtesy of Decca Music Group Ltd. Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd.
• Swanee River (uncredited) Written by Stephen Foster Altered lyrics [Sung a cappella by Lionel ( Geoffrey Rush ) during an impromptu session]
• Camptown Races (uncredited) Written by Stephen Foster Altered lyrics [Sung a cappella by Lionel ( Geoffrey Rush ) and Albert ( Colin Firth ) during an impromptu session]

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The King's Speech

Decca Records (755 286)

Release Date: November 22, 2010

• The King's Speech (2010)
• Alexandre Desplat

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Beethoven's music in 'The King's Speech' a magical match

• Updated: Jan. 17, 2011, 7:20 p.m. |
• Published: Jan. 17, 2011, 6:20 p.m.
• David Stabler | Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive

There's a moment in the film

that absolutely soars. It comes near the end when poor Bertie has been crowned as

after his brother abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson.

Superbly played by

, Bertie (his family nickname) dreaded public speaking because of a speech impediment. He was horrified when he had to ascend the throne in 1937 because he knew what the job entailed. Two years later, he gave a major speech that BBC Radio broadcast throughout the empire, announcing Britain's entry into World War II. The speech serves as the climax of the film. We've seen him humiliate himself on a number of previous occasions, unable to get the words out.

The film lets time drag as we see Bertie struggle with clicks and stutters to form the words. It's excruciating and I found myself tensing up each time.

But now he's the king and after working intensely with Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist, beautifully underplayed by Geoffrey Rush, Bertie is about to give the speech of his life. The stakes couldn't be higher. Britain needs a leader to take it to war.

The buildup begins as he and Logue walk Buckingham Palace's endless corridors toward the broadcast room, passing dozens of broadcasters who wish him well. At last, they enter the room with the microphone. They're alone. Logue throws open the window -- he believes fresh air helps -- as Bertie tries to compose himself.

The countdown begins -- four blinks of a red light followed by steady red. Bertie's fear is agonizing to watch.

And then this: As Firth struggles at first, we hear the ominous chugging of musical chords. Moments later, the calm, gentle Allegretto of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony spreads over the pulsing rhythm. The melody is smooth, unruffled, an aural metaphor for Bertie's aspirations.

With Logue silently prompting him through the difficult spots, the sweet, melancholic music unfolds, building in intensity, then subsiding, lasting exactly as long as the speech.

Nevermind the irony of hearing German music during a speech about going to war with Hitler. The scene brims with feeling between patient and therapist, who went on to became lifelong friends. It's a magnificent moment. If ever music and intention matched, this is it.

Moments later, at the movie's coda, we hear more Beethoven: the ethereal slow movement of the "Emperor" Piano Concerto. It too, is a perfect fit.

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The King's Speech - Alexandre Desplat

Alexandre Desplat composed the soundtrack to the The King’s Speech, a British historical drama staring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, and telling the story of King George VI’s ascension to the throne.

Alexandre Desplat has composed the film’s soundtrack; his other scores include the recent Harry Potter movie as well as his Oscar-nominated music for Fantastic Mr Fox.

The soundtrack for The King’s Speech was recorded at Abbey Road studios using original royal microphones that had been stored in the EMI archives for more than 70 years. These microphones were designed for King George VI for speeches on significant occasions – so it’s fitting that they’ve been put to such good use here.

Listen to our interview with the director of The King's Speech Tom Hooper

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The King's Speech [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Alexandre desplat.

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Music (Score)

The score for this movie was written by a guy named Alexandre Desplat. And by "a guy," we mean "a French composer that's killed it composing for such diverse movies as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Godzilla, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and Argo. "

Monsieur Desplat has an Academy Award, seven Academy Award nominations, two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe, and two Grammys to his name. And it's not hard to see why—there are some points in this movie where the combination of great acting and Desplat's score are bound to get you choked up.

For example, check out the scene where Bertie puts on the recording of himself reciting Hamlet and notice how subtly Desplat's music comes in behind the reading. Or just listen to the little piano song that comes in on the final seconds of the movie when Bertie and Logue share one final look of friendship. It's all so sweet and emotional that it reminds you how effective classical music still is in movies.

