Loving (soundtrack)

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Loving (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Loving (soundtrack).jpg
Soundtrack album by
David Wingo
ReleasedNovember 4, 2016 (2016-11-04) [1]
Recorded2016
Studio12th Street Sound [2]
Genre Soundtrack
Length37:37
Label Back Lot Music B01LZK5FIR[ citation needed ]
Producer David Wingo [3]
David Wingo chronology
Midnight Special
(2016)		Loving
(2016)		 Brigsby Bear
(2017)

Loving (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album for the 2016 film of the same name directed by Jeff Nichols, taking inspiration from Nancy Buirski's documentary The Loving Story (2011). The film documents the life of Richard and Mildred Loving, the plaintiffs in the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court (the Warren Court) decision Loving v. Virginia , which invalidated state laws prohibiting interracial marriage, [4] [5] [6] and stars Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton as Mildred and Richard Loving. [7] The film was produced by Big Beach and Raindog Films, [8] [9] and distributed worldwide by Focus Features. [10]

Contents

The original score is composed by David Wingo, [11] who worked with Nichols previously on Take Shelter (2011), Mud (2012), and Midnight Special (2016). [12] [13] [14] The soundtrack album featured 20 tracks, including an original song – the title track – performed by Ben Nichols, [15] Jeff's brother, and lead guitarist at the American rock band Lucero, [16] which was released as a single on October 29, 2016. [17] The soundtrack was released digitally on November 4, 2016, by Universal Pictures' primary record label Back Lot Music, [18] while the physical versions were distributed on November 11. [18]

The soundtrack received acclaim from critics, saying Wingo's score "complimented several emotions with Richard and Midred's relationship". Wingo received appreciation from industry critics and insiders for his work in the film, and the score was shortlisted for several nominations in the Original Score category, including the Academy Awards but could not get selected. [19]

Composition

Wingo wanted the original music for the film to feel "like it could have been from any time" referring to the 1950s setting, [20] while Jeff Nichols wished for the score of Loving to be orchestral, classical, while not contemporary sounding. [21] Wingo stated that Ennio Morricone's compositions for Days of Heaven (1978), The Battle of Algiers (1966), and The Mission influenced the score of Loving, albeit Wingo didn't listen to them prior to scoring. [21] Speaking in an interview to Flood magazine, Wingo stated about his collaborations with Nichols and David Gordon Green claiming that "they play such a big role that sometimes feel like they should get a writing credit. They’re both extremely musically minded. The music would not be what it is without their involvement." [21] While, on the flip side, he, Nichols, Green does not have any experience on music, so "there is definitely a sort of chasm that needs to be bridged". Hence he approached the film's music in the way, what Nichols and Green do, thinking in terms of emotions and moods and colors, in an impressionistic sort of way, and develop their own vocabulary". [21]

Using a minimalist approach, when he could, Wingo mostly wished to reflect Richard and Mildred's emotional and psychological stakes. [22] [23] For the relationship between Richard and Mildred, which has a sense of melancholy, a hope between something they loved and lost, he mostly used traditional and classical music, making use of strings, brass and piano. At some sequences, for creating tension and anxiety, Wingo made devoid of using orchestral elements which was "sample-based and sound designing and a lot of drones, scrapes and just a foreign feeling of feeling just so not of that world, not of their world, and that was the intention was just [incorporating] things that just feels so foreign – just that sense of displacement in the music." [22]

Wingo felt that Loving shouldn't have any big, sweeping themes because both Richard and Mildred were very shy, reserved people but having such a grace and beauty about them. [24] He spoke of Nichols wanting him to watch Nancy Buirski's The Loving Story (2011), as Nichols wanted the movie to feel the same way. [24] Wingo later spoke of [Nichols] wishing to capture what they felt facing this horrible persecution, which results in the music being simple and restrained, albeit with a real beauty to it. [24] Wingo chose the distinctive Americana-type score to establish the musical voice of the film, [25] and managed to gather a 14-piece string ensemble of local musicians at 12th Street Sound for the recording of the soundtrack. [26]

