Composer and pianist Nils Frahm will release a soundtrack on Erased Tapes next month.
Set in Berlin and shot in one take, Victoria follows a Spanish girl who gets involved in a heist when she meets four local guys outside a techno club. The film won the award for cinematography at the Berlinale Film Festival and picked up seven nominations, including one for best soundtrack, at the Deutscher Filmpreis.
Director Sebastian Schipper reportedly asked Frahm to “create silence” for the soundtrack, and the composer enlisted cellist Anne Müller, violinist Viktor Orri Árnason and Erik K. Skodvin of Deaf Center on guitar. The teaser below suggests a serene and contemplative mood, but there are clubbier moments too – the soundtrack opens with an edit of ‘Burn With Me’ by DJ Koze.
“We simply put a big screen in the middle of the room, filled it with microphones and instruments, set the movie on loop and kept improvising on top of it together,” says Frahm of the recording process. “The guest musicians started their recording session by playing a cohesive take over the course of the whole movie. This was the most interesting part of the day, since they hadn’t seen the film before. They became spectators and creators at once, intuitively recording hundreds of different cues that way.”
The guest musicians started their recording session by playing a cohesive take over the course of the whole movie. This was the most interesting part of the day, since they hadn’t seen the film before. They became spectators and creators at once, intuitively recording hundreds of different cues that way. You are about to listen to some of its highlights. I hope they do Victoria and your ears justice.
Victoria will be released in cinemas across Germany on June 11, with plans to release it in the UK and elsewhere soon after, while Music for the Motion Picture Victoria is out via Erased Tapes on LP/CD/Digital on June 15. Hear ‘Them’ from the soundtrack below the trailer.
The release follows Frahm’s recent album Solo, which he gave away to mark the inaugural Piano Day.
