LAMB – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Music Composed by DANIEL BELARDINELLI

With an 85% rating on Rotten Tomates, the critically acclaimed independent drama Lamb opened in US theaters on January 8 with a score album from MovieScore Media co-inciding with the film release. The heart-wrenching drama features a suitably sublime underscore by Daniel Belardinelli. Written, directed by and starring Ross Partridge, Lamb won two major awards at the Woodstock Film Festival and is based on the novel by Bonnie Nadzam. The story traces the self-discovery of David Lamb in the weeks following the disintegration of his marriage and the death of his father. Hoping to regain some faith in his own goodness, he turns his attention to Tommie, an awkward and unpopular eleven-year-old girl. Lamb is convinced that he can help her avoid a destiny of apathy and emptiness, and takes Tommie for a road trip from Chicago to the Rockies, planning to initiate her into the beauty of the mountain wilderness. The journey shakes them in ways neither expects.

The music by Venezuelan-born composer Daniel Belardinelli features two very contrasting sets of cues on the album. The first is a series of simple solo piano themes written away from the screen and before the film was even shot – these were based solely on the script and the novel. The second set includes a contrasting group of dense dramatic cues featuring tank drums, Tibetan bowls, analog synths and strings that were carefully crafted around action and dialogue. As the composer puts it: “the score tries to play a layer of familiar feelings over the raw and unfamiliar intensity of the protagonists relationship and their journey.”

Director Ross Partridge adds the following about the score: “WithLamb, Daniel masterfully found a wonderful balance between melody and dissonance. Music versus tonal sound.  Sparse piano helped create a sense of loneliness and despair – simple notes would eventually lead us to complex, beautiful arrangements all helping the picture unfold into a farther reaching sense of landscape,  thus creating hope, both musically and metaphorically.“