MOVIE MUSIC UK

The film music world got back to normal, mostly, after two years of COVID-related disruption, and ultimately roared back with a vengeance with a ton of great scores. I heard more than 650 scores in 2022 – either as a soundtrack album, in movie context, or both – and I ended up rating a whopping 79 of them **** or better.

Surprisingly, the best of the year’s music was dominated by scores for television – fantasy shows, super hero shows, westerns, gothic horrors, and more. The lines between ‘film music’ and ‘television music’ are becoming much more blurred; investment in multi-episode streaming series is almost on a par with traditional theatrical films, and as such the scores that accompany them are just as elaborate, dense, complex, and impressive as their big screen counterparts – perhaps even moreso, as composers have to structure their music with multi-season arcs in mind. As such, for the first time, I have decided to allow television and video game scores to compete on an equal footing with film scores for my coveted ‘Score of the Year’ award – and so, without further ado, here are my choices for the best scores of 2022.

 

SCORE OF THE YEAR

• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER [S1], music by Bear McCreary, theme by Howard Shore (review)

Nominees:

• AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, music by Simon Franglen (review)
• THE BATMAN, music by Michael Giacchino (review)
• EMILY, music by Abel Korzeniowski (review)
• THE ENGLISH [S1], music by Federico Jusid (review)
• INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE [S1], music by Daniel Hart (review)
• LIGHTYEAR, music by Michael Giacchino (review)
• MOON KNIGHT [S1], music by Hesham Nazih (review)
• THE ORVILLE [S3], music by John Debney, Joel McNeely, Andrew Cottee, and Kevin Kaska, theme by Bruce Broughton
• LE TEMPS DE SECRETS, music by Philippe Rombi (review)

 

For the first time ever, I have allowed TV scores to be included in my overall score of the year. The line between film scores and television scores is becoming ever thinner – in fact, TV scores often now have bigger budgets and a greater scope than their big-screen counterparts – so it just makes sense to treat them equally. As such, for the first time ever, a TV score is Score of the Year: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER by Bear McCreary, with a main theme by Howard Shore. It’s just massive, astonishing, and probably unparalleled in the history of television music in terms of its ambition. Seventeen individual character/concept themes, specific choirs for specific cultures singing specific languages depending on context, specific instrumental ideas drawn from specific world music styles that are only heard in certain contexts, and specific compositional techniques that are applied only to one specific theme. It’s beautiful, it’s epic, it’s powerful, it makes the show better, and as a listening experience it ticks every box from what I want out of music. Nothing else comes close this year.

Four other television scores also made my Top 10 of the year. Federico Jusid’s THE ENGLISH is a wonderful homage to all the best western scores throughout the history of the genre – Morricone, Barry, Bernstein, Goldsmith, and more – but is given a wonderfully contemporary spin by Jusid’s immense talent that perfectly accentuates the beautiful visuals of the show itself, and enhances its inherent drama. Daniel Hart’s INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE re-invents the sound of the Anne Rice vampire saga with lush, emotional, ravishing orchestral writing that focuses on sweeping violins, but also is not afraid to visit the same depths of darkness that Elliot Goldenthal did with his classic score for the 1990s film version of the story.

The Marvel TV series MOON KNIGHT introduced the wider world to the music of Egyptian composer Hesham Nazih, and I’m so pleased for him and for the exposure it gives to Middle Eastern film music as a whole. The score is a triumph, full of all the things I love about film music – big themes, big orchestras, big choirs, big emotions, intelligent thematic application, clever representation of key concepts, and moments of raw, overwhelming power. The score for Season 3 of THE ORVILLE features new episodic music by John Debney, Joel McNeely, Andrew Cottee, and Kevin Kaska, plus a new arrangement of the main theme by Bruce Broughton. This is the score for all lovers of classic sci-fi – it’s just superb, building on the 1980/90s Star Trek sound of Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner, and taking it to new heights of heroism, adventure, and optimism. It’s a fully orchestral thematic delight, a comparative rarity for mainstream TV music these days, and it pressed all my best nostalgia buttons.

