# Lincoln (soundtrack)

Lincoln (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the score album to the 2012 biographical historical drama film Lincoln, based on the Doris Kearns Goodwin's 2005 biography Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, a semi-biographical novel that covers the final four months of United States President Abraham Lincoln's life. The film is directed by Steven Spielberg, from a screenplay written by Tony Kushner and featured musical score composed and conducted by John Williams, Spielberg's frequent collaborator. The orchestral score was recorded at Symphony Center, Chicago by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Chorus. It was released by Sony Classical on November 2, 2012.
The score received critical acclaim, with praise being directed on Williams' composition and orchestration. It was nominated for Original Score at several award ceremonies including Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, British Academy Film Awards, Satellite Awards and Grammy Awards. It won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score, and International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Drama Film.

## Track listing

The track list of Lincoln's score was unveiled on August 24, 2012. The revelation of the track titles, according to IndieWire and CinemaBlend were considered as "mild spoilers" to the film's storyline, which also calling it as suitably important and historical in a grand manner. All music was composed by Williams, except "Battle Cry of Freedom" which was written in 1862 by American composer George Frederick Root (1820–1895) during the American Civil War.
A For Your Consideration promotional album was released prior to the film's soundtrack release, in order to be shortlisted for nominations at major award ceremonies.

## Reception

The soundtrack received exceptionally positive critical response, praising John Williams' composition and orchestration. From the Texas Public Radio, Nathan Cone stated "Lincoln is hands-down, pleasing music, stately, elegant, with just a hint of the country charm that remained within [Abraham] Lincoln himself, as masterfully played by Daniel Day-Lewis in the film". James Southall wrote that the score of Lincoln as "exceptional" and "might be strong contender for major award ceremonies". Calling it as "one of the standout works, so far in 2012", Jonathan Broxton addressed the score as "a proud and respectful musical tribute to a true American hero". Hypable called the score as "masterful and memorable". MFiles.com wrote "Lincoln is a score that once again proves no composer can pierce to the emotional heart of a movie with as much tact and grace as John Williams. His music is never just noise for the sake of it, is never dominated by ego or aimless padding. Instead, he always serves the emotional needs of the movie through good, old-fashioned orchestral magic, and it's always a treat to behold. Although the music is for the most part fairly quiet, the building blocks are more easily identifiable than they have been in many Williams scores of late, making it a pleasurable and well-constructed listening experience. And let's not forget Spielberg's part in this enduring collaboration. As director, he shows real sensitivity and understanding in how to deploy music, helping to draw out the very best from Williams. The score works brilliantly on album and yet its largely unobtrusive presence in the film also needs to be commended, quietly urging the drama along and never getting in the way." Filmtracks.com stated "There is extraordinary, carefully crafted finesse to this material that, while perhaps tired and repetitive in Williams' own body of incredible achievements, remains remarkable to behold in the 2010's." CinemaBlend and Collider ranked it as "one of the best scores from Williams' and Spielberg's collaboration".

## Release history

| Region | Date | Format(s) | Catalog code |
| United States | November 30, 2012 | CD | 88725446852 |
| United States | January 11, 2013 | Vinyl | 88725446852 |
| United Kingdom | December 7, 2012 | CD | 88725446852 |
| Australia | November 28, 2012 | CD | 88725446852 |
| Brazil | December 31, 2012 | CD | 88725446852 |
| Japan | April 3, 2013 | CD | SICP 3786 |

## Accolades

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result |
| Academy Awards | February 24, 2013 | Best Original Score | John Williams | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | February 10, 2013 | Best Original Music | John Williams | Nominated |
| Critics' Choice Awards | January 10, 2013 | Best Score | John Williams | Won |
| Golden Globe Awards | January 13, 2013 | Best Original Score | John Williams | Nominated |
| Grammy Awards | January 26, 2014 | Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media | John Williams | Nominated |
| Houston Film Critics Awards | January 6, 2012 | Best Score | John Williams | Nominated |
| International Film Music Critics Association Awards | February 21, 2013 | Film Score of the Year | John Williams | Nominated |
| International Film Music Critics Association Awards | February 21, 2013 | Film Composer of the Year | John Williams | Nominated |
| International Film Music Critics Association Awards | February 21, 2013 | Best Original Score for a Drama Film | John Williams | Won |
| International Film Music Critics Association Awards | February 21, 2013 | Film Music Composition of the Year | John Williams | Nominated |
| Satellite Awards | December 16, 2012 | Best Original Score | John Williams | Nominated |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | December 10, 2012 | Best Score | John Williams | Nominated |