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W hy's T his F unny?

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THE KING’S SPEECH – Alexandre Desplat

The United Kingdom suffered one of its worst constitutional crises in living memory in the early 1930s. Following the death of King George V, his eldest son David ascended to the throne as King Edward VIII, but his insistence on marrying Wallis Simpson – a commoner, a divorcee, and worst of all an American – brought criticism from the political and religious leaders of the time. Forced with a choice between his kingdom and the woman he loved, Edward chose the latter, leaving his younger brother Bertie to reluctantly take over as King George VI. However, suddenly becoming the monarch of over a third of the world’s population did not sit well with the new king, who was forced to deal with two issues at the beginning of his reign: firstly, the growing influence of German chancellor Adolf Hitler threatening peace in Europe, and secondly the King’s own terrible stutter, which often rendered him literally speechless on important occasions. To counteract the latter, the King sought out the help of an unconventional Australian speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Director Tom Hooper’s excellent film The King’s Speech tells the story of the unconventional friendship of the pair; it stars Colin Firth as George VI, Geoffrey Rush as Logue, and Helena Bonham-Carter as Queen Elizabeth, Guy Pearce as Edward, and Michael Gambon as the ailing George V.

The music for The King’s Speech is by Alexandre Desplat, and is his fifth score of 2010, following the thriller The Ghost Writer, the comedy Tamara Drewe, the political drama The Special Relationship and the first part of the fantastical Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Despite having tackled five different genres in 2010 alone, Desplat is apparently becoming the go-to-guy when it comes to writing music for the British monarchy and British political life; having already written the critically acclaimed score for The Queen in 2006, he is now turning his attention to the life of her father. Clearly, should films be made of the lives of Edward VII and Queen Victoria, Desplat will be your man.

However, whereas The Queen dressed up the current British monarchy with contemporary rhythmic ideas more suited to depictions of modern life, Desplat treats the pre-WWII royals with a much more classical flavor. Written for a medium-sized orchestra with emphasis on strings, piano and the usual light woodwinds, The King’s Speech is a delightful, occasionally quite whimsical score, in much the same vein as recent works such as Cheri and Coco Avant Chanel. Long-time listeners will be pleased to learn that there is nary a waltz in sight in The King’s Speech, but the effortless sense of classicism, crystal clear orchestrations, precise tempos and charming warmth is still there in spades.

Desplat’s elegant main theme, as heard in “The King’s Speech”, “The Royal Household” and at the end of “Fear and Suspicion”, is lush and florid but just a little light-hearted. It’s full of movement and grace, with a pretty piano line, sprightly pizzicato accompaniments, and occasional moments for effervescent chimes, and captures perfectly the hustle and bustle of 1930s London and the occasionally irritating pomp and circumstance of real royal life without coming across as stuffy or overly-officious. Similarly, the music which accompanies the numerous scenes between the two unlikely friends, best heard in the opening “Bertie and Lionel”, is a charming and warm string and piano piece with occasional accents for soft flutes and harps, a tender reflection of their unusual relationship, Lionel’s decidedly unconventional but engaging personality, and the apparent absurdity of his therapeutic techniques, which of course work like a charm.

As the central plot of the film deals with the King and his speech impediment, parts of Desplat’s score mirror this through the music. One of the score’s recurring motifs (first heard in “The King’s Speech”, elaborated upon “My Kingdom My Rules”, and which features prominently in “Memories of Childhood” and “Queen Elizabeth”) is intentionally unresolved and cyclical, insinuating a similar lack of resolution in the King’s voice. Bertie cannot get his words out, stuttering over the same syllable repeatedly, and the music follows suit, never quite managing to develop beyond a brief thematic presence: a solo piano chord with a string sustain over the top. It’s not minimalism in the same way that Philip Glass repeats the same phrase over and over again, but it has the same intellectual ideas behind it, and illustrates the core issue of the film well without being blindingly obvious. This theme finally breaks out of its shell in the lovely “The Rehearsal”, when the stammering motif and the main theme play in counterpoint to each other as the King and Lionel make the final preparations for his coronation in Westminster Abbey. The addition of flighty woodwind accents and a more lyrical piano line to the music makes this cue an album highlight, albeit a brief one.

