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The main challenge that composer (and cellist) Hildur Guðnadóttir faced in writing the soundtrack for Chernobyl was musically recreating the 1986 nuclear disaster (the subject of the five-part HBO mini-series). How does one find a sound for such a destructive force that is both invisible and silent? Instead of using the tragic or threatening strings which are often employed in this kind of story, the Icelandic composer (who also wrote the soundtrack for Joker) crafted a unique texture which is both enchanting and incredibly unnerving. The musician spent an entire day in a Lithuanian nuclear power plant so as to listen to and record the sounds of the site and its surroundings. Turbines, pumps and Geiger counters (which were of course reworked in the studio) form the basis for the series’ score. Chernobyl’s soundtrack hardly features any “traditional” instruments, apart from Hildur Guðnadóttir’s own voice on some of the pieces (Clean Up, Líður), as well as the Homin Lviv Municipal Choir on Vichnaya Pamyat, which adds a small dose of humanity and hope to the grey, anxiety-inducing soundscape. Guðnadóttir’s aim was to make you almost feel the radioactivity and, in the case of Chernobyl, its harmful consequences. Having succeeded in doing just that, it’s no wonder she won an Emmy Award at the Creative Arts Emmys 2019. © Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz
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Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, Voice, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, Voice, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Owen Roberts, Arranger, Work Arranger - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, ComposerLyricist - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Homin Lviv Municipal Choir, Choir, MainArtist - Andrei Pidkivka, Producer - Andrij Yackiv, Producer - Markiyan Dribnuk, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Yevhenii Sosnii, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, Voice, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, Voice, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, Voice, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, Voice, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, Producer, Cello, Piano, Voice, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 Touch Music
Chris Watson, Sound Effects, AssociatedPerformer - Götz-Michael Rieth, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gunni Tynes, Producer, Additional Producer - Francesco Donadello, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hildur Guðnadóttir, Voice, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Antonio Pulli, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Þórarinn Guðnason, Co-Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Sam Slater, Producer - Simon Goff, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2019 HBO
Album review
The main challenge that composer (and cellist) Hildur Guðnadóttir faced in writing the soundtrack for Chernobyl was musically recreating the 1986 nuclear disaster (the subject of the five-part HBO mini-series). How does one find a sound for such a destructive force that is both invisible and silent? Instead of using the tragic or threatening strings which are often employed in this kind of story, the Icelandic composer (who also wrote the soundtrack for Joker) crafted a unique texture which is both enchanting and incredibly unnerving. The musician spent an entire day in a Lithuanian nuclear power plant so as to listen to and record the sounds of the site and its surroundings. Turbines, pumps and Geiger counters (which were of course reworked in the studio) form the basis for the series’ score. Chernobyl’s soundtrack hardly features any “traditional” instruments, apart from Hildur Guðnadóttir’s own voice on some of the pieces (Clean Up, Líður), as well as the Homin Lviv Municipal Choir on Vichnaya Pamyat, which adds a small dose of humanity and hope to the grey, anxiety-inducing soundscape. Guðnadóttir’s aim was to make you almost feel the radioactivity and, in the case of Chernobyl, its harmful consequences. Having succeeded in doing just that, it’s no wonder she won an Emmy Award at the Creative Arts Emmys 2019. © Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 13 track(s)
- Total length: 00:38:33
- Main artists: Hildur Guðnadóttir
- Composer: Hildur Guðnadóttir
- Label: Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
- Genre: Soundtracks Film Soundtracks
© 2019 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin ℗ 2019 HBO / Touch Music
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