You may not recognise the name Hildur Guðnadóttir, but chances are, you've heard her music. Below, explore the vast and immersive cinematic soundscapes created by this award-winning composer, who won a Grammy, an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award in a span of just 5 months.
Guðnadóttir's scores have helped define some of the most celebrated screen works of the past decade, from the unsettling psychological landscape of Joker to the stark humanity of Chernobyl and the razor-sharp world of Tár. She is now recognised as one of the most distinctive compositional voices working today.
This winter, audiences across Australia will have the rare opportunity to hear a new side of Guðnadóttir's artistry. As part of our upcoming national tour From Winter's Stillness, the Icelandic composer has created a new work especially for the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Trio Mediæval and Arve Henriksen: Tíminn og Vatnið (Time and Water).
JOKER
For many listeners, Guðnadóttir first entered the spotlight through her score for Todd Phillips' 2019 film Joker.
Rather than accompanying the story, the music seeps in, inhabits it. Dark, intimate and physical, the score became inseparable from Joaquin Phoenix's Academy Award-winning performance, with low cello lines conveying anxiety, vulnerability and transformation.
The soundtrack earned Guðnadóttir an Academy Award for Best Original Score, making her the first woman in more than two decades to win the category.
"I just thought it was so beautiful and tragic. Her music is literally a character in the film. It became the connective tissue of the whole movie."Joker Director, Todd Phillips
Before Joker, Guðnadóttir's music captivated audiences through HBO's Chernobyl.
Rather than relying on a traditional orchestral score, she built the soundtrack from recorded sounds captured inside a decommissioned Lithuanian nuclear power plant. The resulting music is unsettling and immersive, capturing both the scale of the disaster and its human consequences. The work earned her a BAFTA, Grammy and Emmy award.
"Changed the face of TV music"The Sydney Morning Herald on Guðnadóttir's soundtrack for Chernobyl
In 2022, Guðnadóttir's music reached musically-minded audiences through Tár, the acclaimed psychological drama starring Cate Blanchett as a celebrated conductor. The score underpinned the haunting and tension-laden atmosphere of the world of Lydia Tár, alongside works by Mahler and Elgar.
Unlike the overwhelming tension of Joker or the industrial dread of Chernobyl, the music of Tár feels observant and unsettling, demonstrating Guðnadóttir's remarkable ability to create atmosphere through restraint.
Such strength in delicacy and inventive elegance makes Hildur not only a great composer, but a great creative force with whom to engage.Cate Blanchett on Hildur Guðnadóttir
Her new work for the ACO, Trio Mediæval and Arve Henriksen draws on Tíminn og Vatnið (Time and Water), a seminal poem by the Icelandic modernist poet Steinn Steinarr. The text holds particular significance for the composer. "Both my grandmothers used to recite Steinn Steinarr's poetry to me, so I have a strong connection to his poems," Guðnadóttir says. The work explores themes of love, longing, distance and memory, with water serving as a powerful connecting thread - between people, places and the Nordic cultures represented on stage.
When Guðnadóttir won the Oscar for Best Original Score for Joker in 2020, the first woman to win the category in over 20 years, she made a case to aspiring female composers across the world.
“To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters, who hear the music bubbling within, please speak up. We need to hear your voices.”Guðnadóttir’s 2020 Oscar acceptance speech
Long before the next film, soundtrack or award season, Australian audiences attending From Winter's Stillness will be among the first to experience Guðnadóttir's latest creation live, performed by the artists for whom it was written.
Whether you're discovering her music for the first time or have unknowingly spent years immersed in it, From Winter's Stillness offers an opportunity to hear one of the defining musical voices of our time in a completely new light.
Hear Guðnadóttir's newest work in From Winter's Stillness, touring nationally 25 July - 9 August.