The best score written for an actual theatrical film in 2022 was, for me, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, by Simon Franglen. Taking over from the late James Horner on one of the biggest franchises in film history must have been a daunting task, but he succeeded with aplomb. It clearly and intentionally and lovingly acknowledges the work of James Horner in terms of specific thematic references, the score’s general sound, and by way of several specific compositional easter eggs that Franglen seemingly included as a nod to the fans. But it’s also very much a Simon Franglen score, and he impressed mightily with the emotional depth of the intimate cues, and with the ferocious intensity of the score’s action.

THE BATMAN by Michael Giacchino was one of the early successes from the first part of 2022. It’s iconic 4-note theme is now firmly ingrained in my subconscious, but the amount of emotional depth and textural variation he was able to bring to these four notes is seriously impressive. His Catwoman theme is a jazzy and seductive delight, one of his best character identities. The Gotham/Wayne theme has just the right amount of brooding angst and rich opulence, and the Riddler theme is very clever in the way it acknowledges its religioso classical originals, before sending them all the way to the lunatic asylum.

Abel Korzeniowski’s EMILY gives musical voice to the lives of the Brontë sisters in what is my choice for the best drama score of 2022. It’s deeply imbued with a lush, unapologetic classicism, but at times it is also challengingly modern, and makes use of aggressive textures and unusual compositional ideas to add different emotional layers to the music. The themes are beautiful, the arrangements are gorgeous, the intellectual design of the score is excellent, and the performances are impeccable. Similarly, LE TEMPS DE SECRETS by Philippe Rombi is a knockout, a real return to form. The whole thing is redolent of a sweet, rose-tinted nostalgic childhood; there are moments of joy and ebullience, but these are tempered with moments of whimsy and melancholy and even a little more serious drama, and then in the “Finale” the music rises to some sensational emotional heights.

Finally, we have the second Michael Giacchino score in my Top 10, for the animated Toy Story spinoff LIGHTYEAR. Giacchino’s work here is tremendous. Buzz’s theme is one of the catchiest in recent memory, Zurg’s theme is a bombastic over-the-top treat, and the relationship between the two themes is a clever reflection of the story. When you combine that with action music that recalls some of Giacchino’s best work on the Medal of Honor series, and some judicious and intentional homages to Giacchino’s favorite action and sci-fi scores and composers from when he was a kid, you get a score which entertains from beginning to end, and truly takes the listener to infinity and beyond.

Rounding my Top 20 scores of 2022 (in alphabetical order) are: BABYLON by Justin Hurwitz, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS by Danny Elfman, GLASS ONION by Nathan Johnson, GOD OF WAR: RAGNAROK [VG] by Bear McCreary, JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION by Michael Giacchino, MARIO + RABBIDS: SPARKS OF HOPE [VG] by Grant Kirkhope/Yoko Shimomura/Gareth Coker, MY SAILOR MY LOVE by Michelino Bisceglia, REDEEMING LOVE by Brian Tyler and Breton Vivian, SECRETS OF THE SEA by Alan Williams, and THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING by Tom Holkenborg.

 

COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• MICHAEL GIACCHINO

Nominees:

• SIMON FRANGLEN
• BEAR MCCREARY
• GUILLAUME ROUSSEL
• ALAN WILLIAMS

 

Although Bear McCreary wrote the overall best score of the year, MICHAEL GIACCHINO takes home composer of the year for his impressive consistency at the highest level of film music. Not only did he write two of the best 10 scores of the year in The Batman and Lightyear, but he also wrote excellent music for the Jurassic Park sequel Dominion, co-wrote the score for the Marvel super hero movie Thor: Love and Thunder with Nami Melumad, directed and scored his homage to classic monster movies in Werewolf By Night, and helped his son Mick on the road to following in his footsteps with the TV sequel series to Zootopia. The man never sleeps!

