{"id":1871941,"date":"2026-04-08T11:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T08:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1871941"},"modified":"2026-04-08T11:02:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T08:02:00","slug":"how-daniel-blumberg-turned-water-wind-and-silence-into-a-film-score","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1871941","title":{"rendered":"How Daniel Blumberg turned water, wind and silence into a film score"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-0-1548-1032\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442910.png&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article longread\">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/film-tv\/article\/70035\/1\/daniel-blumberg-gianfranco-rosi-pompei-below-the-clouds\" data-article-id=\"70035\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img no-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.52\" data-template=\"Longread Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DanBlumberg\" class=\"img\" height=\"1032\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442910.png\" width=\"1572\"><\/span><\/span><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-04-08T11:02:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"08 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">DateInMeta<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"8\">8,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical vertical - film-tv\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\">Film &amp; TV<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>How Daniel Blumberg turned water, wind and silence into a <span class=\"nowrap\">film score<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>The Oscar-winning composer talks scoring Gianfranco Rosi\u2019s near-silent films, recording sound underwater, and making music that blends into <span class=\"nowrap\">the landscape<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-04-08T11:02:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"08 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">April<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"8\">8,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - film-tv\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\">Film &amp; TV<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-04-08T11:02:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"08 April 2026\"><span class=\"month\">April<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"8\">8,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/NickChen\">Nick Chen<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>The Italian director Gianfranco Rosi has long established an aesthetic for his patient, poetic documentary features: no talking heads, no music, no voiceover, just the simplicity of the images speaking for themselves. On<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Sacro GRA<\/em>, it\u2019s an Italian motorway, and the communities surrounding it; on<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Fire at Sea<\/em>, it\u2019s migrants trying to reach the island of Lampedusa. Within the silences \u2013 or, rather, the sound of wind, water, human chatter, accidental ASMR, whatever Rosi\u2019s microphone is capturing \u2013 there exists a hypnotic, transfixing beauty.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Blumberg, the 36-year-old artist who won an Oscar for scoring<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brutalist<\/em>, is an avowed fan of Rosi\u2019s work, particularly the absence of any music. So there was pressure when Rosi asked Blumberg to score his latest film,<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Pompei: Below the Clouds<\/em>, a black-and-white documentary about how living in Naples is affected \u2013 or surprisingly unaffected \u2013 by the presence of Mount Vesuvius. Edited down from three years\u2019 worth of footage,<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Pompei: Below the Clouds<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em>follows the everyday exploits of figures such as archaeologists, firefighters, and call centre workers who calm down panicked residents about a volcano that could erupt at any moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love films without a score, and I was sceptical about him using score,\u201d Blumberg tells me in his Hackney flat where we spend an afternoon chatting in his kitchen. \u201cI saw a full cut that was assembled quite early on, and it was really functioning. But I trusted his judgement. There was a reason why he wanted me to be involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"odt0oQ-rm-o\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"900\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/odt0oQ-rm-o\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"1600\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>After all, Blumberg is an acclaimed avant-garde musician who, in recent years, has become beloved by Hollywood. A former indie rock star in his teens, Blumberg switched wholeheartedly to experimental music in his 20s and has released albums like<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Minus<\/em>,<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>On&amp;On<\/em>, and<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>GUT<\/em>. (Blumberg is also, according to Dazed,<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69329\/1\/the-25-most-stylish-people-of-2025-ranked-rosalia-charli-xcx-timothee-chalamet\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69329\/1\/the-25-most-stylish-people-of-2025-ranked-rosalia-charli-xcx-timothee-chalamet&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1775217755844000&amp;usg=AOvVaw09N582kqlMVGhqD2D9oB2U\">the 25th most fashionable person in the world<\/a>.) In terms of movie work, Blumberg scored three projects for Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet:<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The World to Come<\/em>,<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Testament of Ann Lee<\/em>, and<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brutalist<\/em>. Winning the Oscar for<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brutalist<\/em>, Blumberg shouted out Cafe Oto, the Dalston music venue, in his speech like how some actors might thank God.