In recent years, several composers associated with contemporary neoclassical have ended up writing music for film. The work of German composer Max Richter for ‘Hamnet’ is one of many examples, to which are also added others from experimental and/or electronic music, such as Kangding Ray’s soundtrack for the Spanish ‘Sirat’.
Many of these composers were already releasing music on specialized independent labels. The Icelandic Jóhann Jóhannsson edited at 4AD, no less. The aforementioned Kangding Ray, in Raster-Noton. Many will remember the solo work of the also Icelandic Hildur Guðnadóttir – associated with Sigur Rós or múm – before composing soundtracks such as ‘Chernobyl’ or ‘Joker’, both under the alias Lost in Hildurness and under her given name.
Most of them are musicians associated with the composition of environments and textures. Combining music with sound design, directors do not resort to them to compose dramatic symphonic works, but quite the opposite. Listen to the soundtrack of ‘Hamnet’: it could be a release from Erased Tapes or Touch, two labels specialized in neoclassical music since before it conquered mainstream cinema.
When we talk about neoclassical music, we are referring to a variant of post-minimalist music that fuses elements of contemporary classical music with ambient, electronic, avant-garde, post-rock and other styles. Many of the modern composers that the public listens to today, such as Nils Frahm or, of course, Max Richter, began by releasing records on small labels or collaborating with independent filmmakers, and even then their music sounded like a soundtrack. ‘Memoryhouse’, Richter’s 2002 debut, proposed the music of an imaginary documentary. Precisely ‘On the Nature of Daylight’ by Richter, recently highlighted in the JENESAISPOP forums for its use in ‘Arrival’, has become a classic of neoclassical music applied to cinema. Of course, the soundtrack was signed by Jóhann Johansson, who died in 2018.
There are precedents that allow us to locate this phenomenon. In the 1980s, experimental composers such as Philip Glass were already composing music for films. The difference is in the context: while Glass wrote music for experimental and independent films, now authors such as Hildur Guðnadóttir or Daniel Lopatin, whose work for ‘Uncut Gems’ or recently ‘Marty Supreme’ is widely recognized, transfer their environmental textures to major Hollywood productions, winning Oscars and Grammys.
Hildur’s former collaborator in Berlin, Jóhann Jóhannsson, is probably one of the pioneers, for his work on feature films such as ‘The Theory of Everything’ (2014). He had previously released works such as ‘Fordlandia’ (2008), which seemed like soundtracks without being one. Maybe they will be in the future.
It is difficult to determine the exact origin of the phenomenon, but we can get closer by remembering the influence of the soundtrack of ‘The Social Network’ (2010). David Fincher commissioned this music from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, members of Nine Inch Nails, looking for a textural and tonal music that practically merged with the images. Evidently, Mica Levi’s music for ‘Under the Skin’ (2013), by Jonathan Glazer, followed a similar line. Denis Villeneuve’s approach was similar when he assigned Jóhannsson to score ‘Blade Runner 2049’, stating that he was trying to “create an atmosphere where music and sound design come together as one.”
The displacement of “thematic” music typical of the classical soundtrack – such as that of John Williams or James Horner during the 70s, 80s and 90s – towards, in the 2000s and 2010s, a music that emphasizes texture, repetition and atmosphere, reaches such a point that composers such as Dustin O’Halloran, known for his minimalist piano works and collaborations with contemporary ambient groups such as A Winged Victory for the Sullen (linked to Stars of the Lid), suddenly wrote the soundtrack for ‘Bridget Jones: Crazy for Him’ and also composed music for television series like ‘Transparent’, corroborating that neoclassical music is more present and more listened to than ever.
Let’s talk about neoclassical music or other more electronic and experimental music, even cases like Jonny Greenwood, guitarist of Radiohead, composing soundtracks for Hollywood blockbusters like ‘One Battle After Another’, in all the examples they are united by the search for an environmental sound sensitivity, the creation of music that does not necessarily “comment” on the scene by underlining the action, but rather accompanies it subtly, without stridency or artifice.
This phenomenon, on the other hand, is easily linked to the rise of ambient music on streaming platforms. Spotify and YouTube playlists are flooded with “piano for studying” or “ambient for relaxing” music, designed to be played in the background, evoking the philosophy of Brian Eno. This is the daily “soundtrack” of life for millions of consumers who listen to subtle music while performing other tasks and activities. Film directors know that this music connects with the audience, who will then go to the cinema to see their films.
