Radiohead fans are dedicated to the various musical experimentations of the band and its side projects, but guitarist Johnny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood has served as a benchmark for those who truly appreciate his wide musical repertoire, and those who can't. It's not that the score is that avant-garde...but it's classical.
Those who do appreciate the guitarist's score are in luck however: The guitarist will take part in the first-ever live performances of the complete set. Greenwood and a 50-piece orchestra will tackle the score August 6 and 7 at the Roundhouse in London. Greenwood will play the nodes Martenot, a '20s-era keyboard that provides oscillating notes via an vacuum tube system. Greenwood has performed individual tracks from the soundtrack before at solo shows, but this will be the first performance of the whole score.
The Martenot certainly deserves much of the credit for providing the eerie, ambient stretches that color the desert landscape of the film, while Greenwood added snaps of violence to keep viewers from growing too comfortable. The score as a whole worked wonders to emphasize the dark plotting of oilman Daniel Plainview, and the never-quite-sane schematics of his mind.
Many believed Greenwood's score would score well during awards season, but Oscar judges found that the Radiohead member's sampling of his own previously published work (as well as references to Brahms and Pärt) were too bounteous for him to qualify for the Academy Award for Original Music Score (it was nominated for Best Score Soundtrack Album instead).
Director Paul Thomas Anderson has tapped Greenwood to score his upcoming film Inherent Vice. Perhaps we'll see that Best Original Score nomination now.