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s at Cafe Oto that Blumberg watches and performs with artists like Seymour Wright and John Butcher, who both play saxophone on the score for<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Pompei: Below the Clouds<\/em>. However, if you listen to the film\u2019s soundtrack (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cafeoto.co.uk\/shop\/daniel-blumberg-sotto\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.cafeoto.co.uk\/shop\/daniel-blumberg-sotto\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1775217755844000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0F-XMpV4RJqj-y4DELofFp\">it\u2019s available for purchase<\/a>), you might not realise that the piercing, cinematic wails are created by saxophone, or that Blumberg\u2019s contribution is via the bass harmonica. Wright also plays the\u00a0launeddas, a Sardinian set of pipes commonly used during the Roman era.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGianfranco said quite early on that he didn\u2019t want people to register that it\u2019s an instrument,\u201d says Blumberg. \u201cBrady wanted the presence of the pianist on<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brutalist<\/em>, so I placed the microphone so that you almost could hear him breathing and pressing the piano keys. On this, Gianfranco wanted a sound you couldn\u2019t quite locate. John and Seymour are musicians who don\u2019t do stuff unless they really commit to it, because they\u2019re uncompromising with the way they work and live. Gianfranco relates to that. The idea with John and Seymour is they never play the same each time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI do a drawing if I need to step back a bit. It keeps my focus. The other side of my brain can re-evaluate the music\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>Initially, Rosi only wanted Blumberg to record music for the film\u2019s eerie final scene: the camera dives underwater to find Roman statues, the remnants of a previous world, surrounded by fish and floating debris. \u201cI had to watch it a few times to get to grips with it,\u201d says Blumberg. \u201cYou watch it to<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>feel<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>it, and then you have to zoom into where the music maybe could be. As we worked more, I noticed he was using sound design. To me, that related to adding music from outside of what he was using, so I thought there was license to experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The score was recorded in both Blumberg\u2019s Hackney flat and underwater in the Roman town of Baia. In Blumberg\u2019s home, Butcher and Wright improvised on their saxophones without playing to picture. \u201cIt\u2019s very high-end recording equipment, so I\u2019m not compromising on quality when I record acoustically here. It\u2019s making sure the mics are pointed away from cars.\u201d He recalls recording the actors for<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Testament of Ann Lee<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>in his Airbnb in Budapest. \u201cI was on set, doing a comp of Amanda Seyfried\u2019s voice, and I heard this motorbike go past, and I thought, \u2018OK, there\u2019s a motorbike in the 18th century.\u2019 That\u2019s one problem. But it\u2019s creatively useful because you can work for hours and let people relax, rather than renting a studio.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After spending time together in Rome and New York, Blumberg and Rosi reconvened for a week in Hackney, where they experimented with microphones and speakers in Blumberg\u2019s bathtub. \u201cBecause of the camera going underwater, the underwater microphones were obvious to me immediately. I\u2019d used hydrophones before. It was later we experimented and tried it in the sea in Baia.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"410a8df3-c71d-415c-9a12-b42000df2b27\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442911.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1-SOTTO LE NUVOLE_&#169;GIANFRANCO_ROSI\" class=\"img\" height=\"1688\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1600\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442911.jpg\" width=\"3000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Gianfranco Rosi<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>In Naples, Blumberg and Alberto Landolfi, the assistant director, drove around in search of spaces to play the music and record underwater. \u201cWe looked for hot steam coming out of a volcano, so that I could put my microphones in,\u201d says Blumberg. \u201cBut the music sounded too nice and tidy conceptually. It didn\u2019t sound as good as the situation underwater.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, at two in the morning, when tourists had gone to sleep, Blumberg and Landolfi recorded at a pier in Baia where a metal staircase went into the water. \u201cI put geophones magnetically on the staircase, so that it almost activated the staircase as a microphone. There\u2019s a hydrophone in the water, and the other hydrophone on top of a scaffolding pole that had waves crashing against it.\u201d They returned the next night. \u201cThe wind was going over the same microphones that were capturing the saxophones. It felt like the landscape was interfering with the music, and vice versa. The sound of the saxophone was pushing through the water and waves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the soundtrack, the tracks are named from \u201cNuvole I\u201d to \u201cNuvole X\u201d, as Blumberg referred to them as \u201ccloud music\u201d (\u201cNuvole\u201d translates to \u201ccloud\u201d in English) with different slabs of sound following each other. The minimalist, hypnotic score thus complements the images, rather than overwhelming them or dictating a new meaning. Sometimes the music integrates so seamlessly with the sounds of overlapping waves, it takes a moment to realise you\u2019re also listening to, for example, a repeated sample of Wright breathing into his saxophone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"Nf7UmD3Pjsk\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"900\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Nf7UmD3Pjsk\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"1600\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>Adding to the film\u2019s otherworldly splendour is the black-and-white cinematography that makes ashes falling from the sky look like white snowflakes glowing in the dark. Blumberg reveals he doesn\u2019t have synaesthesia, and as an artist, doesn\u2019t really deal with colour. In fact, his flat is filled with Silverpoint drawings \u2013 he estimates there are at least 10,000 lying around in boxes \u2013 and he creates a few more during our conversation. He\u2019s preparing the drawings for<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.balicehertling.com\/exhibitions\/112-daniel-blumberg-silverpoint-drawings\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.balicehertling.com\/exhibitions\/112-daniel-blumberg-silverpoint-drawings\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1775217755844000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2GP3hGNLYnO_c4h4dcnsjZ\">a solo show at Galerie Balice Hertling<\/a>, an art gallery in Paris. \u201cI love the colour of silver. It\u2019s always changing.\u201d He shows me an example. \u201cThis is oxidising. It\u2019s got blueish hues and browns. The oil on my hands will change the oxidising.\u201d He points to one on a wall. \u201cIf I boil that kettle, the steam affects how it oxidises.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Until Blumberg works on Corbet\u2019s next film, his focus will continue to be on drawing, an activity that\u2019s ever-present in his life, even when he\u2019s in musician mode. When writing music, he typically sits at a keyboard, picks an instrument sound, and throws ideas around. \u201cI can also step out and do a drawing if I need to step back a bit. It keeps my focus. The other side of my brain can re-evaluate the music.\u201d He adds, \u201cYou can finish a drawing in five seconds, and put it in the bin or on the wall.<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brutalist<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>took seven years for Brady to make it. It\u2019s nice to work on different scales. It\u2019s a good reminder of how to work, and what\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blumberg jokes that with music, he half-expects people to switch his records off halfway, if they\u2019re not playing it in the background while washing the dishes. The joy, then, with scoring a film like<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Pompei: Below the Clouds<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>is that, in the age of shuffling and streaming, the songs are digested with full concentration, in the correct order. \u201cIt\u2019s nice that people are actually going to sit and listen to the music,\u201d he says. \u201cThis experience starts, you go through it, and it finishes. You actually bring people on that journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pompei: Below the Clouds<em>\u00a0is streaming on MUBI now<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-series header article-series tags\"><span class=\"heading\">More on these topics:<\/span><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\">Film &amp; TV<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/daniel-blumberg\">Daniel Blumberg<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/italy\">Italy<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"image-navigation\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/news\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img one\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">News<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img two\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Fashion<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img three\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Music<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img four\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Film &amp; TV<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/70035\/1\/daniel-blumberg-gianfranco-rosi-pompei-below-the-clouds#features\" class=\"image-navigation__img five\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Features<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img six\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Beauty<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img seven\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Life &amp; Culture<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/\" class=\"image-navigation__img eight\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-navigation__wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"image-navigation__title\">Art &amp; Photography<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>The Italian director Gianfranco Rosi has long established an aesthetic for his patient, poetic documentary features: no talking heads, no music, no voiceover, just the simplicity of the images speaking for themselves. On<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Sacro GRA<\/em>, it\u2019s an Italian motorway, and the communities surrounding it; on<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Fire at Sea<\/em>, it\u2019s migrants trying to reach the island of Lampedusa. Within the silences \u2013 or, rather, the sound of wind, water, human chatter, accidental ASMR, whatever Rosi\u2019s microphone is capturing \u2013 there exists a hypnotic, transfixing beauty.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Blumberg, the 36-year-old artist who won an Oscar for scoring<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brutalist<\/em>, is an avowed fan of Rosi\u2019s work, particularly the absence of any music. So there was pressure when Rosi asked Blumberg to score his latest film,<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Pompei: Below the Clouds<\/em>, a black-and-white documentary about how living in Naples is affected \u2013 or surprisingly unaffected \u2013 by the presence of Mount Vesuvius. Edited down from three years\u2019 worth of footage,<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Pompei: Below the Clouds<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em>follows the everyday exploits of figures such as archaeologists, firefighters, and call centre workers who calm down panicked residents about a volcano that could erupt at any moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love films without a score, and I was sceptical about him using score,\u201d Blumberg tells me in his Hackney flat where we spend an afternoon chatting in his kitchen. \u201cI saw a full cut that was assembled quite early on, and it was really functioning. But I trusted his judgement. There was a reason why he wanted me to be involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"odt0oQ-rm-o\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"900\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/odt0oQ-rm-o\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"1600\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>After all, Blumberg is an acclaimed avant-garde musician who, in recent years, has become beloved by Hollywood. A former indie rock star in his teens, Blumberg switched wholeheartedly to experimental music in his 20s and has released albums like<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Minus<\/em>,<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>On&amp;On<\/em>, and<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>GUT<\/em>. (Blumberg is also, according to Dazed,<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69329\/1\/the-25-most-stylish-people-of-2025-ranked-rosalia-charli-xcx-timothee-chalamet\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69329\/1\/the-25-most-stylish-people-of-2025-ranked-rosalia-charli-xcx-timothee-chalamet&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1775217755844000&amp;usg=AOvVaw09N582kqlMVGhqD2D9oB2U\">the 25th most fashionable person in the world<\/a>.) In terms of movie work, Blumberg scored three projects for Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet:<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The World to Come<\/em>,<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Testament of Ann Lee<\/em>, and<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brutalist<\/em>. Winning the Oscar for<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brutalist<\/em>, Blumberg shouted out Cafe Oto, the Dalston music venue, in his speech like how some actors might thank God.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s at Cafe Oto that Blumberg watches and performs with artists like Seymour Wright and John Butcher, who both play saxophone on the score for<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Pompei: Below the Clouds<\/em>. However, if you listen to the film\u2019s soundtrack (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cafeoto.co.uk\/shop\/daniel-blumberg-sotto\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.cafeoto.co.uk\/shop\/daniel-blumberg-sotto\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1775217755844000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0F-XMpV4RJqj-y4DELofFp\">it\u2019s available for purchase<\/a>), you might not realise that the piercing, cinematic wails are created by saxophone, or that Blumberg\u2019s contribution is via the bass harmonica. Wright also plays the\u00a0launeddas, a Sardinian set of pipes commonly used during the Roman era.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGianfranco said quite early on that he didn\u2019t want people to register that it\u2019s an instrument,\u201d says Blumberg. \u201cBrady wanted the presence of the pianist on<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brutalist<\/em>, so I placed the microphone so that you almost could hear him breathing and pressing the piano keys. On this, Gianfranco wanted a sound you couldn\u2019t quite locate. John and Seymour are musicians who don\u2019t do stuff unless they really commit to it, because they\u2019re uncompromising with the way they work and live. Gianfranco relates to that. The idea with John and Seymour is they never play the same each time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI do a drawing if I need to step back a bit. It keeps my focus. The other side of my brain can re-evaluate the music\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>Initially, Rosi only wanted Blumberg to record music for the film\u2019s eerie final scene: the camera dives underwater to find Roman statues, the remnants of a previous world, surrounded by fish and floating debris. \u201cI had to watch it a few times to get to grips with it,\u201d says Blumberg. \u201cYou watch it to<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>feel<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>it, and then you have to zoom into where the music maybe could be. As we worked more, I noticed he was using sound design. To me, that related to adding music from outside of what he was using, so I thought there was license to experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The score was recorded in both Blumberg\u2019s Hackney flat and underwater in the Roman town of Baia. In Blumberg\u2019s home, Butcher and Wright improvised on their saxophones without playing to picture. \u201cIt\u2019s very high-end recording equipment, so I\u2019m not compromising on quality when I record acoustically here. It\u2019s making sure the mics are pointed away from cars.\u201d He recalls recording the actors for<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Testament of Ann Lee<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>in his Airbnb in Budapest. \u201cI was on set, doing a comp of Amanda Seyfried\u2019s voice, and I heard this motorbike go past, and I thought, \u2018OK, there\u2019s a motorbike in the 18th century.\u2019 That\u2019s one problem. But it\u2019s creatively useful because you can work for hours and let people relax, rather than renting a studio.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After spending time together in Rome and New York, Blumberg and Rosi reconvened for a week in Hackney, where they experimented with microphones and speakers in Blumberg\u2019s bathtub. \u201cBecause of the camera going underwater, the underwater microphones were obvious to me immediately. I\u2019d used hydrophones before. It was later we experimented and tried it in the sea in Baia.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"410a8df3-c71d-415c-9a12-b42000df2b27\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442911.