Some darker string-led material features in “The King is Dead”, “Memories of Childhood”, “King George VI” and “The Threat of War”, parts of which are a little reminiscent of the more choppy and dissonant material from his Harry Potter score, and which reminds us that the life of a monarch can be as tragic as anyone else’s. The final two cues, “Speaking Unto Nations” and “Epilogue”, do not feature any Desplat music, and instead are relatively straightforward performances of two Beethoven classical pieces, the Allegretto from the Seventh Symphony, and the Adagio from the Emperor Piano Concerto. Desplat and director Hooper apparently decided to score the finale with these two pieces as a reflection of their place in British public consciousness alongside the King’s famous broadcast rallying the nation behind Prime Minister Winston Churchill against the forces of Nazi Germany.

Another interesting aspect of the score is its recording. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times Desplat revealed that his engineer, Peter Cobbin, located the original personalized microphones that were made for the royal family (replicas of which actually appear in the film) in a storeroom at Abbey Road in London, and used them in order to capture an authentically “old fashioned” sound during the recording session. Although the end result is a recording which, in parts, sounds a little distant (especially in the opening cue, “Lionel and Bertie”), one has to applaud the clever little ways Desplat and his team approach the score, and the lengths to which they go to make the music sound as appropriate as possible.

The score for The King’s Speech has been roundly praised by many mainstream critics, and is likely to be a strong contender for an Oscar nomination when the names are read in 2011. It’s not Desplat’s best score of 2010 – that accolade remains firmly in the hands of Harry Potter – but it is an enjoyable little work which compares favorably with earlier scores such as The Luzhin Defence, Girl With a Pearl Earring, and the aforementioned The Queen, Cheri and Coco Avant Chanel. If you’re not already a fan of Desplat’s work in the genre, The King’s Speech is not going to convert you, but his admirers will enjoy it immensely.

Rating: ****

Buy the King’s Speech soundtrack from the Movie Music UK Store

Track Listing:

• Lionel and Bertie (2:10)
• The King’s Speech (3:54)
• My Kingdom, My Rules (2:51)
• The King is Dead (2:06)
• Memories of Childhood (3:36)
• King George VI (3:05)
• The Royal Household (1:43)
• Queen Elizabeth (3:35)
• Fear and Suspicion (3:24)
• The Rehearsal (1:42)
• The Threat of War (3:56)
• Speaking Unto Nations [Symphony No.7 in A Major, Op.92 – Allegretto] (written by Ludwig Van Beethoven) (5:02)
• Epilogue [Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op.73 ‘Emperor’ – Adagio un Poco Mosso] (written by Ludwig Van Beethoven) (3:56)

Running Time: 41 minutes 05 seconds

Decca 755-286 (2010)

Music composed and conducted by Alexandre Desplat . Orchestrations by Jean-Pascal Beintus, Nicolas Charron, Sylvain Morizet and Alexandre Desplat . Beethoven pieces conducted by Terry Davies . Recorded and mixed by Peter Cobbin . Edited by Gerard McCann . Album produced by Alexandre Desplat .

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Contrary to what you said I actually think this may actually be the score that converts me into a fan of Desplat. I haven’t really enjoyed his style in the past, and I was really let down by The Deathly Hallows (glad you liked it though), but this score is beautiful and is one of my favourites this year. I’m actually a bit disappointed that now that I have finally found a Desplat score I like unreservedly you have given it a mark that is at the lower end of your ratings for his scores.

Anyway good review, and thanks for pointing out the odd recording method, I was wondering why it sounded like it had been recorded using some kind of toy microphone. Overall I actually think that added to the personality of the score in a positive way, though I would love to hear ‘The Rehearsal’ recorded properly. What an awesome track.

