If Beale Street Could Talk (soundtrack) explained

If Beale Street Could Talk
(Original Motion Picture Score)
Type:film
Cover:If Beale Street Could Talk (soundtrack).jpg
Artist:Nicholas Britell
Genre:Film score
Label:Lakeshore
Producer:Nicholas Britell

If Beale Street Could Talk (Original Motion Picture Score) is the score album to the 2018 film of the same name directed by Barry Jenkins based on James Baldwin's 1974 novel of the same name. Featuring original music written and composed by Nicholas Britell, the film marked his second collaboration with Jenkins after the Academy Award-winning Moonlight (2016).[1] According to Britell, he used two different soundscapes to depict the relationship between Clementine "Tish" Rivers (KiKi Layne) and Alonzo "Fonny" Hunt (Stephan James) as well as the horrors of alleged accusation over Fonny, and the aftermath surrounds. The primary instruments used in most of the scores, were strings and brass to depict the relationship, while orchestra and jazz also accompany the score.

The score album was released on November 9, 2018, by Lakeshore Records[2] [3] and received positive response from critics, praising the instrumentation, composition and musical soundscape. Britell received the Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score and BAFTA Award for Best Original Music, losing the respective awards to Ludwig Göransson's score for Black Panther and Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, and Lukas Nelson for A Star Is Born. However, Britell received the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Score, and was similarly successful at critics' award ceremonies, The album was issued in double vinyl by Lakeshore Records and Invada Records on March 15, 2019.[4] [5]

Composition

The score is a combination of brass, strings and orchestra. When the music for the film was first written, Jenkins said that he wanted the sounds of brass and horns, that was the "first intuitive idea of a feeling". Later, he assembled the sounds of trumpet, flügelhorn, cornet and French horns, and mixed it for the first piece he had written. But felt that the score missed strings in the musical landscape, as for Britell, the strings became like a "musical exploration or expression of love" adding that "What’s remarkable about the way Jenkins made the film is that it explores so many different kinds of love. It explores the love of parents for their children, it explores romantic love, it explores this divine, pure kind of love that exists between people. The strings came to symbolize that for us in a lot of ways."[6] Britell felt that he could chop and screw classical music like he did the same for hip hop in the score of Moonlight (2016). He had the strings and brass were included to write the score in a classical way, but at times, jazz harmonies as included in the score, as "music is incredibly fluid space, and sometimes the labels create boundaries that aren’t really there", thereby enticing to blend multiple genres in several ways, to create an atmospheric sounding. While composing the score, he had explained about the tuning and mixing of the score, saying: "There are few key cues where the cornet is muted. I find it totally fascinating how subtle changes in the way an instrument is played—putting a mute on an instrument, or taking it off—can completely change the things that it associates to, in your mind and in your ear. When I hear that muted cornet, that to me sounds very much like mid-century jazz, right away. At the same time, I was exploring these colors with a mixture of French horn, and trumpet and flugelhorn, even [with regard to] where they sit in the register. If you put certain instruments above others in the way that they’re layered, you’re painting with different colors, and there’s this infinite palette of possibilities. I love having the opportunity to explore these colors because each film is a different kind of creative adventure where you get to learn about different sounds."

Reception

James Southall of Movie Wave wrote "Virtually throughout there is this very yearning, affectionate quality to it – the film is after all ultimately a love story, albeit not one without real challenge – and it has a very personal, moving quality. It’s not sweeping romance in the John Barry sense – it’s much smaller-scale in terms of the orchestral forces, most obviously – and while you could say it’s somewhat repetitive on the album, the darker moments do provide the offset that is so often so powerful in strengthening the impact of the emotional material. There is a clarity to the orchestration (even if it is not entirely conventional) and also the performance and recording which gives the album a certain raw directness which is very impressive."[7] Jonathan Broxton had a mixed opinion on the score, saying that "parts of the score appealing on a number of levels. But there is still an inexplicable something about the score which keeps It from clicking, whether it’s the repetitiveness, or the lack of development, or the way in which so many of the musical ideas seem to clash, to the emotional detriment of the whole experience."[8] It has been complimented by film critics as "one of the best scores of 2018" by publications such as IndieWire,[9] Vulture,[10] and Film School Rejects[11] along with Britell's Vice.