The brilliant BEAR MCCREARY would have made this list on the strength of The Rings of Power alone, but he was not content to rest on his laurels, turning in several other notable works, ranging from the video game sequel God of War: Ragnarök, to the animated comedy Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, as well as new seasons of TV series like Outlander, The Serpent Queen, and The Witcher: Blood Origins. Each of them showed creativity and excellence, and he’s been doing this for years now with no sign of his purple patch ending. Then there’s SIMON FRANGLEN, who not only successfully stepped into the daunting shoes of James Horner on Avatar: The Way of Water – writing one of the scores of the year in the process – but also developed his own voice via his excellent music for the French action-drama Notre-Dame Brûle, about devastating fire that gutted the world famous cathedral.

GUILLAUME ROUSSEL is establishing himself as one of the most exciting young composers in French cinema, and wrote at least four outstanding scores in 2022: the historical drama Couleurs de l’Incendie, the children’s adventure movie King, the historical TV series Marie-Antoinette: Premiers Pas A La Cour, and the charming romantic comedy C’est Magnifique. All four showed Roussel to be a composer with a great strength in terms of themes, orchestral coloring, dramatic intensity, and old-fashioned beauty, and several of them received nominations on their specific genres, below.

Finally, we have ALAN WILLIAMS, who has been working in Hollywood for decades, writing wonderfully bold classic film music for innumerable documentaries and low budget films, but who for some reason is continually overlooked by the mainstream. 2022 might have been the best year of his career to date; not only did he write the best documentary score of the year, Secrets of the Sea, but he also impressed enormously with another documentary score – the African-flavored Serengeti – as well as with his superb score for Legend of the Fores, an epic Chinese action-drama film. He’s long overdue for some recognition for his talent, and let’s hope 2023 and beyond sees him bringing his superb sound to more mainstream fare.

Five other composers who had excellent years in 2022 are: LEO BIRENBERG & ZACH ROBINSON, ALEXANDRE DESPLAT, FEDERICO JUSID, ABEL KORZENIOWSKI, and DANIEL PEMBERTON.

 

BREAKTHROUGH COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• HESHAM NAZIH

Nominees

• MICHELINO BISCEGLIA
• EDWARD FARMER
• DALIBOR GRUBAČEVIĆ
• JOSEPH METCALFE

 

No ‘new’ composer impressed me as much in 2022 than Egyptian composer HESHAM NAZIH, whose score for the TV series Moon Knight was one of the best things I heard all year. Nazih has actually been working in the pan-Arabic film music industry for almost 20 years, and is well-known in that part of the world for his scores for films such as The Blue Elephant, Welad Rizq, and Diamond Dust, but I first discovered him in 2021 with his score for the TV special ‘The Pharoah’s Golden Parade,’ which was a 2-hour live TV event during which mummies belonging to various kings and queens of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt were moved from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, a few miles away. Moon Knight built on that sound – grand western orchestras combined with Egyptian classical music – and I hope that more western directors give him opportunities to shine.

Belgian jazz composer MICHELINO BISCEGLIA impressed me massively with two scores in 2022: the animated film Charlotte, and the romantic drama My Sailor My Love, both of which showed a rich talent for emotional themes and classic orchestral film scoring. British composer EDWARD FARMER collaborated with Martin Phipps on The Railway Children Return, the sequel to one of the UK’s most beloved children’s films, and impressed me enormously with the richness of the orchestrations, the strength and memorability of the main theme, the depth of the emotions, and the wonderfully nostalgic evocation of the beauty and sumptuousness of the Yorkshire landscape.