Hello, does anybody know where I can find the partiture of The king’s speech soundtrack on piano? Thank you

I loved this score, and it fits too well into the film. I enjoy most of the reviews you write, and I had never heard any score composed by Alexandre Desplat, but I will now I see he’s very talented. I hadn’t because I’m primarily a fan of John Williams and Hans Zimmer. I’ve heard too little from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow’s score… but I actually don’t believe it was better than this one. Anyway, thank you very much for your comments, I consider your judgement everytime I go to the CD store to buy soundtracks 🙂

Cheers from Venezuela!

• February 28, 2011 at 7:22 am The King’s Speech (2010) | Ripple Effects
• July 2, 2013 at 9:36 pm THE KING’S SPEECH – Review of the music of the film | Brauweiler's Weblog
• September 12, 2023 at 7:27 am 베픽 바로가기

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The King's Speech: Music From The Motion Picture

• Composer: Desplat
• Arranger: Hexel, Vasco
• Editor: Wheeler, Jenni
• Arrangement: Piano (PF)
• Edition Information: Songbook
• Publishers: Omnibus Press, Wise Publications
• Catalogue Number: AM1003244
• Date Published: 11th Feb 2011

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Sir Andrew Davis, ex-chief conductor of BBC Symphony Orchestra, dies aged 80

Musician had held top roles at Glyndebourne opera and in Chicago, Melbourne and Toronto orchestras

Sir Andrew Davis, a conductor who performed with many of the world’s finest orchestras, has died at the age of 80.

Throughout his long career Davis held many roles, including for more than a decade those of chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBCSO) and musical director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera.

Between 1988 and 2018 he led proceedings at the Last Night of the Proms on 12 occasions, twice delivering the customary conductor speech in the manner of the major-general in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance: “This is the very model of a modern music festival.”

Among those to pay tribute to Davis on Sunday was the mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, who said she was saddened by the news .

“I can’t use the word ‘dead’ because in my memory he’s hearty and hale, self-deprecating and humble, smart, funny, super-sharp musically and I’m grateful the fates allowed us to work together.”

She added: “Sir Andrew’s wish was to make things easier for his musicians and that takes great kindness, a deep soul and no arrogance. When I see bad, mean behaviour from any conductor it looks pathetic, because getting the best outcome does not require bullying or put downs.”

The cellist and music campaigner Julian Lloyd Webber said Davis was “a great musician who was wonderful with his soloists. I treasure the memory of a lovely Delius concerto in 2012 [with the Philharmonia Orchestra].”

The pianist Stephen Hough said Davis was “a wonderful collaborator in concertos – the sharpest ear and clearest stick”.

Sakari Oramo, the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, posted on X : “Remembering with greatest respect and admiration everything Sir Andrew Davis did for music, and particularly for dear BBCSO over many decades. Always with distinction and kindness.”

The orchestra described Davis as a “vital force in British music for many decades and a friend to us all. He will be greatly missed.”

The Royal Opera House said Davis made his debut there in 1983, conducting Der Rosenkavalier.

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On X, the ROH said: “We are saddened to hear of the death of conductor Sir Andrew Davis. In a career spanning over five decades, he was the artistic leader of several of the world’s most distinguished opera and symphonic institutions including @BBCSO and @glyndebourne.”

Davis was born in 1944 and went to Watford grammar school for boys before studying at the Royal College of Music and King’s College, Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar.

His career took him across the world, with Davis also leading the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Davis died in Chicago on Saturday. According to the Slipped Disc classical music website, he had been diagnosed with leukaemia last year .

• Classical music
• BBC Symphony Orchestra
• Glyndebourne

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Ambi subramaniam and kaushiki chakraborty to minnesotans: lean in on indian classical music, it's fun.

She says raag, taal and gamak. He says ragam, talam and gamakam. But when Kaushiki Chakraborty and Ambi Subramaniam come together onstage they converse only in one language — music.

Whether it's for their individual compositions or jugalbandi (a duet of two solo musicians), the Hindustani singer and Carnatic violinist use harmonic scales, rhythmic cycles and stretched ornamented notes to convey the structure of the two genres of Indian classical music.

Both come from musical lineages, have had an appetite for music from a very young age and were taught by their renowned fathers. Chakraborty, 44, started singing from the time she could talk. She was 7 when she started getting formal lessons from her Hindustani singer and composer father, Ajoy Chakrabarty. Today, the Kolkata, India, native has become the face of the Patiala gharana (stylistic school) and praised for her multi-octave range.

