From the early age of thirteen, she learned to compose and play various types of instruments. Today, she composes and orchestrates all of her scores, herself, but she has yet to conduct her scores. In my quest to celebrate Rachel Portman's musical artistry, I failed to find substantial information that would support an interesting thesis. The purpose of this paper is to understand why there is so little information written about a great composer like Rachel Portman. By first, briefly introducing the history of film music and how it led to film composing, and then pointing at possible reasons for the neglect of all film music in motion pictures, this examination will hopefully offer some insight into her obscurity.
Film music serves to accompany the drama told by the film.
Since the early days of Greek storytelling, music and drama have coexisted in a similar relationship. In the middle ages, minstrels accompanied their stories or poems with a small, portable musical instrument. In the seventeenth century, opera performers sang their tragic stories. When drama moved from the stage to the screen, music and drama maintained their partnership. Silent films were initially viewed in a carnival atmosphere.