Accolades

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)Result
Academy AwardsFebruary 24, 2019Best Original Score[12]
Austin Film Critics AssociationJanuary 7, 2019Best Original Score[13]
[14]
Black Reel AwardsFebruary 7, 2019Outstanding Score[15]
[16]
[17]
Boston Society of Film CriticsDecember 16, 2018Best Score[18]
[19]
British Academy Film AwardsFebruary 10, 2019Best Original Music[20]
Chicago Film Critics AssociationDecember 8, 2018Best Original Score[21]
Critics' Choice Movie AwardsJanuary 13, 2019Best Original Score[22]
[23]
Florida Film Critics CircleDecember 21, 2018Best Score[24]
[25]
Georgia Film Critics AssociationDecember 1, 2018Best Original Score[26]
Hollywood Music in Media AwardsNovember 14, 2018Best Original Score – Feature Film[27]
Houston Film Critics SocietyJanuary 3, 2019Best Original Score[28]
[29]
International Cinephile SocietyFebruary 4, 2019Best Original Score[30]
[31]
London Film Critics' CircleJanuary 20, 2019Technical Achievement of the Year (Music)[32]
Los Angeles Film Critics AssociationDecember 9, 2018Best Use of Music/Score[33]
New York Film Critics OnlineDecember 9, 2018Best Use of Music[34]
Online Film Critics SocietyJanuary 2, 2019Best Original Score[35]
San Francisco Film Critics Circle AwardsDecember 9, 2018Best Original Score[36]
Satellite AwardsFebruary 17, 2019Best Original Score[37]
Seattle Film Critics SocietyDecember 17, 2018Best Original Score[38]
[39]
St. Louis Film Critics AssociationDecember 16, 2018Best Score
[40]
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics AssociationDecember 3, 2018Best Score[41]
World Soundtrack AwardsOctober 18, 2019Film Composer of the Year[42]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Burlingame . Jon . 2018-11-30 . Composer Nicholas Britell Reunites With Past Collaborators on 'Beale Street' and 'Vice' . 2022-12-01 . Variety . en-US.
  2. Web site: 2018-10-31 . Barry Jenkins' Film If Beale Street Could Talk Soundtrack Announced . 2022-12-01 . Pitchfork . en-US.
  3. Web site: 2018-11-09 . Nicholas Britell "If Beale Street Could Talk" Soundtrack Out Now . 2022-12-01 . Jazziz Magazine . en-US.
  4. Web site: Nicholas Britell - If Beale Street Could Talk [2 x LP] ]. 2022-12-01 . www.invada.co.uk.
  5. Web site: Nicholas Britell - If Beale Street Could Talk: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - (Vinyl LP, CD) . 2022-12-01 . Rough Trade . en.
  6. Web site: Giorgis . Hannah . 2018-12-18 . How 'If Beale Street Could Talk' Translates Joy and Terror Into Sound . 2022-12-01 . The Atlantic . en.
  7. Web site: 2018-12-21 . If Beale Street Could Talk soundtrack review Nicholas Britell movie-wave.net . 2022-12-01 . en-GB.
  8. Web site: 2019-02-12 . IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK – Nicholas Britell . 2022-12-01 . MOVIE MUSIC UK . en.
  9. Web site: Ehrlich . David . 2018-12-07 . The 10 Best Movie Scores of 2018, Ranked . 2022-12-01 . IndieWire . en.
  10. Web site: Ebiri . Bilge . 2018-12-28 . The 10 Best Movie Scores of 2018 . 2022-12-01 . Vulture . en-us.
  11. Web site: Brigden . Charlie . 2018-12-10 . The Best Movie Scores of 2018 . 2022-12-01 . Film School Rejects . en-US.
  12. Web site: The 91st Academy Awards (2019) Nominees and Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160918235933/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2019 . September 18, 2016 . September 22, 2019 . Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
  13. News: Whittaker . Richard . January 7, 2019 . Austin Film Critics Association Announces 2018's Best Films and More . . live . June 14, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190322023341/https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2019-01-07/austin-film-critics-association-announces-2018s-best-films-and-more/ . March 22, 2019.
  14. News: Whittaker . Richard . December 28, 2018 . Austin Film Critics Release 2018 Awards Nominee Lists . . live . December 29, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181229031453/https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2018-12-28/austin-film-critics-release-2018-awards-nominee-lists/ . December 29, 2018.