In regards to scoring Loving, Wingo remarked that the score for Loving needed to be "elemental and simple to a certain degree while avoiding any sentimentality to capture the grace and beauty of Richard and Mildred." [27] He stated that all of his scores for [Nichols] in the past have had elements of an orchestral background, however, he knew that the main themes for Loving needed to contain a traditional orchestral score without any modern elements. He concluded by stating of Nichols that, "The other main thing that [Nichols] needed the score to accomplish was to really reflect the always-present anxiety and tension that they were living with all these years. Those pieces don't just operate in a different way than the other themes but are completely different instrumentation as well, with hardly any orchestral elements." [28]

Critical reception

The score received critical acclaim, with critics assigning that Wingo's compositions "suits with the film's theme perfectly". [29] In the review for Vanity Fair , writer Richard Lawson had said that Wingo's music is "maybe the most conventionally dramatic" and "Oscar baiting". [30] Daily Collegian -based Lauren LaMagna compared Wingo and Nichols' collaboration as "the two blend together just as beautifully as James Cameron and James Horner or Steven Spielberg and John Williams. Wingo knows exactly how to advance the story through his music. He allows us to understand how the Lovings are feeling and what they’re thinking. This is especially laudable since both Mildred and Richard are introverted and meek." [31] The Hollywood Reporter 's Todd McCarthy, called Wingo as "one of the winning key contributors of the timely drama, in Nichols' technicalities for loving". [32]

Vulture 's David Edelstein reviewed that: "Nichols uses David Wingo’s score sparingly, for longing or portent. Often he just uses birds or insects or car engines. A couple of moments have a Hitchcock frisson: Richard’s point-of-view when a car — maybe the police, maybe some vigilante — passes by, its taillights receding in the driver’s mirror. I can imagine a Hollywood executive reading his script and saying, “Can we punch this up with a cross burning? Or a scene where Richard gets into a fight with some rednecks?” But Nichols embellishes nothing. With minimal means, he makes the air thick with dread." [33] D. H. Schleicher said Wingo's "score matches the mood of the scenes to a perfect degree", [34] while a critic based at CW 69 Atlanta said the score "enhances the beautiful moments between Richard and Mildred where the dialogues are sparse". [35] Another reviewer from Broadcast Music, Inc. wrote "Wingo’s music for the triumphant film is no less compelling than the story. It’s the perfect blend of sound for the wide-range of emotions felt during the spellbinding portrayal of the couples’ civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia". [36]

Track listing

Loving (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [37]
No.TitleLength
1."Proposal"1:16
2."Arrest"3:07
3."Sheriff"2:11
4."Time Passing"2:06
5."Leaving Jail"1:26
6."Leaving Home"1:22
7."D.C."2:10
8."Hand Off"3:10
9."Call the Lawyer"3:09
10."The Letter"1:05
11."Phone Call"1:02
12."Bernard Cohen"1:31
13."Baseball Game"1:15
14."Leaving D.C."2:30
15."Farmhouse"1:55
16."Bernie and Phil"0:51
17."Brick"2:15
18."The Decision"2:05
19."Home"2:56
20."Loving" (performed by Ben Nichols)2:54

Charts

Chart (2016)Peak

position

UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC) [38] 49
US Billboard 200 [39] 188
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) [40] 47

Additional music

Songs that are not featured in soundtrack, but played throughout the film, include: [41] [42]

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic [43]

