CHERNOBYL.

 

A few years ago, TV music seemed to get mixed feelings and reactions amongst film music collectors, yes, I have to agree that themes from television series were the most outstanding components of many a series, but the scores or incidental music was too worthy of a listen. The snobbery of film music collectors has I am glad to say altered in recent years, mainly I think because it had to because more and more movie composers were becoming involved on TV assignments and creating wonderfully epic and lavish sounding works for them. So, it was hard for a collector to say he loved a certain composers film scores and then say he did not rate the music they had written for TV. Well that’s all the by and by now I suppose, and to be fair things have changed a lot in the past decade, TV music itself has evolved and grown even matured if you will. For example, in the past three years we have had GAME OF THRONES, which was a runaway success and literally catapulted the composer Djawadi into the public gaze, even though he was a in demand composer for the cinema before GOT. We now have a new series on our screens produced by HBO which is entitled CHERNOBYL, which is just as haunting and addictive as GOT, the music for this atmospheric and eerie mini-series is the work of, Hildur Guonadottir, who was born in Iceland on September 4th 1982. She is primarily a cellist and percussionist but is multi-talented and sings as well as composing music and writing choral music. She, has in recent years been associated with fellow composer Johann Johannsson, often collaborating on film scores with the late Maestro, most notably MARY MAGDELENE in 2018. Her score for CHERNOBYL is an earthy and highly atmospheric work, the composer combining music with musical sounds and electronic soundscapes, all of which fuse together to fashion an un-hospitable and stark musical persona which underlines and augments the story as it unfolds on screen. The often harrowing and stark appearances on screen is supported and made more impacting and powerful by the otherworldly sounding soundtrack.

The music often giving the storyline and the images even greater depth and bearing. Listening to the score away from the series, is quite a difficult task as it is sometimes a atonal and perplexing experience, but this is what the music is for within the movie, it is a score that you do not even realise is there when you are watching the series, because it is doing its job, it is heightening the ambience and adding colours and dark textures to the proceedings enhancing it and elevating the images and the story to even great heights. CHERNOBYL, is a bleak and catastrophic tale, the composer matching its glaring and disturbing imagery and it’s at times complex and totally disturbing storyline. I know there are no magnificent themes within the score, but it is a rewarding listen because of its vibrancy and also because of its inventiveness.

Track Listings.

1.
The Door
2:43
2.
Bridge Of Death
4:44
3.
Turbine Hall
2:36
4.
Vichnaya Pamyat (Homin Lviv Municipal Choir)
4:07
5.
Pump Room
3:43
6.
Clean Up
1:41
7.
Dealing With Destruction
1:54
8.
Waiting For The Engineer
1:31
9.
Gallery
2:23
10.
12 Hours Before
2:31
11.
Corridors
3:13
12.
Líður (Chernobyl Version)
2:48
13.
Evacuation