  15. Web site: February 7, 2019 . Black Panther Reigns Supreme! . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20191023090647/http://blackreelawards.com/black-panther-reigns-supreme/ . October 23, 2019 . June 14, 2022 . Black Reel Awards.
  16. Web site: December 13, 2018 . Black Panther 'Roars!' . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190327130047/https://www.blackreelawards.com/black-panther-roars/ . March 27, 2019 . June 14, 2022 . Black Reel Awards.
  17. Web site: Black Reel Awards – Past Nominees & Winners by Category . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220517103808/https://www.blackreelawards.com/past-nominees-winners-by-category . May 17, 2022 . May 14, 2021 . Black Reel Awards.
  18. Web site: December 17, 2018 . Boston Film Critics Name If Beale Street Could Talk The Year's Best Film . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190512205446/https://bostonfilmcritics.org/2018/12/17/boston-film-critics-name-if-beale-street-could-talk-the-years-best-film/ . May 12, 2019 . December 30, 2018 . Boston Society of Film Critics.
  19. Web site: Best of 2018: Film Awards & Nominations Scorecard . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210710233704/https://www.metacritic.com/feature/2018-film-awards-and-nominations-scorecard . July 10, 2021 . May 14, 2019 . Metacritic.
  20. Web site: Film in 2019 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190430052833/http://awards.bafta.org/award/2019/film . April 30, 2019 . July 16, 2021 . British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
  21. Web site: December 8, 2018 . 2018 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20181208040148/https://chicagofilmcritics.org/awards-blog/2018/12/7/2018-chicago-film-critics-association-awards . December 8, 2018 . December 8, 2018 . Chicago Film Critics Association.
  22. News: Tapley . Kristopher . January 13, 2019 . Roma, The Americans and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Win Top Critics' Choice Honors . Variety . live . January 15, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190114010818/https://variety.com/2019/film/awards/2019-critics-choice-awards-winners-nominees-full-list-1203106702/ . January 14, 2019.
  23. News: Tapley . Kristopher . December 10, 2018 . The Favourite, Black Panther, First Man Lead Critics' Choice Movie Nominations . Variety . live . December 29, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191102102949/https://variety.com/2018/film/awards/2018-critics-choice-awards-film-nominees-list-1203085441/ . November 2, 2019.
  24. Web site: December 19, 2018 . The Favourite leads 2018 Florida Film Critics Awards Nominations . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20181220022703/http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2018/12/19/the-favourite-leads-2018-florida-film-critics-awards-nominations/ . December 20, 2018 . February 3, 2019 . Florida Film Critics Circle.
  25. Web site: Morgenstern . Hans . December 21, 2018 . 2018 FFCC Award Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20181222010131/http://www.floridafilmcritics.com/2018/12/21/2018-ffcc-winners/ . December 22, 2018 . February 3, 2019 . Florida Film Critics Circle.
  26. Web site: 2018 Awards . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190108050027/http://www.georgiafilmcritics.org/p/2018-awards.html . January 8, 2019 . February 3, 2019 . Georgia Film Critics Association.
  27. News: Xu . Linda . November 15, 2018 . Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Full List of Winners . The Hollywood Reporter . live . November 25, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200919223102/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/hollywood-music-media-awards-winners-2018-1153411 . September 19, 2020.
  28. News: Darling . Cary . December 17, 2018 . The Favourite a Favorite with Houston Film Critics Society . . live . December 29, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181217224143/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/movies/article/The-Favourte-a-favorite-with-Houston-Film-13471597.php . December 17, 2018.