Production
Technical personnel
Instrumentalists

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References

  1. ↑ Wingo, David (November 4, 2016). "LOVING SOUNDTRACK OUT TODAY". David Wingo. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Composing Loving". Twitter . April 5, 2016. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Loving (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Reverse". Back Lot Music. November 4, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  4. ↑ McCarthy, Todd (May 23, 2016). "Cannes: A Fest of Few Lows, But Only One Real High". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  5. ↑ Coggan, Devan (September 13, 2016). "TIFF 2016: Loving stars Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton on film's reluctant heroes". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  6. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 20, 2016). "'Midnight Special' Director Jeff Nichols On Final Cut, 'Aquaman' & Why HDTV Evolution Is More Important Than The Screening Room". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  7. ↑ A. Obenson, Tambay (May 8, 2015). "Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton Will Star in Adaptation of 'The Loving Story' – Landmark Civil Rights Anti-Miscegenation Case". Indiewire . Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Loving – Production Company". British Council . August 30, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  9. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (November 30, 2015). "Indie Producer Big Beach Opens L.A. Outpost". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  10. ↑ Romano, Nick (February 13, 2016). "Loving, interracial marriage drama, picked up by Focus Features". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  11. ↑ "David Wingo Scoring Jeff Nichols' 'Loving'". Film Music Reporter. April 8, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Soundtrack Details for Jeff Nichols' 'Loving'". Film Music Reporter. September 26, 2016. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  13. ↑ Davis, Edward (September 26, 2011). "'Take Shelter' Soundtrack Written By Ola Podrida's David Wingo Is Moody, Chilling & Unnerving". Indiewire . Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  14. ↑ Lange, Maggie (March 21, 2016). "'Meet the Guy Who Creates Today's Most Haunting Movie Soundtracks". GQ . Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Loving – Production Notes" (PDF). Focus Features . September 16, 2015. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ↑ "Ben Nichols, Rick Steff of Lucero Sit Down with "We Are Live!"; Play 3-Song Show". insideSTL. April 14, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  17. ↑ "A track from the Loving soundtrack". Paste . October 29, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  18. 1 2 "David Wingo's soundtrack for 'Loving' to be released on November 4th". Behind The Audio. October 27, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  19. ↑ Thompson, Anne (October 31, 2016). "'Loving' Is Not Boastful, But Jeff Nichols' Biracial Romance Is Oscar Worthy". IndieWire. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  20. ↑ Laws, Zach (November 10, 2016). "'Loving' composer David Wingo on creating a 'classic' score for 1950s drama". Gold Derby. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Harmon, Daniel (December 7, 2016). "In Conversation: "Loving" Composer David Wingo on Separating Inspiration and Imagination". FLOOD Magazine. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  22. 1 2 Baugh, Jennifer (December 13, 2016). "Q&A with "Loving" Composer David Wingo". The Young Folks. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  23. ↑ "David Wingo on scoring Loving". White Bear PR. December 14, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  24. 1 2 3 Ciafardini, Marc (November 18, 2016). "Interview ... David Wingo Trades Synths for Strings Composing Jeff Nichols' 'Loving'". GoSeeTalk. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  25. ↑ "INTERVIEW: Composer David Wingo Talks To Me About Scoring 'LOVING'". Rama's Screen. November 5, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  26. ↑ Wingo, David (April 28, 2016). "LOVING AT CANNES". David Wingo. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  27. ↑ F. Ebbinghaus, Peter (October 29, 2016). "DAVID WINGO'S SOUNDTRACK FOR 'LOVING' TO BE RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 4TH". Soundtracks and Trailer Music. Archived from the original on November 5, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  28. ↑ Jagernauth, Kevin (November 3, 2016). "Exclusive: Stream David Wingo's Full Score For Jeff Nichols' 'Loving'". The Playlist . Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  29. ↑ Ehrich Dowd, Kathy (May 17, 2016). "The Real Story of Richard and Mildred Loving – the Interracial Couple Who Fought for Their Right to Wed and Inspired the Cannes Film Already Earning Oscar Buzz". People . Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  30. ↑ Lawson, Richard (November 11, 2016). "Cannes Standout Loving Is a Respectful, Modest Civil Rights Drama". Vanity Fair . Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  31. ↑ LaMagna, Lauren. "'Loving' is simple, honest and a rare beauty". Massachusetts Daily Collegian. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  32. ↑ McCarthy, Todd (May 16, 2016). "'Loving': Cannes Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  33. ↑ Edelstein, David (November 9, 2016). "The Slow, Stunning Intimacy of Loving". Vulture. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  34. ↑ Schleicher, D. H. (November 25, 2016). "Changing the World Brick by Brick in Loving". The Schleicher Spin. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  35. ↑ "Loving Movie Review". Atlanta's CW69. November 11, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  36. ↑ "BMI Composer David Wingo's Score Has Us "Loving" the New Film". BMI.com. November 22, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  37. ↑ Loving (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by David Wingo, November 4, 2016, retrieved May 19, 2022
  38. ↑ "Official Soundtrack Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company . Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  39. ↑ "Billboard 200: December 9, 2016". Billboard . Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  40. ↑ "Billboard Soundtracks Chart: December 9, 2016". Billboard . Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  41. ↑ All 33 songs from the Loving (2016) Soundtrack , retrieved May 19, 2022
  42. ↑ "Music from Loving". Tunefind. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  43. ↑ Loving [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] - David Wingo | Credits | AllMusic , retrieved May 19, 2022
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