Composing Greatness: #13. The Freshman Class of the 2010's - "Moonlight" (2016)

Scene from Moonlight (2016)

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

Series Composer: Nicholas Britell

Entry: Moonlight (2016)

Collaborators (If Available): N/A

Nomination: Best Original Score

Did They Win: No

Other Nominees:
Best Original Score
-La La Land (Justin Hurwitz)*winner
-Jackie (Mica Levi)
-Lion (Hauschka & Justin O'Halloran)
-Passengers (Thomas Newman)

Additional Information

This is to help provide perspective of where each composer is in their Oscar-nominated life as it related to the current entry.

Oscar Nomination: 1

Oscar Wins: 0

Track List

1. "Every N****r is a Star"
2. "Little's Theme"
3. "Ride Home"
4. "Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, K. 339"
5. "The Middle of the World"
6. "The Spot"
7. "Interlude"
8. "Chiron's Theme"
9. "MetroRail Closing"
10. "Chiron's Theme Chopped & Screwed"
11. "You Don't Even Know"
12. "Don't Look at Me"
13. "Cell Therapy"
14. "Atlanta Ain't But So Big"
15. "Sweet Dreams"
16. "Chef's Special"
17. "Hello Stranger"
18. "Black's Theme"
19. "Who is You?"
20. "End Credits Suite"
21. "The Culmination"

Note: Listen to here.

Exploring the Music

The area of the column where I will explore the music in as much detail as I see fit for each entry.

Theme Exploration:

"Little's Theme"

Like the character of Chiron, the score starts in a primitive state, a little boy with the world ahead of him. That is why it's great that the score starts with a violin as if waking up to the world around him. There's not much to distinguish it at this point, but it slowly builds, as if opening its eyes and seeing what lies ahead. There's so much that's unaware of the score at this point, lasting not even a minute in the soundtrack, and it hides the epic that's to follow. The score will build from here, though everyone will remember the violin that plays at the center of it as if a seed sprouting into a bigger plant.  

Interesting Standout:
"You Don't Even Know"

One of the more exciting elements of the score is how Nicholas Britell takes classical music and applies the "chopped and screwed" format to it. There's the familiar, but it's remixed in a way that tears apart the beat and reassembles it in a new way. It shows the evolving perspective of Chiron as he becomes a teenager who is uncertain in the world. Nothing is going in a logical order, and that's what makes this area of the score all the more enjoyable. Britell doesn't use the approach for novelty, but instead to get to the quiet uncertainty that lies within Chiron's personal life throughout his journey to discovering himself. 

Best Moment:
"The Middle of the World"

In what is one of the film's earliest and best moments, Chiron receives baptism in the ocean. While the moment is beautiful by itself, there's something even more powerful when applying the score to everything. Whereas the violing had been small up to this point, it has grown to a full orchestral sound of beauty, as if self-awareness is starting to take shape. He's becoming a person with an identity that can live and think on his own. There is an acceptance to the world around him and he becomes more adventurous as the music grows. It's powerful in depicting the moment through a silence that shines through with elegant string orchestrations.

Did This Deserve an Oscar Nomination?:
Yes

While it's arguably a bit on the short side, Nicholas Britell definitely earned his first Oscar nomination for this score with his inventive craft. There is a lot to be taken from how he evolves throughout the score, starting small with minimal instrumentation, then building to the innovative "chopped and screwed" style towards the middle before finding clarity by the end that shows Chiron officially coming to term with himself as a person. It's quite a journey, and the fact that it's achieved in under 40 minutes is quite an achievement. There's not a dull track on here, and it all builds the ambitious portrait of a man throughout his life in a way that is emotional and sincere, but mostly honest in ways not often heard in movie scores before this point. 

Up Next: Best Original Score - Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread (2017)

Best Theme

A ranking of all themes composed by The Freshman Class of the 2010's.

1. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross: "Hand Covers Bruise" - The Social Network (2010)
2. John Powell: "This is Berk" - How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
3. Mica Levi: "Intro" - Jackie (2016)
4. Johan Johannsson: "Cambridge, 1963" - The Theory of Everything (2014)
5. Mychael Danna: "Piscine Molitar Patel" - Life of Pi (2012)
6. Will Butler & Owen Pallett: "Sleepwalker" - Her (2013)
7. Gary Yershon: "Mr. Turner" - Mr. Turner (2014)
8. Ludovic Bource: "The Artist Overture" - The Artist (2011)
9. Justin Hurwitz: "Mia Gets Home" - La La Land (2016)
10. Johan Johannsson: "The Armored Vehicle" - Sicario (2015)
11. Nicholas Britell: "Little's Theme" - Moonlight (2016)
12. Hauschka & Dustin O'Halloran: "Train" - Lion (2016)
13. Steven Price: "Above Earth" - Gravity (2013)