# The Whale (soundtrack)

The Whale (Original Score) is the film score soundtrack to the 2022 film The Whale directed by Darren Aronofsky starring Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, and Samantha Morton. The score album featured 14 tracks composed by Rob Simonsen and released through A24 Music on December 9, 2022, the same day as the film.

## Development

On January 2022, it was announced that Rob Simonsen would compose the film score for The Whale, collaborating with Aronofsky for the first time. The Whale is Aronofsky's first film without the involvement of his norm composer Clint Mansell who had scored all of his films. Simonsen recalled that Jason Reitman, his frequent collaborator, had written a letter about him to Aronofsky and the following day, the latter invited him to a Zoom call describing the story of the film. He saw the final edit and was moved by it, eventually agreeing to work on the film.
Simonsen admitted that "The Whale was an opportunity to paint a pretty bold canvas, but also to feature quiet moments to make the intensity really stand out." While watching the rough edit of the film without temp music, Simonsen was able to imagine different ideas. One of them being an overtone flute having "an ethereal, otherworldly, hollow, but also very large sound" that contributed to the nautical elements present in the film, which was influenced through its sound design and production design, referencing about a "man lost at sea, on the sea of their own emotions." Simonsen listened to sea shanties and Mormon songs and chants to explore the nautical texture.
The score felt more classical than some of his previous scores in terms of instrumentation that depicted his state of mind. Simonsen termed it as a hybrid score which resulted in numerous processing, which included the sounds of string and brass being predominant. Simonsen's work was further influenced by Henryk Górecki, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Samuel Barber, which resulted in the open-suspended voicing and the use of strings, brass and violins. He blended those musical ideas which was not too atonal, while also hiring the London Contemporary Orchestra had helped him to conceptually drive the film. The orchestra consisted of 25 people who played strings, brass and violins and was recorded at the AIR Studios with the musicians adhering to the safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Besides the use of strings and brass, Simonsen further played an 19th century pump organ and produced drone sounds, by blending it with the overtone flute. The flute used for the recording, was designed by Winne Clement, which was 21-feet long.

## Release

On November 28, 2022, A24 Music released the first track from the film: "Midnight Storm" on all digital music platforms. The soundtrack was released digitally on December 9, 2022, the same day as the film.

## Reception

Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair described it as an "unrelentingly bombastic score", while A. O. Scott of The New York Times called it as "strenuous". David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter described it as "emotionally emphatic" but criticized it for being an "overkill". Justin Chang of Los Angeles Times admitted that Simonsen's score "broods and surges". David Fear of Rolling Stone stated that the "doom-laden score by Rob Simonsen keeps rubbing the despair even deeper into your face". Eric Webb of Austin American-Statesman wrote "The score by Rob Simonsen gilds most scenes with swelling sonic pageantry". Natalia Keogan of Paste summarized "Rob Simonsen’s score nonetheless conveys horrific revulsion." El Hunt of NME wrote "Rob Simonsen's dramatic score, strings trilling every time a meatball sandwich enters view, borders on ridiculous."

## Awards

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | November 16, 2022 | Best Original Score in an Independent Film | Rob Simonsen | Nominated | |
| Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards | February 15, 2023 | Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film | Rob Simonsen | Nominated | [18] [19] |