Phantom Thread (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | ||||
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Film score by | ||||
Released | 12 January 2018 (digital) 9 February 2018 (CD) 21 April 2018 (vinyl) | |||
Studio | RAK Studios (London, England) AIR Studios (London, England) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 55:53 | |||
Label | Nonesuch | |||
Producer | Graeme Stewart | |||
Jonny Greenwood chronology | ||||
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Phantom Thread (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the original soundtrack album to the 2017 film Phantom Thread , directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Daniel Day-Lewis. The record consists of eighteen tracks from a film score written and composed by Jonny Greenwood. Greenwood's score was released digitally by Nonesuch Records on 12 January 2018, with a CD edition later released on 9 February 2018 and a vinyl edition on 21 April 2018. In preparation for the score, Greenwood researched the musical trends of the 1950s, referencing Glenn Gould's Bach recordings and the work of Nelson Riddle. The score was recorded in London with a 60-piece orchestra, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Contemporary Orchestra. It is Greenwood's fourth soundtrack for director Paul Thomas Anderson and appears across the majority of the film's 130-minute runtime. It was met with favourable reviews from critics, receiving nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and the BAFTA Award for Best Original Music. [1]
Phantom Thread is a historical drama set in 1950s London about a fictional couturier, Reynolds Woodcock, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. [2] The soundtrack was composed by Jonny Greenwood and consists of piano and string sections. Director Paul Thomas Anderson initially asked Greenwood for an "English" sound, but they found the folk-influenced orchestral music typical of Britain in the 1950s too "twee" for a London fashion designer like Woodcock. Greenwood specifically researched music written and recorded during the 1950s as well as the classical music popular with that generation. The works of Nelson Riddle and Glenn Gould's Bach recordings were Greenwood's primary references. [3] In particular, Anderson advised Greenwood to research Riddle's score for Stanley Kubrick's Lolita (1962) and his work with jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. Anderson also advised Greenwood to view David Lean's 1949 film The Passionate Friends , which was scored by Richard Addinsell. [4] The music of jazz pianist Bill Evans was also an inspiration for Greenwood. [5] [3]
Greenwood's score was written during his travels for Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool tour, including in hotel rooms and dressing rooms. [6] [7] His process involved recording demos on his iPhone and sending them to Anderson. [4] [8] The first two pieces he sent were deemed too dark by Anderson, who felt the music was "giving away what's going to happen" in the story. [5] Anderson pushed Greenwood for a more romantic sound, and was interested in incorporating large string sections. Greenwood was inspired by the large, "over-the-top" romantic orchestra recordings of Baroque composers Bach and Vivaldi from the 1960s and 1970s, including Riccardo Muti's 1977 recording of Vivaldi's "Gloria". [8] [3] He was also inspired by string-heavy jazz records from the 1950s, including Ben Webster's Music for Loving (1954). [7] [3] Greenwood envisioned what music the characters would have listened to, and convinced Anderson that Woodcock would intensely listen to Glenn Gould. [5] [3] Principally, Greenwood focused on composing "genuinely romantic music" that was sincere and not "pastiche" or "overly atonal/microtonal". [5] [3] At the same time, he worked to ensure the music was keeping with the 1950s while avoiding any sense of being "tongue-in-cheek" or "ironic", which Greenwood believed was antithetical to the Woodcock's nature. [4] [7] The piano served as the common ground between the contrasting romantic compositions for the film and the more formal befitting Woodcock. [3] Greenwood also received musical input from Day-Lewis, who discussed the music of Thomas Tallis. [5]
The album was recorded in London at RAK Studios and AIR Studios. The sessions included the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Robert Ziegler, and the London Contemporary Orchestra, conducted by Robert Ames. [9] Greenwood also enlisted a string quartet, which appears on four of the album's tracks. [3] [9] At one point, Greenwood recorded with an orchestra of 60 strings, his largest to date. [10] The score also features a cimbalom, which is used to characterise Alma, and is supposed to allude to her presumably Eastern European origins. [3] The album was mixed and mastered at Abbey Road Studios. [9] The soundtrack features prominently in the film, with nearly 90 minutes of music during the film's 130-minute runtime. [3] [11] The film also features music Anderson selected by Claude Debussy, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Fauré, and Hector Berlioz. [3] [12]
On 1 February 2017, Focus Features officially announced that Greenwood was scoring Anderson's upcoming film. [13] [14] On 26 October 2017, Greenwood shared the sheet music for the film's title theme. [15] The album details were announced on 21 December 2017, and "House of Woodcock" was released the same day. [16] [17] The album was released digitally on 12 January 2018, followed by a CD release on 9 February 2018 and a vinyl LP release on 21 April 2018 (Record Store Day). [18]
