The new music power couple in Hollywood
OrchestrasThe soundtrack for Oppenheimer has put Swedish composer Ludwig Goransson in pole position to collect an Oscar in March 2024.
Goransson’s score is heavy on violin solos.
That’s because he works closely with his wife, the American violinist, Serena McKinney, who is often concertmaster in the studio orchestra.
A former teenaged player in the Utah Symphony, McKinney studied at the Colburn School in LA, forming the Janaki String Trio with Katie Kadararuch (viola) and Arnold Chori (cello).
She married Goransson in 2018 and has played, at the last count, on 98 movies.
After Oppenheimer, they can name their next score.
I saw Oppenheimer. Very skillful story telling, with extraordinary performances. I have to say the least successful thing about the film, for me at least, was the music. It was too present; I was always aware of it. It seemed to me that the story was at heart an internal one, largely transpiring inside Oppenheimer’s head. The music gave to film an overtly dramatic, almost histrionic element that was at odds with its essential nature.
Well that’s what Hollywood film and TV composers share in common with classical musicians (they always want to be heard regardless of the circumstances).
To be critical doesn’t merit a sophistication award.
The dramatic nature of the music helped me the viewer connect with the story.
The movie is a bit of an epic, and merits the feeling of significance that the music conveys.
Great job!
Yeah. Bombastic and ever present like almost all of Ludwig’s scores. It was the most disappointing aspect of the film for me!
That isn’t necessarily the ‘fault’ of the composer/s. The editor and director usually make the final decisions about these things. And we live in an age where cinema is in–your-face with CGI, loud thumping noises and extraneous music. Not to mention shouting at each other, in American films.
Not true. Stay in your lane, Suzie.
I agree with you Max. I saw the movie last night and frequently found myself wishing that the music would just shut up! The story is so interesting in itself there was no need for a constant music track. I wish Christopher Nolan had had more faith in the strength of his screenplay.
All the music in movies and on TV has only one purpose; manipulate your emotions and set you up for the next scene.
Well done!!
Knowing Chris Nolan’s meticulous directorial style, I’m quite certain that he and Ludwig worked long and hard to create a musical score that would capture all of the complexities of this monumental story. Yes, this score will definitely be in the running for an Oscar along with many other creative efforts in this incredible film!
A brilliant mostly intensely personal movie which is certainly going to get a slew of Oscar nominations. Unlike Max Raimi we thought the music score was stunningly effective, the more so given the enormously important issues at the heart of the interplay between the characters. Not that Max Raimi is wrong. Merely different views.
Exactly.
Within the entire sound environment of the movie, quite interesting on the whole, the quiet moments were the best.
I hope Ludwig’s score is better than what he gave Nolan in Tenet. Of course, that movie is no masterpiece.