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At the Movies: Ludwig Göransson's Score to "Oppenheimer"

Universal Pictures

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Universal Pictures

Film music historian and author Jon Burlingame and Brian Lauritzen talk about Ludwig Göransson's Oscar-nominated score for Christopher Nolan's film Oppenheimer. The score came about in a rather unusual way - instead of the composer writing music to an otherwise completed film, he was in regular consultation with the director during nine months of pre-production, and had three hours of music written by the time the cameras began rolling. Göransson's score blends strings, brass, and electronics, but surprisingly neither woodwinds, nor traditional percussion make an appearance in the orchestra. A solo violin theme brings us inside the mind of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb," as he and a team of scientists race to unlock the secrets of the weapon that forever changed civilization - and the audience feels Oppenheimer's uncertainty as he lives with the aftermath of his decisions.

At the Movies: Oppenheimer with Film Music Author Jon Burlingame

Published on 02.22.2024