The 32-year-old Subramaniam (no relation to the writer), who was born in Los Angeles, was just 3 when he learned to play the violin from his maestro father, L. Subramaniam. "I wanted to copy whatever my father was doing," he said. "Then at some point, the teaching became more formalized." His family moved to Bangalore, India, when he was 4 after his mother died.

The commonalities of their musical upbringing, mutual respect and compatibility are what brought the two together; they kicked off a six-city U.S. tour in Seattle last week. "I have followed Kaushikiji's music for a long time, and I have loved it," Subramaniam said.

They will be accompanied by Akshay Anantapadmanabhan (mridangam), Yashwant Vaishnav (tabla), Sowmiya Narayanan (ghatam) and Jyotirmoy Banerjee (harmonium) when they perform Friday at St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater.

Subramaniam spoke last week about their collaborating styles and lessons he has learned on this tour and from his father when the troupe was traveling from Seattle to Portland, Ore., by train. The conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: What do you like about this jugalbandi?

A: I love the collaboration. It has brought us together as artists. It's also a lot of fun because we perform traditional Carnatic and Hindustani pieces as well as our own compositions, and we do this all as a group.

Q: With your styles so different, how do you go about collaborating?

A: One really nice thing about the entire group — Kaushikiji, the three percussionists and the harmoniumist — is that the artists are versatile and want to try different things. We all want to learn from each other, and that's something I find very special. So, when someone comes up with idea, we want to experiment with it and are happy to do it.

Q: Both of you are known for improvising onstage. When do you know it's your time to stop playing and it's her time to start singing?

A: The more you perform with a person, the understanding gets better. It's also important to know that you are creating the concert together. It's not that I'm doing something and she's doing something else. You need to feed off each other's ideas. I try to figure out what she's doing and then pick it up from there. We are trying to tell a combined story, if that makes sense. So, in a lot of ways, the individual contribution really does not matter.

Q: There's no space for any ego then.

A: Yeah, yeah, for sure. When you are performing as a group, I don't think there can be any ego because it's about creating something together. Maybe this is a little bit of my composing background talking, but when I'm onstage, I feel I have done a good job when I'm able to get the best out of everyone around me. Obviously, I need to do my best, but if I'm able to create the space where the tabla player and the harmonium player are having their best day, then automatically the concert will be a good one.

Q: You are well versed in both the Western and Carnatic styles. How are they common and different?

A: I think that in itself is a Ph.D. topic. There are a lot of technical differences, including the way you hold the violin. I look at music as an emotion. And at the end of the day, whether I'm playing Carnatic, Hindustani or Western classical music, I'm trying to tell a story and what I feel. So, in that respect, I think the two are similar.

Q: Would you say it's easy to move from one style to another?

A: I think it's like learning different languages. If you are comfortable speaking multiple languages, you'll be fine switching from one style to another. Many times, I find artists try to compartmentalize styles. If a person is playing Bach, the tendency is to shut out a raga that comes to mind. I don't think that is entirely useful. One style helps the other, and when you look at it that way, music is more fun.

Q: Your father has been your guru. What is something he has taught that you will treasure for the rest of your life?

A: A pretty amazing thing about my father is his attention to detail. I don't think I appreciated that as a kid. He would never give any excuse for anything. So, I wasn't allowed to give excuses, either. And when something needed to be done, it had to be done well — 80% was never good enough. That mental conditioning has helped me in the way I look at life and how I approach music.

Q: So, was he a stricter guru or father?

A: Oh, definitely he was much stricter as a guru. He was relaxed as a father.

Q: What's the highest praise you have gotten from him?

A: During my growing up years, my father would say there's a difference between a person who plays music and a musician, and that I was someone who plays music. When I was about 16, I played solo at Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. On our return to the hotel that night after the performance, he looked at me and said: "You are now a musician." I will remember that for a long time.

Kaushiki & Ambi

When: 7:30 p.m. Fri.

Where: Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul.

Tickets: $30-$50, axs.com .

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