Jacob Groth
b. 1951
Danish
Summary
Jacob Groth is perhaps most famous for his score work on the film trilogy based on Swedish crime author Stieg Larssons Millennium series of 3 best-selling novels ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ (nominated for Best Score at the European Film Awards), ‘The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest’ and ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’. Groth was born in 1951 in Copenhagen and still lives there, sharing his time between Denmark and Los Angeles where, in recent years, he has scored projects such as the CBS drama series ‘Unforgettable’, (a series that, aided by Groth’s atmospheric score, went on to run for 4 seasons and for which Jacob was awarded Best Music Score at the ASCAP Awards).
Recent projects include the crime-thriller series ‘Wisting’ based on the award-winning series of books by former Norwegian homicide detective Jørn Lier Horst and Danish-French tv-series "DNA" starring Anders W. Berthelsen and Charlotte Rampling.
Critical Acclaim
Working with Jacob has been one of the great joys of “Unforgettable“. From the pilot, for which he created a score of emotional complexity and depth seldom found in American network television, through two seasons into a third, Jacob has proven himself a uniquely inventive and flexible composer. No mood, characterization or style is outside his range. He possesses that essential quality of a dramatist: compassion for the human condition. Like a detective, he searches out the hidden heart of a story: then lifts it, translates it, into sound. He’s also a great guy, sophisticated artistically and personally, but big-hearted, generous and warm. And you can hear it all in his music.John Bellucci | Co-Creator, ”Unforgettable”
The music in ”The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo / Men who hate women” is great in every sense. Great because it is made with talent, compassion and an explicit understanding of making images and music accompany each other. Great because the music dares to be majestic and very “visible” in the film.
In the roles of Composer and Director Jacob and I share a past with several films and TV series. The work extends from a western inspired score for a black comedy to a very delicate score for a sensitive drama. Jacobs music is unique for every film, because his inspiration starts with the nature and emotions of the story.
To make the choice to do a grand music score for this film was a very big step for us. It was also an unusual step for a Scandinavian film. Jacob believed with passion that this would take the film to an even higher level. I am very pleased I went with his passion.
Niels Arden Oplev | Director, “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”
The books and the films about Lisbeth Salander have similarities with the Greek dramas. They are stories on a grand scale with both dramatic emotions and elements of the supernatural, even if the action clearly takes place in a realistic present. Jacob Groth’s music reflects and enhances the full scope of this complex story completely.
Daniel Alfredson | Director, “The Girl Who Played with Fire” & “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest”
Jacob Groth stepped into my life with the TV-series “Taxa”, nearly 20 years ago. And since then, Jacob has been my chosen composer. Not just because he is nice to work with, but also because he is so awfully good and extremely versatile. Just listen to the blues guitar in the “Taxa” theme, the catchy music to “Unit One”, the beautiful title song in “The Eagle” and the big symphonic score to “Better Times”.
Sven Clausen | TV Producer
His originality, energy, sensitivity and light outlook on his life has made it’s impression on my mood and, not least, on many of my films. He can read a movie and keeps on experimenting until the notes are right. The word compromise does not exist in his universe.
Søren Kragh-Jacobsen | Film Director
We started playing blues music together when I was 14 years old, and the blues still adheres to us, it’s there when we work and in our friendship. Since that time we have produced more than 10 films, TV and theater projects together, in all possible styles from minimalistic beat to rock, jazz, electronic and symphonic score. We look for what we believe will give the film wings and Jacob does not give up before we find the truest expression. Jacob has many boxes he can open, but at the bottom of each one is a little blues harmony that grabs you by the heart.
Rumle Hammerich | Film Director
I was lucky to get Jacob Groth onboard as a composer on the most successful Scandinavian franchise in this century, Stieg Larsson´s The Millennium series. As a producer you really need an experienced composer, when you are responsible for such a big project, especially because we from the beginning only planned 1 feature film and 6 x 90 min TV Series. Because of the huge success of the first feature film “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” there was a wonderful demand of two more feature films, before the broadcasting of the TV series. And we had a serious deadline from our Broadcasters, who financed the majority of the production. If we wanted to do two more feature film, we had to release them the same year as “The Girl……”. There was an incredible pressure on our composer Jacob Groth, but he delivered beautiful music with a smile, on time, though he must have been on his knees.
So you grab a good piece of our Scandinavian talented pie, if you choose Jacob Groth as your composer. His talent and music ought to be shared, because he has already set the standard in the Scandinavian film industry for years.
Soeren Staermose | Producer, “The Millennium Series”
Biography
Jacob Groth is perhaps most famous for his score work on the film trilogy based on Swedish crime author Stieg Larssons Millennium series of 3 best-selling novels ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ (nominated for Best Score at the European Film Awards), ‘The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest’ and ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’. Groth was born in 1951 in Copenhagen and still lives there, sharing his time between Denmark and Los Angeles where, in recent years, he has scored projects such as the CBS drama series ‘Unforgettable’, (a series that, aided by Groth’s atmospheric score, went on to run for 4 seasons and for which Jacob was awarded Best Music Score at the ASCAP Awards). He has also completed work on the 2nd season of the NBC supernatural drama series "Midnight, Texas”.
His first major work was on the Søren Kragh-Jacobsen film debut ‘Vil du se min smukke navle?’. Jacob's working relationship with Kragh-Jacobsen led to a long period of collaboration. He also built an ongoing creative relationship with Director Rumle Hammerich which included the movie ‘Otto er et næsehorn’ in 1983 and ran up to ‘Headhunter’ in 2009. In 2012 he teamed up once again with Millennium director Niels Arden Oplev to score the major Hollywood production ‘Dead Man Down’, starring Colin Farrell. In 2014 Groth worked on the action thriller ‘Skin Trade’ produced by and starring Dolph Lundgren.
Jacob has excelled in his Nordic TV work, from the late 90s watershed Danish drama series ‘Taxa’ and ‘Unit One’ (‘Rejseholdet’) to his Emmy Award-winning work on the early life of Hans Christian Andersen, ‘Young Andersen’. He has also added his unique compositional style to 2 seasons of the hit Swedish crime series ‘Modus’.
Recent projects include the crime-thriller series ‘Wisting’ based on the award-winning series of books by former Norwegian homicide detective Jørn Lier Horst and Danish-French tv-series "DNA" starring Anders W. Berthelsen and Charlotte Rampling.