Oppenheimer (soundtrack)
Oppenheimer (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album composed by Ludwig Göransson for the 2023 film Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan. It was digitally released by Back Lot Music on July 21, 2023, the same day as the film's theatrical release in the United States. At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, it won Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media. At the 96th Academy Awards, it won Best Original Score.
Oppenheimer (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
July 21, 2023
94:42
Ludwig Göransson
Background[edit]
On October 8, 2021, Universal Pictures announced production on Oppenheimer and confirmed that composer Ludwig Göransson would be scoring the film.[1][2] Göransson had previously worked with director Christopher Nolan, scoring Nolan's 2020 film Tenet.[3][4]
Göransson's score was featured in a trailer for the film on May 8, 2023.[5] It was also featured in the Universal Pictures exclusive five-minute Opening Look on July 13.[6][7]
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
When approached to score Oppenheimer, Göransson was initially intimidated by the scope and magnitude of the project.[8] In the film's early stages of production, Nolan shared the script with his visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson as he needed to convey phenomena such as quantum mechanics and nuclear reactions onscreen.[9][10] The visual effects team began creating experimental footage of particles, waves, and chain reactions. Nolan then showed this footage to Göransson, who used it to draw inspiration for his score.[11][12]
Scoring Oppenheimer proved to be a unique challenge for Göransson as he had never composed a soundtrack that only represented one character's inner workings and point of view.[8][11] He later explained, "The movie is about [J. Robert] Oppenheimer's perspective; the audience is meant to feel what he's feeling, to see what he's seeing, to be inside of him. That’s what the music needed to do — it needed to get the audience to feel all of his feelings as you see on screen."[13]
Nolan did not give specific direction on how he wanted the score to sound; the only suggestion he gave Göransson was to represent Oppenheimer's character and the film's main theme with the violin.[8][11] Nolan explained, "There's a tension to the sound in a way that I think fits the highly-strung intellect and emotion of Robert Oppenheimer very well."[14] Using the violin as a starting point, Göransson and his wife Serena, a violinist, began experimenting with vibratos and microtonal glissandos;[15][16] they aimed to convey the anxiety of Oppenheimer through the violin's ability to instantly switch from a romantic and sentimental sound to something "neurotic" and "horrifying."[14][17]
For the "Can You Hear the Music" sequence, Nolan wanted a piece that would emulate Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, which he called "one of the best pieces of music ever written." Early in production, Nolan and Göransson attended a performance of The Rite of Spring by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.[18]
Composition[edit]
Göransson's score comprises three overarching movements: Oppenheimer's background in physics, the Manhattan Project, and the Atomic Energy Commission hearing. The score begins with lush melodies by strings, harps, and piano as Oppenheimer explores theory and begins his career as a physicist.[15][17] The core of Oppenheimer's theme is a hexatonic scale that can be heard as a leitmotif throughout the film, beginning in the piece "Can You Hear the Music".[19] As the score transitions into the second movement, the tone shifts as the atomic bomb is being built, with the increased stakes being amplified by thumping bass and metallic ticking sounds.[16][20] Göransson was careful not to veer his score toward sounding "booming," especially in the film's second act, as he believed that if the score was too explosive, the detonations in the film wouldn't have as much of an impact on the audience.[21]
Release and commercial reception[edit]
The soundtrack was released for streaming and digital download on July 21, 2023.[27] By January 2024, the soundtrack garnered over 200 million streams. In particular, the track "Can You Hear the Music" went viral on TikTok, earning 2.1 billion impressions on the app and over 60 million streams across all music streaming platforms.[28]
The soundtrack was released in both CD and LP formats by Mondo in September 2023.[29]
Critical reception[edit]
Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times called the score "magnificent",[30] while Robbie Collin of The Telegraph called it "gorgeously relentless".[31] Wendy Ide of The Observer called Göransson's score "masterful and mercurial, surely one of the finest of the year."[32] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Aiding immeasurably in Nolan’s unfaltering control of tone and tension is ... Ludwig Göransson’s extraordinarily forceful, almost wall-to-wall score."[33]
Ross Bonaime of Collider extended great praise to Göransson, stating that "Oppenheimer's ever-present score by Ludwig Göransson accompanies nearly every moment of the film, knowing exactly when to pull back, or when to provoke the audience with the sounds of a ticking clock or static underneath the onslaught of an orchestra fully enveloping the viewer in sound. Nolan and [Hoyte] van Hoytema's visuals are always impressive, but it's Göransson's score that takes Oppenheimer to another level, and continues to prove that he's one of the most exciting composers working in film today."[34]
On the contrary, some film critics felt that the score was overbearing. Odie Henderson of The Boston Globe called the score "grating" and stated that "[Nolan's] penchant for drowning out necessary dialogue [became] intolerable" when the score was used.[35] Fred Topel of UPI wrote that "Ludwig Göransson wrote a good score, but the constant use of it is exhausting."[36] Oli Welsh of Polygon echoed these sentiments, noting that the score was "overused."[37]
Live performances[edit]
To promote the soundtrack ahead of the 2024 awards season, Universal and Syncopy Inc. presented Oppenheimer: Live in Concert, a live-to-film concert experience featuring a 55-piece orchestra under the direction of Göransson, and conducted by Anthony Parnther. The concert was held at the University of California, Los Angeles's Royce Hall on January 10, 2024, and included an introduction by Nolan and actor Cillian Murphy. The concert was attended by 1,000 people.[28][38]
Credits adapted from LP liner notes.[54]