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1-SOTTO LE NUVOLE_&#169;GIANFRANCO_ROSI\" class=\"img\" height=\"1688\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1600\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442911.jpg\" width=\"3000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Gianfranco Rosi<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>In Naples, Blumberg and Alberto Landolfi, the assistant director, drove around in search of spaces to play the music and record underwater. \u201cWe looked for hot steam coming out of a volcano, so that I could put my microphones in,\u201d says Blumberg. \u201cBut the music sounded too nice and tidy conceptually. It didn\u2019t sound as good as the situation underwater.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, at two in the morning, when tourists had gone to sleep, Blumberg and Landolfi recorded at a pier in Baia where a metal staircase went into the water. \u201cI put geophones magnetically on the staircase, so that it almost activated the staircase as a microphone. There\u2019s a hydrophone in the water, and the other hydrophone on top of a scaffolding pole that had waves crashing against it.\u201d They returned the next night. \u201cThe wind was going over the same microphones that were capturing the saxophones. It felt like the landscape was interfering with the music, and vice versa. The sound of the saxophone was pushing through the water and waves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the soundtrack, the tracks are named from \u201cNuvole I\u201d to \u201cNuvole X\u201d, as Blumberg referred to them as \u201ccloud music\u201d (\u201cNuvole\u201d translates to \u201ccloud\u201d in English) with different slabs of sound following each other. The minimalist, hypnotic score thus complements the images, rather than overwhelming them or dictating a new meaning. Sometimes the music integrates so seamlessly with the sounds of overlapping waves, it takes a moment to realise you\u2019re also listening to, for example, a repeated sample of Wright breathing into his saxophone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"Nf7UmD3Pjsk\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"900\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Nf7UmD3Pjsk\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"1600\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>Adding to the film\u2019s otherworldly splendour is the black-and-white cinematography that makes ashes falling from the sky look like white snowflakes glowing in the dark. Blumberg reveals he doesn\u2019t have synaesthesia, and as an artist, doesn\u2019t really deal with colour. In fact, his flat is filled with Silverpoint drawings \u2013 he estimates there are at least 10,000 lying around in boxes \u2013 and he creates a few more during our conversation. He\u2019s preparing the drawings for<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.balicehertling.com\/exhibitions\/112-daniel-blumberg-silverpoint-drawings\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.balicehertling.com\/exhibitions\/112-daniel-blumberg-silverpoint-drawings\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1775217755844000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2GP3hGNLYnO_c4h4dcnsjZ\">a solo show at Galerie Balice Hertling<\/a>, an art gallery in Paris. \u201cI love the colour of silver. It\u2019s always changing.\u201d He shows me an example. \u201cThis is oxidising. It\u2019s got blueish hues and browns. The oil on my hands will change the oxidising.\u201d He points to one on a wall. \u201cIf I boil that kettle, the steam affects how it oxidises.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Until Blumberg works on Corbet\u2019s next film, his focus will continue to be on drawing, an activity that\u2019s ever-present in his life, even when he\u2019s in musician mode. When writing music, he typically sits at a keyboard, picks an instrument sound, and throws ideas around. \u201cI can also step out and do a drawing if I need to step back a bit. It keeps my focus. The other side of my brain can re-evaluate the music.\u201d He adds, \u201cYou can finish a drawing in five seconds, and put it in the bin or on the wall.<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>The Brutalist<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>took seven years for Brady to make it. It\u2019s nice to work on different scales. It\u2019s a good reminder of how to work, and what\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blumberg jokes that with music, he half-expects people to switch his records off halfway, if they\u2019re not playing it in the background while washing the dishes. The joy, then, with scoring a film like<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>Pompei: Below the Clouds<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>is that, in the age of shuffling and streaming, the songs are digested with full concentration, in the correct order. \u201cIt\u2019s nice that people are actually going to sit and listen to the music,\u201d he says. \u201cThis experience starts, you go through it, and it finishes. You actually bring people on that journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pompei: Below the Clouds<em>\u00a0is streaming on MUBI now<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-series header article-series tags\"><span class=\"heading\">More on these topics:<\/span><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\">Film &amp; TV<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/daniel-blumberg\">Daniel Blumberg<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/italy\">Italy<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/70035\/1\/daniel-blumberg-gianfranco-rosi-pompei-below-the-clouds&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-0-1548-1032\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/2\/1442910.png&#8221;] DateInMeta\u00a0 8,\u00a0 2026 Film &amp; TV \/ Feature How Daniel Blumberg turned water, wind and silence into a film score The Oscar-winning composer talks scoring Gianfranco Rosi\u2019s near-silent films, recording sound underwater, and making music that blends into the landscape April\u00a0 8,\u00a0 2026 Film &amp; TVFeature April\u00a0 8,\u00a0 2026 TextNick Chen The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1871941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1871941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1871941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1871941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1871941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1871941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1871941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}