Lakeshore Records has released The Essex Serpent—Original Series Soundtrack featuring music by Dustin O’Halloran and Herdís Stefánsdóttir digitally June 10.  The composers utilize electro acoustics and strings creating a score that evokes the darker depths of Victorian England. The series starring Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston, now streaming globally on Apple TV+.

Dustin O’Halloran is an American pianist and composer with four acclaimed solo albums under his own name, and is a member of the band A Winged Victory for the Sullen. Winner of a 2015 Emmy Award for his main title theme to Amazon’s comedy drama Transparent, he was also nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a Critics’ Choice Award for his score to Lion, written in collaboration with Volker Bertelmann (aka Hauschka). Herdís Stefánsdóttir is an Icelandic composer of music for multimedia, a songwriter, and an electronic musician. She graduated with an M.A. degree in film scoring from New York University. Since graduation she has scored two feature films, including the HBO series We’re Here. 

“The Essex Serpent” follows London widow Cora Seaborne (Danes) who moves to Essex to investigate reports of a mythical serpent. She forms a surprising bond of science and skepticism with the local pastor (Hiddleston), but when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her of attracting the creature.

Says O’Halloran and Stefánsdóttir:

“From our first conversations with director Clio Bernard, we knew we would be creating something layered and multidimensional. This was our first collaboration together as composers and it allowed us to explore subjects like fear of the unknown, the Victorian era where science and religion were in constant conflict, and the complexity of superstition. We got an incredible amount of trust from Clio to experiment! Even though it was a period piece set in late 1800’s, we took a modern approach to the music and how we wrote and recorded it, accentuating the sound of the wood and bow of the strings, and went deep into capturing the sound limits of the cello and electro acoustic manipulation.”

Track List:

01. Estuary

02. The Essex Serpent Main Title

03. I Mended You

04. The Serpent

05. Essex

06. Fata Morgana

07. The Devil Will Come For You

08. Funeral

09. The Morning After

10. Grace

11. Blood On The Boat

12. Matters Of The Heart

13. A Rational Explanation

14. The Gilded Cage

15. Will and Cora

16. If I Am A Sinner

17. He Is Waiting For Me, And I Am Ready

18. Cracknell

19. Back To Essex

20. In Uncertainty, And In Love

21. Stella Is Gone

22. Walk With Me

Will you be picking up the soundtrack for The Essex Serpent?

See also:

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook