Max Richter has provided the opening and closing theme for Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi thriller Arrival. The rest of the score has been written by Jóhann Jóhannsson.
Max Richter’s theme On The Nature Of Daylight is one of the most beautiful themes ever written for cello. It is cinematic, meditating and has a profound emotional effect on you when you listen to it. It has to be one of the most beautiful pieces ever written. That might be the reason why it has been used in many movies.
The track originally featured on Richter’s 2004 album, The Blue Notebooks, was a response to both the events of the Iraq War and Richter’s childhood. He was initially reluctant to let Villeneuve use it on Arrival.
“When I was contacted by the makers of Arrival, I was initially cautious. Having allowed the work to be used in two outstandingly powerful films, Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, and Henry Alex Rubin’s Disconnect, I was doubtful about granting another use,” Richter says in a press release.
“But Denis Villeneuve called me and described the integral nature of On The Nature Of Daylight to the architecture of Arrival – it starts and ends the film – and, as he described the film I was drawn into his powerful world. So, in the end, it was an easy decision.”
Have a listen to this beautiful theme, courtesy of YouTube:
Awesome! How can you compose epic movie music without a cello… Thanks for the blog post!
Ben Solees performance is one of the most unique cello styles I have seen. He demonstrates how versatile the cello is and I love that he sings too. What a rare and beautiful artist in so many levels.