Award-winning composer Lorne Balfe’s dramatic soundtrack to the BBC’s adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials has been released digitally today from Silva Screen Records and will be available on CD in January 2020.
The main themes from His Dark Materials have already been introduced to the listeners through The Musical Anthology of His Dark Materials, released on Silva Screen Records in November 2019. For this concept album the principal themes were reworked, moulded and explored as each character’s theme is on a separate musical journey throughout the series. The themes are never fixed, there are no rules and they are constantly evolving. His Dark Materials original score provides a musical narrative drive across all 8 episodes. The album presents the music, including main character themes, as they appear through the series.
The score is performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Matt Dunkley. The leading cast for His Dark Materials includes Dafne Keen as Lyra, Ruth Wilson as Mrs Coulter, Lin Manuel Miranda as Lee Scoresby, James McAvoy as Lord Asriel, Clarke Peters as The Master of Jordan College, James Cosmo as Farder Coram and Anne-Marie Duff as Ma Costa, with Will Keen as Father McPhail and Ariyon Bakare as Lord Boreal.
Lorne Balfe (Mission Impossible: Fallout, The Lego Batman Movie, Churchill) is a Grammy Award winning, EMMY and BAFTA nominated composer. Whether on an impossible mission, the heartbreak of the Queen, the perils of the cape crusade or the soul of a genius, Lorne Balfe creates a musical voice that reflects the characters and the stories that embody them. Originally from Inverness, Scotland, Balfe has created music in virtually all genres and for all visual media with projects ranging from major studio to independent films, tentpole video game franchises, beloved animated feature films, critically acclaimed television series, and documentary features.
His Dark Materials is produced by Bad Wolf and New Line Cinema for BBC One and HBO. The series’ global premiere was on Sunday 3rd November on BBC One and on Monday 4th November on HBO.
