altamira

Music Composed by ARTURO CARDELÚS

MovieScore Media turns back the clock and adds yet another wonderful score to its catalogue of documentary soundtracks with the release of Arturo Cardelús’ Altamira: The Origin of Art – a score that skillfully finds common ground between the ancient and the contemporary. Directed by José Luis López Linares, Altamira: The Origin of Art is a documentary about the Cave of Altamira, a Paleolithic cave located in Santillana del Mar (Spain) that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985. It is renowned for prehistoric parietal cave art featuring charcoal drawings and polychrome paintings of contemporary local fauna and human hands.

“While some researchers believe that the paintings are more than 65,000 years old, something about them feels very current.” says Cardelús about the music. “The director, José Luis López Linares, wanted a score that found common ground between the artists’ world and ours. The piano ostinato of “Timeless” and “Altamira” attempts to evoke the part of us that has remained constant for more than 65,000 years. In addition, we incorporated flutes into the score because they are some of the most ancient instruments. The movie also focuses on Marcelino Sanz Sautuola and his daughter, who discovered the cave while exploring. We decided to go for a warm sound to reflect their relationship. We achieved this principally using soloists over a string orchestra.” In addition to Altamira, the album also includes music from the composer’s 2016 short, Swimming in the Desert.

Spanish composer Arturo Cardelús is a rising talent in the film industry. He studied film scoring at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where he graduated summa cum laude. Naxos, a leading classical music label, released an album of his chamber music in 2015. Cardelús has scored the internet sensation In a Heartbeat, the Netflix miniseries Call Me Francis and Frank Marshall’s The People’s Fighters. His most recent score, Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles, was called “stunning” by Variety’s Peter Debruge.

MMS19002
Release date (digital): February 8, 2019
CD coming soon from Rosetta Records

TRACKLIST

Altamira: The Origin of Art 
1 Timeless 2:41
2 Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola 3:20
3 Cemetery 3:15
4 Exploring 0:49
5 Discovery 1:54
6 Nomad 2:23
7 Impostor 1:44
8 Chuch 1:40
9 Giving Up 0:51
10 Emile Carailhac 1:45
11 My Father Was Right 1:36
12 Altamia 2:52

Swimming in the Desert
13 Swimming in the Desert
14 Notebook
15 Car Ride
16 Agua Dulce
17 Lost
18 Pictures