British composer Daniel Blumberg wins Oscar for 'The Brutalist' soundtrack

British composer and artist Daniel Blumberg has won the Oscar for Best Original Score for the soundtrack to the movie The Brutalist. During the awards ceremony, Blumberg mentioned the many creative musicians he collaborated with on the score, as well as the London venue Café OTO.

“The sounds you hear on The Brutalist are made by a group of hard-working, radical musicians who have been making uncompromising music for many years,” Blumberg said in his speech. “I accept this award on their behalf as well.”

Blumberg’s music includes performances by pianist John Tilbury, saxophonist Evan Parker, percussionist Steve Noble, whom Blumberg called “one of the best drummers in the world.” All are renowned figures in the British free improv scene.

Brady Corbet’s feature-length film features Hungarian-Jewish architect László Tóth, played by Adrian Brody, who also won best actor. In the movie’s opening sequence, Tóth emerges from the hold of an ocean liner in the United States, against a backdrop of brass and prepared piano.

Blumberg’s use of the prepared piano evokes the sound of the movie’s era, with John Cage pioneering the use of this technique in the 1940s. Blumberg also sees some parallels with the architectural aspects of the movie. “You thread screws into the piano strings, and the hammers hit those strings, so it looks like a construction cartoon. Hammers and screws making music!”

A former lead singer of the indie band Yuck, Blumberg referenced the London venue Café OTO in his speech, as well as in the press afterward. Many of the musicians involved in the soundtrack regularly performed at the venue, which is at the center of London’s experimental and free improv scene.

Blumberg’s previous soundtrack work includes the soundtrack to Peter Strickland’s short film GUO4, starring saxophonist Seymour Wright, and the soundtrack to Mona Fastvold’s 2020 period drama The World to Come.

The Brutalist soundtrack is available on streaming platforms and on CD and double vinyl from Milan Records.

The Oscars recognized a musical subject with the award for Documentary Short Film, given to The Only Girl in the Orchestra. The documentary chronicles the life of double bassist Orin O’Brien, the first female full-time member of the New York Philharmonic, who joined the orchestra in 1966.

Directed by Orin’s granddaughter Molly O’Brien and executive produced by Errol Morris, the documentary is released by Netflix.

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