The Ivory Merchant

Richard Stephen Robbins (1940-2012) was an American-born composer, best known for his motion picture scores for the Merchant Ivory films. Although mostly influenced by the minimalist compositions of Philip Glass, Robbins was capable of producing the sumptuous, colourfully orchestrated, symphonic music, just the right side of sentimentality, for Maurice (1987), which won the best score at the Venice film festival. It remained Robbins's own favourite among his scores.

The Remains of the Day is a 1993 British-American drama film adapted from the Booker Prize-winning 1989 novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro. The film was directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant, Mike Nichols, and John Calley. It stars Anthony Hopkins as Stevens and Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton, with James Fox, Christopher Reeve, and Hugh Grant in supporting roles. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (for Hopkins) and Best Actress (for Thompson). In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked The Remains of the Day the 64th greatest British film of the 20th century. The original score was composed by Richard Robbins. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, but lost to Schindler's List.