Croatian composer DALIBOR GRUBAČEVIĆ wrote a splendid score for the historical drama The Conversation, a rich and lush work for a chamber orchestra, filled with excellent thematic ideas and powerful moments of emotion and drama. Finally, English composer JOSEPH METCALFE worked with co-composers John Coda and Grant Kirkhope and turned in a spectacular score for the much-delayed film THE KING’S DAUGHTER, which combined the opulent sounds of the French aristocracy with beautiful orchestral fantasy music and some terrific moments of bombastic action. I can’t wait to see what each of their careers hold!

Five other composers who impressed with breakthrough scores in 2022 are: COSTAS DAFNIS, CHANDA DANCY, SVEN FAULCONER, CHRISTINE HALS, and ELLIOTT WHEELER.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• “Carolina” from WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, written and performed by Taylor Swift (review)
  

Nominees:

• “Cautionary Tale” from THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING, written by Tom Holkenborg, George Miller, and Augusta Gore, performed by Matteo Bocelli (review)
• “Good Afternoon” from SPIRITED, written by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Khiyon Hursey, Mark Sonnenblick, and Sukari Jones, performed by Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell
• “Now You Know” from WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY written and performed by Weird Al Yankovic (review)
• “Sus Lágrimas y El Mar” from LA PIEL DEL TAMBOR, written by Roque Baños and Tessy Díez Martín, performed by Pastora Soler (review)

 

My favorite movie song of 2022 was, perhaps unexpectedly, “Carolina,” which was written and performed by country-pop superstar Taylor Swift for the period mystery WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING. However, this is not one of her usual chart topping efforts – instead this is a mournful, soulful piece that could almost be described as a country-flavored murder ballad. Swift was inspired after reading the book and seeing the film’s promotional trailer; she contacted producer Reese Witherspoon and director Olivia Newman, offered to write a song for them, and presented the finished thing before the film had even gone into production. It’s a superb piece of traditional Americana, stripped down and carried by little more than a guitar, a banjo, and Swift’s unexpectedly dreamy voice, and has poetic lyrics that directly reference elements of the story.

“Cautionary Tale” comes from director George Miller’s romantic fantasy TWO THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING; it was written by Tom Holkenborg with lyrics by Miller and co-screenwriter Augusta Gore, and is performed by Italian tenor Matteo Bocelli, son of the light classical superstar Andrea Bocelli. The song is based on the score’s staggeringly beautiful main theme and is just superb. The lyrics switch from Italian to English half-way through the song, and are interesting and poetic. Matteo Bocelli’s voice is as rich and powerful as his father’s, and the jazzy elements with the solo piano and brushed snares are an unexpected twist.

The best comedy song of 2022 was, far and away, “Good Afternoon” from the Christmas Carol parody SPIRITED, which was written by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Khiyon Hursey, Mark Sonnenblick, and Sukari Jones, and is performed in-character by actors Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell. It’s clearly a parody of “Thank You Very Much” from the 1970 screen musical Scrooge, but it has so much life and energy, and Reynolds and Ferrell sing it with so much unself-conscious gusto that you can’t help getting swept up in it. The lyrics are absolutely hilarious too – the whole thing is based around the concept that, because the people of Victorian London were too polite to swear, wishing someone ‘good afternoon’ was the most terrible insult imaginable! I loved it, and have now incorporated a surly ‘good afternoon’ into my regular vocabulary.

However, hot on its heels was “Now You Know” from WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY, which was written and performed by the film’s subject, Weird Al Yankovic. Yankovic’s entire career has been built on parodies, and the film itself is a parody of music biopic genre, and the song takes this concept to a meta level; it works as a fun song in its own right, but it also speaks directly to the audience by trying to re-iterate the film’s ridiculous take on Yankovic’s life. It’s so much fun, a ballsy rock and roll piece, but it’s self-referential cleverness it what appealed to me the most.