  29. Web site: January 4, 2019 . The Favourite Wins Top Houston Film Critics Society Award for 2018 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190528123346/https://houstonfilmcritics.com/the-favourite-wins-top-houston-film-critics-society-award-2018/ . May 28, 2019 . September 22, 2019 . Houston Film Critics Society.
  30. News: Lodge . Guy . February 4, 2019 . Lucrecia Martel's Zama Tops International Cinephile Society Winners . Variety . live . November 7, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191107201949/https://variety.com/2019/film/in-contention/lucrecia-martel-zama-wins-international-cinephile-society-1203127540/ . November 7, 2019.
  31. Web site: Stevens . Beth . January 20, 2019 . Zama Awaits its Fate, While Burning Catches Fire at ICS Awards . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190121015444/https://icsfilm.org/our-yearly-awards/2019-ics-award-nominees/ . January 21, 2019 . June 14, 2022 . International Cinephile Society.
  32. News: Lodge . Guy . December 18, 2019 . The Favourite Leads London Critics' Circle Nominations . Variety . live . September 22, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200509123651/https://variety.com/2018/film/news/the-favourite-leads-london-film-critics-circle-nominations-pedro-almodovar-1203092050/ . May 9, 2020.
  33. News: Shanley . Patrick . December 9, 2018 . Roma Named Best Picture by L.A. Film Critics Association . The Hollywood Reporter . live . December 29, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181216005103/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/la-film-critics-association-voting-under-way-1167808 . December 16, 2018.
  34. News: Nordyke . Kimberly . December 9, 2018 . Roma Voted Best Picture by New York Film Critics Online . The Hollywood Reporter . live . December 29, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181211013911/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/roma-voted-best-picture-by-new-york-film-critics-online-1167832 . December 11, 2018.
  35. Web site: December 26, 2018 . 2018 Awards (22nd Annual) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20181226163327/https://ofcs.org/awards/2018-awards-22nd-annual/ . December 26, 2018 . December 29, 2018 . Online Film Critics Society.
  36. Web site: SFBAFCC 2018 Awards . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210331161819/https://sfbafcc.com/awards/2018-awards/ . March 31, 2021 . December 10, 2018 . San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle.
  37. Web site: 2019 Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20191219204231/https://www.pressacademy.com/2019-ipa-awards/ . December 19, 2019 . May 21, 2019 . International Press Academy.
  38. Web site: December 17, 2018 . Roma Named Best Picture of 2018 by Seattle Film Critics Society . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210426015107/https://seattlefilmcritics.com/2018/12/17/roma-named-best-picture-of-2018-by-seattle-film-critics-society/ . April 26, 2021 . December 29, 2018 . Seattle Film Critics Society.
  39. Web site: December 10, 2018 . The Favourite Leads the 2018 Seattle Film Critics Society Nominations . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20181211100205/https://seattlefilmcritics.com/2018/12/10/the-favourite-leads-the-2018-seattle-film-critics-society-nominations/ . December 11, 2018 . December 29, 2018 . Seattle Film Critics Society.
  40. Web site: December 16, 2018 . 2018 StLFCA Annual Award Winners . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201026061051/http://www.stlfilmcritics.org/2018 . October 26, 2020 . December 29, 2018 . St. Louis Film Critics Association.
  41. Web site: December 3, 2018 . Roma Feels the Love with D.C. Film Critics . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210417095815/http://wafca.com/awards/2018.htm . April 17, 2021 . December 3, 2018 . Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association.
  42. News: Hipes . Patrick . October 13, 2019 . Nicholas Britell, Chernobyl Composer, 'Shallow' Among World Soundtrack Award Winners . Deadline Hollywood . live . December 13, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191019134157/https://deadline.com/2019/10/world-soundtrack-awards-2019-winners-lady-gaga-nicholas-britell-1202764063/ . October 19, 2019.

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