Alexandre Desplat is up for two Oscars this year in the same Best Original Score category. One is for the music he composed for The Imitation Game and the other is for The Grand Budapest Hotel — which features original folk music for a made up country.
If you're a fan of Wes Anderson then you know that most of his films have a unique artistic touch. Much is similar with his musical direction in regards to his visual concepts. In Grand Budapest, thus, Anderson and Desplat convened on a series of European-esque colors to establish a landscape.
According to NPR, in creating the score, Desplat consulted Gregorian chants, balalaikas and the cimbalom, a hammered dulcimer that is used in folk music central to Hungary and Austria.
Also, the film includes some pre-existing compositions, including zauerli, which is characterized as a kind of yodeling from Switzerland that Anderson has an affinity for. With this knowledge, Desplat and music supervisor Randall poster even hunted down an authentic zaureli group to perform, Öse Schuppel.
The score really caters to the landscape created by Anderson in his film; the "Republic of Zubrowka" feels like a real place and not just a detail from the mind of Anderson.
This wouldn't be the first time Desplat and Anderson have collaborated, either. The duo also worked together on Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom.
So with six nominations over the years Desplat may finally take hom a statue as he has doubled his odds.
Check out an excerpt from the score below.
