The Whale (soundtrack)

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The Whale (Original Score)
Film score by
Rob Simonsen
ReleasedDecember 9, 2022
Studio AIR Studios, London
Genre Film score
Length36:39
Label A24 Music
Producer Rob Simonsen
Rob Simonsen chronology
Hollywood Stargirl
(2022)		The Whale (Original Score)
(2022)		 Good Grief
(2023)
Singles from The Whale (Original Score)
  1. "Midnight Storm"
    Released: November 28, 2022

The Whale (Original Score) is the film score soundtrack to the 2022 film The Whale directed by Darren Aronofsky starring Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, and Samantha Morton. The score album featured 14 tracks composed by Rob Simonsen and released through A24 Music on December 9, 2022, the same day as the film.

Contents

Development

On January 2022, it was announced that Rob Simonsen would compose the film score for The Whale, collaborating with Aronofsky for the first time. [1] The Whale is Aronofsky's first film without the involvement of his norm composer Clint Mansell who had scored all of his films. [a] Simonsen recalled that Jason Reitman, his frequent collaborator, had wrote a letter about him to Aronofsky and the following day, the latter invited him to a Zoom call describing the story of the film. He saw the final edit and was moved by it, eventually agreeing to work on the film. [4]

Simonsen admitted that "The Whale was an opportunity to paint a pretty bold canvas, but also to feature quiet moments to make the intensity really stand out." [4] While watching the rough edit of the film without temp music, Simonsen was able to imagine different ideas. [4] One of them being an overtone flute having "an ethereal, otherworldly, hollow, but also very large sound" that contributed to the nautical elements present in the film, which was influenced through its sound design and production design, referencing about a "man lost at sea, on the sea of their own emotions." [4] Simonsen listened to sea shanties and Mormon songs and chants to explore the nautical texture. [5]

The score felt more classical than some of his previous scores in terms of instrumentation that depicted his state of mind. Simonsen termed it as a hybrid score which resulted in numerous processing, which included the sounds of string and brass being predominant. Simonsen's work was further influenced by Henryk Górecki, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Samuel Barber, which resulted in the open-suspended voicing and the use of strings, brass and violins. He blended those musical ideas which was not too atonal, while also hiring the London Contemporary Orchestra had helped him to conceptually drive the film. The orchestra consisted of 25 people who played strings, brass and violins and was recorded at the AIR Studios with the musicians adhering to the safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic. [4] [6]

Besides the use of strings and brass, Simonsen further played an 19th century pump organ and produced drone sounds, by blending it with the overtone flute. The flute used for the recording, was designed by Winne Clement, which was 21-feet long. [5] [6]

Release

On November 28, 2022, A24 Music released the first track from the film: "Midnight Storm" on all digital music platforms. [7] The soundtrack was released digitally on December 9, 2022, the same day as the film. [8]

Reception

Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair described it as an "unrelentingly bombastic score", [9] while A. O. Scott of The New York Times called it as "strenuous". [10] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter described it as "emotionally emphatic" but criticized it for being an "overkill". [11] Justin Chang of Los Angeles Times admitted that Simonsen's score "broods and surges". [12] David Fear of Rolling Stone stated that the "doom-laden score by Rob Simonsen keeps rubbing the despair even deeper into your face". [13] Eric Webb of Austin American-Statesman wrote "The score by Rob Simonsen gilds most scenes with swelling sonic pageantry". [14] Natalia Keogan of Paste summarized "Rob Simonsen’s score nonetheless conveys horrific revulsion." [15] El Hunt of NME wrote "Rob Simonsen's dramatic score, strings trilling every time a meatball sandwich enters view, borders on ridiculous." [16]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Cloudless Skies"1:11
2."Overture"1:48
3."Life Boat"2:07
4."Deep Water"3:01
5."Gentle Waves"1:41
6."Rigging"1:54
7."Darting Distance"1:37
8."Flare Gun"1:05
9."Full Sail"2:40
10."Storm Approaching"4:17
11."Midnight Storm"2:51
12."Harpoon"3:25
13."God's Rays"5:10
14."Safe Return"3:52
Total length:36:39

Awards

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Hollywood Music in Media Awards November 16, 2022 Best Original Score in an Independent Film Rob Simonsen Nominated [17]
Society of Composers & Lyricists AwardsFebruary 15, 2023Outstanding Original Score for an Independent FilmRob SimonsenNominated [18]
[19]

Notes

  1. ↑ Aronofsky earlier replaced Mansell with Jóhann Jóhannsson for Mother! (2017) before he ultimately decided to use no music in the final edit. [2] [3]

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References

  1. ↑ "Rob Simonsen Scoring Darren Aronofsky's 'The Whale'". Film Music Reporter. January 26, 2022. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  2. ↑ Cabin, Chris (October 11, 2016). "Darren Aronofsky Teases Details of His New, Enigmatic Drama; Won't Be Collaborating with Clint Mansell". ComplexMedia . Archived from the original on March 15, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2016– via Collider.
  3. ↑ Noone, Greg (September 18, 2017). "Inside the Dreamy Nightmare of Mother!'s Music-Free Soundscape". Vanity Fair . Archived from the original on December 18, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Crawford, Lilian (December 21, 2022). "Rob Simonsen on embracing empathy with his score for 'The Whale'". Spitfire Audio. Archived from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  5. 1 2 Hullender, Tatiana (March 14, 2023). "How The Whale Composer Created Atmosphere Through Music [EXCLUSIVE]". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  6. 1 2 Sgammato, Greg (December 19, 2022). "The Whale with Rob Simonsen". Society of Composers and Lyricists. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  7. ↑ "First Track from Rob Simonsen's 'The Whale' Score Released". Film Music Reporter. November 28, 2022. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  8. ↑ "'The Whale' Soundtrack Album Details". Film Music Reporter. December 8, 2022. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  9. ↑ Lawson, Richard (September 4, 2022). "'The Whale' Misses the Mark". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on September 5, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  10. ↑ Scott, A. O. (December 7, 2022). "'The Whale' Review: Body Issues". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  11. ↑ Rooney, David (September 4, 2022). "'The Whale' Review: Brendan Fraser Is Heart-Wrenching in Darren Aronofsky's Portrait of Regret and Deliverance". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  12. ↑ Chang, Justin (December 8, 2022). "Review: Does Brendan Fraser give a great performance in 'The Whale'? It's complicated". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  13. ↑ Fear, David (December 9, 2022). "Brendan Fraser Deserves an Oscar for 'The Whale.' He Also Deserves a Better Movie". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 18, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Austin Film Festival review: The lurid, leering disaster of 'The Whale'". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  15. ↑ Keogan, Natalia (December 10, 2022). "The Whale Is Indulgent Voyeurism Disguised as Radical Empathy". Paste. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  16. ↑ Hunt, El (October 11, 2022). "The Whale review: Brendan Fraser shines but this is clumsy at best". NME. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  17. ↑ Grein, Paul (November 3, 2022). "Rihanna, Lady Gaga, & More Nominated for 2022 Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Full List". Billboard . Archived from the original on November 4, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Nominees Announced for 4th SCL Awards". Society of Composers & Lyricists. December 22, 2022. Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  19. ↑ "4th Annual SCL Awards Held, Winners Announced". Society of Composers & Lyricists. February 15, 2023. Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
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