Finally we have the superb song, “Sus Lágrimas y el Mar” from the Spanish thriller movie LA PIEL DEL TAMBOR, which was written by composer Roque Baños with Tessy Díez Martín, and is performed by Pastora Soler. The song is based on Baños’s ‘Macarena’ theme from the score, and is performed with powerful intensity by vocalist Soler. It features flashing flamenco guitars, a bold and passionate rhythm, and soaring vocals, and impressed me enormously the first time I heard it.

Other outstanding songs in 2022 include: “Ciao Papa” from GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO, “Count On Me” from LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS, “Exile” from BLACK ADAM, “Listen for Me” from MEDIEVAL, and “Paper Airplanes” from A JAZZMAN’S BLUES.

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Hereafter, presented without additional comment, are my choices for the best scores in each of the genre categories:

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM

• EMILY, music by Abel Korzeniowski (review)

Nominees:

• BABYLON, music by Justin Hurwitz (review)
• RAKKAANI MERIKAPTEENI/MY SAILOR MY LOVE, music by Michelino Bisceglia (review)
• REDEEMING LOVE, music by Brian Tyler and Breton Vivian (review)
• LE TEMPS DE SECRETS, music by Philippe Rombi (review)

Special mentions should also go to: DEATH ON THE NILE by Patrick Doyle, LEGEND OF THE FOREST by Alan Williams, NOTRE-DAME BRÛLE/NOTRE DAME ON FIRE by Simon Franglen, THE RAILWAY CHILDREN RETURN by Edward Farmer and Martin Phipps, and THE WOMAN KING by Terence Blanchard.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM

• GLASS ONION, music by Nathan Johnson (review)

Nominees:

• C’EST MAGNIFIQUE!, music by Guillaume Roussel (review)
• THE LOST KING, music by Alexandre Desplat (review)
• MR. MALCOLM’S LIST, music by Amelia Warner (review)
• WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY, music by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson (review)

Special mentions should also go to: CONFESS FLETCH by David Arnold, GATLOPP: HELL OF A GAME by Kenny Wood, LE TIGRE ET LE PRÉSIDENT by Mathieu Lamboley, MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS by Rael Jones, and SPIRITED by Dominic Lewis/Benj Pasek/Justin Paul.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM

• THE BATMAN, music by Michael Giacchino (review)

Nominees:

• ENOLA HOLMES 2, music by Daniel Pemberton
• KING, music by Guillaume Roussel (review)
• MEDIEVAL, music by Philip Klein (review)
• SUPERMARSU 2/SUPER FURBALL SAVES THE FUTURE by Panu Aaltio (review)

Special mentions should also go to: DE PIRATEN VAN HIERNAAST: DE NINJA’S VAN DE OVERKANT/NINJAS DOWN THE STREET by Matthijs Kieboom, JACK MIMOUN ET LES SECRETS DE VAL VERDE by Mathieu Lamboley, PLUNDER QUEST by Massimo Sammi, TOP GUN: MAVERICK by Lorne Balfe/Harold Faltermeyer/Lady Gaga/Hans Zimmer, and VIOLENT NIGHT by Dominic Lewis.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCI-FI FILM

• AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, music by Simon Franglen (review)

Nominees:

• DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, music by Danny Elfman (review)
• JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION, music by Michael Giacchino (review)
• THE KING’S DAUGHTER, music by Joseph Metcalfe, John Coda, and Grant Kirkhope (review)
• THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING, music by Tom Holkenborg (review)

Special mentions should also go to: DE FAMILIE CLAUS 3/THE CLAUS FAMILY 3 by Anne-Kathrin Dern, FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE by James Newton Howard, GHOST BOOK OBAKEZUKAN by Naoki Sato, MAIKA by Christopher Wong/Garrett Crosby/Ian Rees, and PRANCER: A CHRISTMAS TALE by Mark McKenzie.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A HORROR/THRILLER FILM

• PEARL, music by Tyler Bates and Timothy Williams (review)

Nominees:

