Music Composed by UNO HELMERSSON
Coinciding with the defining match in the career of the 25-years old Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, MovieScore Media releases the music to Magnus, the documentary detailing the life of this most extraordinary sportsman. In late November 2016, Magnus successfully defended his world title against Russian contender Sergey Karjakin.Directed by Benjamin Ree over a period of ten years (between 2004-2014), the film covers Carlsen’s rise to fame from his humble beginnings as a child prodigy when he was dubbed the Mozart of chess to his nail-biting showdowns with the greatest champions in order to conquer, then defend the title of World Champion. Ree’s documentary won the Ray of Sunshine Award at the Norwegian International Film Festival.
While scoring the film, composer Uno Helmersson focused on accentuating the growth of the child prodigy with clever instrumentation choices that grow more complex together with the protagonist. As he explains “I tried to manifest the core of chess with piano and strings, trying to keep the score as simple and plain as possible. I wanted to bring forth the strive of Magnus and his development as a character, so I had this idea of letting the instrumentation mirror Magnus’ journey from child prodigy to chess champion. One particular place is the timelapse where he grows into a young man. This piece opens with a string quartet, then the other musicians join in one by one until we have a full string orchestra with piano along with Magnus getting older. After this we stay with full string section until the end.
Uno Helmersson was born in the village of Botsmark in Sweden in 1977. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm in 2007 and has since then worked as composer in the international film and television industry. His credits include contributions to the score of the highly acclaimed television series The Bridge and Armadillo, a multiple award-winning documentary about the war in Afghanistan. More recently his work was featured in the Department Q films The Keeper of Lost Causes and The Absent One – these collaborations with Johan Söderqvist and Patrick Andén have been released by MovieScore Media.
MMS16020 •
Release date (digital): December 2, 2016
TRACKLIST
1 Secret Room 4:39
2 Into Timelapse 2:09
3 The Final 2:25
4 Playing Chess 1:57
5 The Flagbook 3:18
6 Bullied 1:25
7 Kasparov 2:31
8 Game 1:52
9 To India 1:56
10 Until Third Game 2:03
11 Family 2:01
12 Candidates Tournament 1:17
13 Magnus Late 2:05
14 Game 5 2:27
15 The Miracle 2:05
16 Game 6 to 10 2:18
17 The Chess Champion 1:41
18 Out of Timelapse 0:41
