Alexandre Desplat took home the prize for the other Oscar in music, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Score with his works for The Grand Budapest Hotel. He took advantage of his good odds-two of the five nominations for the prize were in his name-to win his first Oscar in eight nominations (from the Los Angeles Times).
Desplat, also nominated for his work on The Imitation Game, beat out a field that included Hans Zimmer (Interstellar), Gary Yershon (Mr. Turner) and Jóhann Jóhannsson (The Theory of Everything).
"It's been a beautiful decade for me, in Hollywood," Desplat said from the podium on Sunday night. "I've worked with great directors and producers."
The film takes place in a fictional Eastern European country, and between Desplat and director Wes Anderson the pair decided to create a unique musical culture for the area by combining musical instruments from several European nations, creating a quirky soundtrack that sounded accurate enough while allowing for shenanigans. Among the most acclaimed bits was the theme music that followed J.G. Jopling—a goon portrayed by William Dafoe—a cartoonish bit with notes sung by a choir.
Desplat has become somewhat of a go-to for Hollywood in recent years, including Anderson. He's previously been nominated for Best Original Score for his work on Fantastic Mr. Fox, while also providing the soundtrack for Best Picture winners including The King's Speech and Argo, both nominated for their music but defeated.
It's been a good February for Desplat: Just a few weeks ago he won a Grammy as well, as The Grand Budapest Hotel scored the prize for Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. It was his second win at music's biggest show, having won for The King's Speech in 2011.