The DVD and Blu-ray releases of Phantom Thread included early demos of Greenwood's score. [19] [20]
The score was first performed on 31 January 2018 by the London Contemporary Orchestra during the film's preview screening at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Anderson and Greenwood were in attendance and were interviewed by film critic Mark Kermode. [21] [22] [12] On 24 and 25 February 2018, the score was performed by the Wordless Music Orchestra and the London Contemporary Orchestra at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, New York. [23] [24] On 2 March 2018, the score was again performed by the Wordless Music Orchestra and the London Contemporary Orchestra at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, California, with Greenwood and Anderson in attendance. [25] [26]
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.9/10 [27] |
Metacritic | 86/100 [28] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [29] |
Consequence of Sound | B [30] |
Drowned in Sound | 8/10 [31] |
The Independent | [32] |
Mojo | [33] |
Pitchfork | 7.5/10 [34] |
Q | [35] |
Uncut | 8/10 [36] |
Under the Radar | 8.5/10 [37] |
Phantom Thread has a score of 86 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim," based on 9 reviews. [28] Andrew Male of Mojo gave the soundtrack a perfect score, calling it "an album that goes far beyond emulation or pastiche to capture the emotional heart of a strange and elusive film". [33] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called Greenwood's score "rich and gorgeous, elegant because of its exacting nature, an aesthetic that suits the film to a T." [29] Michael Bonner of Uncut gave the score an 8 out of 10 rating, writing that it complemented the film's 1950s London setting "with its own opulent old-world beauty." [36] Charles Steinberg of Under the Radar praised the score's ability to "accompany the precise tone of every scene", "rising and falling with all of its subtleties and secrets" and concluded in saying that Greenwood "now feels essential" as a composer. [37] Winston Cook-Wilson of Spin wrote, "Greenwood's abilities have never served one of Anderson's films better, or proved so integral to its power." [38] Richard Driver of PopMatters praised the album's sequencing and called it Greenwood's "strongest developed yet, delivering massive impact for the film". [39] James Oldham of Q called it "uniformly deft, sumptuous and moving." [35]
Kevin Lozano of Pitchfork praised Greenwood's ambition and the score's "subtler" moments like "Never Cursed", but lamented that the score's "sumptuousness can be overbearing" and lacking in its sense of restraint. [34] Zack Ruskin of Consequence of Sound praised Greenwood's orchestration for embodying the demeanour of Reynolds Woodcock, but criticised the score's tendency to "spill over and drown the sparse passages of unease that serve as Phantom Thread's emotional center." [30]
Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Collider | The 15 Best Film Scores of the Decade | 5 | |
Consequence of Sound | Top 25 Film Scores of the 2010s | 9 | |
IndieWire | The 20 Best Movie Scores of the Decade | 1 | |
The 25 Best Movie Scores of the 21st Century | 11 | ||
Mojo | The 10 Best Soundtracks of 2018 | 1 | |
Pitchfork | The 50 Best Movie Scores of All Time | 21 | |
TheWrap | 10 Best Film Scores of the 2010s | 4 |
All tracks are written by Jonny Greenwood
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Phantom Thread I" | 3:36 |
2. | "The Hem" | 2:43 |
3. | "Sandalwood I" | 2:40 |
4. | "The Tailor of Fitzrovia" | 2:31 |
5. | "Alma" | 4:07 |
6. | "Boletus Felleus" | 3:13 |
7. | "Phantom Thread II" | 3:55 |
8. | "Catch Hold" | 2:15 |
9. | "Never Cursed" | 3:46 |
10. | "That's As May Be" | 1:27 |
11. | "Phantom Thread III" | 2:22 |
12. | "I'll Follow Tomorrow" | 1:22 |
13. | "House of Woodcock" | 3:53 |
14. | "Sandalwood II" | 3:43 |
15. | "Barbara Rose" | 4:40 |
16. | "Endless Superstition" | 3:05 |
17. | "Phantom Thread IV" | 2:59 |
18. | "For the Hungry Boy" | 3:36 |
Total length: | 55:53 |
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [9]
Musicians
| Technical
Design
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Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. They comprise Thom Yorke ; brothers Jonny Greenwood and Colin Greenwood (bass); Ed O'Brien ; and Philip Selway. They have worked with the producer Nigel Godrich and the cover artist Stanley Donwood since 1994. Radiohead's experimental approach is credited with advancing the sound of alternative rock.
Kid A is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 2 October 2000 by Parlophone. It was recorded with their producer, Nigel Godrich, in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Departing from their earlier sound, Radiohead incorporated influences from electronic music, krautrock, jazz and 20th-century classical music, with a wider range of instruments and effects. The singer, Thom Yorke, wrote impersonal and abstract lyrics, cutting up phrases and assembling them at random.
Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood is an English musician. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Radiohead, and has composed numerous film scores. He has been named one of the greatest guitarists by numerous publications, including Rolling Stone.