• EL PÁRAMO/THE WASTELAND, music by Diego Navarro (review)
• LA PIEL DEL TAMBOR, music by Roque Baños (review)
• LOS RENGLONES TORCIDOS DE DIOS, music by Fernando Velázquez (review)
• THE REEF: STALKED, music by Mark Smythe (review)

Special mentions should also go to: KIMI by Cliff Martinez, NOPE by Michael Abels, OCCHIALI NERI/DARK GLASSES by Arnaud Rebotini, PREY by Sarah Schachner, and TORCH by Costas Dafnis.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FILM

• LIGHTYEAR, music by Michael Giacchino (review)

Nominees:

• THE BAD GUYS, music by Daniel Pemberton (review)
• CHARLOTTE, music by Michelino Bisceglia (review)
• GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO, music by Alexandre Desplat (review)
• PAWS OF FURY: THE LEGEND OF HANK, music by Bear McCreary (review)

Special mentions should also go to: THE BOY THE MOLE THE FOX AND THE HORSE by Isobel Waller-Bridge, FOLK OG RØVERE I KARDEMOMME BY/WHEN THE ROBBERS CAME TO CARDAMOM TOWN by Gaute Storaas, MIA AND ME: DAS GEHEIMNIS VON CENTOPIA/THE HERO OF CENTOPIA by Christoph Zirngibl, THE SEA BEAST by Mark Mancina, and STRANGE WORLD by Henry Jackman.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY

• SECRETS OF THE SEA, music by Alan Williams (review)

Nominees:

• FROZEN PLANET II, music by Hans Zimmer, Adam Lukas, and James Everingham
• ONZE NATUUR/OUR NATURE, music by Dirk Brosse (review)
• QAZAQ: HISTORY OF THE GOLDEN MAN, music by Carlo Siliotto
• SERENGETI, music by Alan Williams (review)

Special mentions should also go to: BRAINWASHED: SEX, CAMERA, POWER by Sharon Farber, DENEUVE: LA REINE CATHERINE by Pablo Pico, THE ELEPHANT WHISPERERS by Sven Faulconer, OUR GREAT NATIONAL PARKS by David Schweitzer, and PREHISTORIC PLANET by Anže Rozman and Kara Talve.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION

• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER [S1], music by Bear McCreary, theme by Howard Shore (review)

Nominees:

• THE ENGLISH [S1], music by Federico Jusid (review)
• INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE [S1], music by Daniel Hart (review)
• MOON KNIGHT [S1], music by Hesham Nazih (review)
• THE ORVILLE [S3], music by John Debney, Joel McNeely, Andrew Cottee, and Kevin Kaska, theme by Bruce Broughton

Special mentions should also go to: THE 13 LORDS OF THE SHOGUN [S1] by Evan Call, COBRA KAI [S4/S5] by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson, THE GILDED AGE [S1] by Harry Gregson-Williams and Rupert Gregson-Williams, HIS DARK MATERIALS [S3] by Lorne Balfe, and OUTLANDER [S6] by Bear McCreary.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME

• MARIO + RABBIDS: SPARKS OF HOPE, music by Grant Kirkhope, Yoko Shimomura, and Gareth Coker
  

Nominees:

• THE FAITH OF THE THREE KINGDOMS, music by Shigeru Umebayashi and Chad Cannon
• GOD OF WAR: RAGNAROK, music by Bear McCreary
• HORIZON: FORBIDDEN WEST, music by Joris De Man, Oleksa Lozowchuk, Joe Henson and Alexis Smith [The Flight], and Niels van der Leest
• POTIONOMICS, music by Greg Nicolett

Special mentions should also go to: CAT BURGLAR by Christopher Willis, MULTIVERSUS by Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab, A PLAGUE TALE: REQUIEM by Olivier Deriviere, TRIANGLE STRATEGY by Akira Senju, and WORLD OF WARCRAFT: DRAGONFLIGHT by Grant Stafford/Jake Lefkowitz/Neal Acree/David Arkenstone, etc.