Max Richter today announces the release of his original soundtrack for Chloé Zhao’s forthcoming acclaimed feature film Hamnet. Released via Decca Records, the original motion picture soundtrack will be available digitally on 21 November and physically on vinyl on 9 January. You can pre-order the soundtrack here. You can listen to the first taste of the soundtrack, “Of the sky,” here.
From Academy Award® winning writer/director Chloé Zhao, Hamnet tells the powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet. Featuring powerful performances from Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, the film has already earned widespread acclaim, taking home the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Discussing his work on the soundtrack, Richter explained: “In composing the score for Hamnet, I decided to use the basic atoms of Elizabethan musical practice; the period instrumentation, grammar and sensibility of the time, but to apply these materials in a way that springs directly from the psychology of the story.
Having read the script prior to the shoot, I made some sketches responding to the overarching themes of familial love and loss, our place in the greater natural world, Agnes’ interior journey. Chloé used some of these when she was shooting and they also found their way into the edit in places, giving us a starting point for the overall musical architecture.
The character of Agnes is the fulcrum of the film, and I spent some time developing a choral language for her that underpins a lot of the story. The women’s voices are used both in ways an Elizabethan composer would recognise and also as pure colour, emanating from the psychology of the moment. It was really a joy working on this movie. Hamnet is a remarkable work of art by an extraordinary creative team, and I’m so pleased to have been able to play a part in it.”
One of the most influential composers of his generation, Richter is known for his ability to seamlessly blend traditional orchestrations with modern electronic elements, a hallmark that runs throughout the sweeping and powerful Hamnet score. His unparalleled ability to translate profound human experiences into musical compositions has earned him a dedicated global following, with his catalogue amassing over three billion streams to date. Hamnet marks one of more than 50 projects that Richter has scored, following collaborations with acclaimed directors such as Denis Villeneuve, Martin Scorsese, and Ari Folman in previous years.
Richter is co-founder of Studio Richter Mahr alongside his partner, visual artist Yulia Mahr. Set in the English countryside in Oxfordshire, Max and Yulia built the multimedia production studio inside a former farmhouse and have powered it with cutting-edge solar and heat-pump technology. Located within 31 acres of woodland, the duo have a huge passion for using the land to farm and provide a sustainable working environment, serving as a space where both emerging and established creatives can come to develop their work.