Colin Charles Greenwood is an English bassist and a member of the rock band Radiohead. Along with bass guitar, Greenwood plays upright bass and electronic instruments.
Paul Thomas Anderson, also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. His accolades include a BAFTA Award, and nominations for eleven Academy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. He has also won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and both the Silver and Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
There Will Be Blood is the soundtrack to the 2007 film of the same name and features an original orchestral score by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood. The soundtrack was released on December 17, 2007 in the United Kingdom and on December 18, 2007 in the United States.
The London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO), founded in 2008 by Hugh Brunt and Robert Ames, is an ensemble of young musicians whose stated aim is "to explore and promote new music to an increasingly wide audience". LCO staged its inaugural season at LSO St. Luke's and has since performed at venues and festivals both in the UK and internationally, including the Roundhouse, Latitude Festival, The Old Vic Tunnels, Snape Maltings, Southbank Centre, Barbican, Spitalfield's Music, Royal Opera House, Yota Space, and Unsound Festival. LCO has since provided its work on films including Theeb, Moonlight, Macbeth, Slow West,The Master, The Two Popes and American Animals.
Hugh Brunt is a British conductor, and works with Robert Ames as the Co-Artistic Director and the Co-Principal Conductor of the London Contemporary Orchestra.
Paul Thomas Anderson is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has directed nine feature-length films, five short films, twenty three music videos, one documentary, one television episode as a guest segment director, and one theatrical play. He made his directorial debut with the mockumentary short film The Dirk Diggler Story (1988), at the age of 18, about a pornographic actor in the 1970s. Anderson followed it five years later with another short film, Cigarettes & Coffee (1993). Anderson wrote and directed the crime film Hard Eight (1996), starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson. The film was well received. Using the basis of The Dirk Diggler Story, Anderson wrote and directed an expansion of the film, Boogie Nights (1997). It stars Mark Wahlberg as an actor in the Golden Age of Porn from the 1970s to the 1980s. The film received acclaim from critics and was a commercial success; at the 70th Academy Awards ceremony, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including for Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay.
The Master: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2012 film of the same name. The album released by Nonesuch Records on September 11, 2012, comprises eleven compositions from the original score by Jonny Greenwood, who had previously collaborated with Anderson on There Will Be Blood (2007). The score is accompanied by four recordings from late-1930s to early-1950s. Greenwood's score received critical acclaim and numerous accolades.
Junun is a 2015 album by the Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur, the English composer Jonny Greenwood and the Indian ensemble the Rajasthan Express. It was produced by Greenwood and engineered and mixed by Nigel Godrich, the longtime producer for Greenwood's band Radiohead.
Phantom Thread is a 2017 American romantic period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, and Lesley Manville, and follows an haute couture dressmaker in 1950s London who takes a young waitress as his muse. It is Day-Lewis's most recent film to date. The film is the first Anderson film shot outside the United States, with principal photography beginning in January 2017 in Lythe, England. It is Anderson's second collaboration with Day-Lewis, after There Will Be Blood (2007), and his fourth collaboration with composer Jonny Greenwood.
The Smile are an English rock band comprising Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner (drums). Critics likened them to Yorke and Greenwood's band Radiohead, with more jazz, krautrock and progressive rock influences and a looser, wilder sound.
The Power of the Dog (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film) is the score for the 2021 film The Power of the Dog, composed by Jonny Greenwood. It was released by Lakeshore Records and Invada Records on November 17, 2021.
The Shape of Water (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the Academy Award-winning film of the same name. It featured 26 tracks — most of the tracks were from the original score composed by Alexandre Desplat and some tracks are incorporated songs, being originated from the 1940s and 1960s as the film is set during the Cold War period. The film, directed by Guillermo del Toro, who also co-wrote the script with Vanessa Taylor, stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer.
Spencer (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2021 film Spencer directed by Pablo Larraín. It was composed by Jonny Greenwood, and combines free jazz and classical baroque music highlighting the tragedy and emotions of Diana, Princess of Wales. The album was released on 12 November 2021 by Mercury KX label.
Inherent Vice (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2014 film of the same name. It features an original score composed by Jonny Greenwood, along with music by Can, the Marketts, Minnie Riperton, Kyu Sakamoto, Neil Young, Les Baxter and Chuck Jackson. "Spooks" was released as a single on December 9, 2014. Nonesuch Records released the soundtrack through ITunes on December 15, and a wide release, the following day.
You Were Never Really Here (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2018 film You Were Never Really Here, composed by Jonny Greenwood. The score was not composed to the film due to Greenwood's busy schedules on tour, instead, as per Ramsay's suggestions, Greenwood had composed few pieces based on the pieces she sent and derived those cues, which was utilised in the background by the sound engineer Graeme Stewart who produced the film score.
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