| Chernobyl: Music from the Original TV Series | |
| Type: | soundtrack |
| Artist: | Hildur Guðnadóttir |
| Cover: | Chernobyl soundtrack.jpg |
| Recorded: | August 2018 – March 2019 |
| Genre: | Dark ambient |
Chernobyl: Music from the Original TV Series is the soundtrack album to the historical drama miniseries Chernobyl, based on the aftermath of Chernobyl disaster that occurred during 1986. The musical score was composed by Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, which was being created using sound recordings from an actual nuclear power plant.[1] [2] The score album featuring thirteen tracks, were released under Deutsche Grammophon and WaterTower Music labels on May 31, 2019. A vinyl edition of the soundtrack was released by Decca Records on September 6.[3] [4]
The score opened to positive reception, appreciating the soundscape, composition and live recording methods, where the authentic approach to capture "the sounds from nuclear plant" were highlighted and praised by critics. It was called as one of Guðnadóttir's best original score compositions followed by Joker
In August 2018, during filming of the series, Guðnadóttir and score producer Chris Watson, went to the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania (where the series being shot prominently) to record dark ambient sounds for the score.[5] [6] The music team wore hazmat suit for security reasons, on recording inside a nuclear plant. According to her, she wanted the power plant—and the radiation—to be a voice in itself, and had "wanted to understand the feeling of what must have gone through people’s heads as they were trying to navigate through that disaster", resulting in a sound of "creeping death".
Every single sound from the score, were made from the recordings they captured on site. Instead of artificially creating the sounds using instruments and pre-recorded material, Guðnadóttir wanted to "observe the setting", hoping to experience from a listener's perspective what it's like to actually be inside of a power plant. She explained the same in her podcast interview, saying "How does that sound? Like [what] does a catastrophe really feel like and how does it sound [...] We associate certain sounds of a nuclear disaster and those emitters, but there are so many other sounds that are there that were just so interesting to observe." She recorded the sounds of reactor halls, hallways, turbine saws, the hums of machinery, walls and the engine room door, and started composition with the sounds she had collected, and also used reverbs and her own recordings, to make it actually sound like "singing in the rooms of the nuclear power plant and not in her music studio". Deciding against writing theme music for the series, Guðnadóttir created an individual soundscape for each episode. The composition eventually took more than seven months.[7]
Billboard
All tracks and written and composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir, except where noted.
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Academy Television Craft Awards | Best Original Music | Hildur Guðnadóttir | [11] | ||
| Grammy Awards | Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media | Hildur Guðnadóttir | [12] | ||
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | Best Original Score – TV Show/Limited Series | Hildur Guðnadóttir | [13] | ||
| International Film Music Critics Association | Best Original Score for Television | Hildur Guðnadóttir | [14] | ||
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special (Original Dramatic Score) | Hildur Guðnadóttir (for "Please Remain Calm") | [15] [16] | ||
| Royal Television Society Craft and Design Awards | Music – Original Score | Hildur Guðnadóttir | [17] | ||
| Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards | Outstanding Original Score for a Television or Streaming Production | Hildur Guðnadóttir | [18] | ||
| Televisual Bulldog Awards | Best Music | Chernobyl | [19] | ||
| World Soundtrack Awards | Television Composer of the Year | Hildur Guðnadóttir | [20] |