Sony Music Masterworks/Milan Records have released the soundtrack to new Netflix movie Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical. The album features Grammy and Tony Award-nominated songs from the original West End production written by Tim Minchin performed by the film’s cast including Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Andrea Riseborough, Stephen Graham and newcomer Alisha Weir as Matilda, as well as 10 instrumental score pieces by composer and orchestrator Christopher Nightingale. The album also includes a special track newly written for inclusion in the film entitled ‘Still Holding My Hand’.
Commenting on the new original song, composer Minchin said: “There came a moment when the filmmakers told me they thought the film needed a new song. I was a bit sceptical about it initially, as I view the original musical as a complete work, but when I read the latest draft of the script, I realised that they were absolutely right and the film really called for an ending number. It needed to be wrapped up in some way, for all the musical and thematic threads to be tied up in a nice bow. Which is how ‘Still Holding My Hand’ came to be. And now that I’ve seen how the song functions in the film, I’m so very glad I had the opportunity to write it.”
Discussing the soundtrack of the movie, Minchin said: “It’s now 15 years since Matthew Warchus and Dennis Kelly asked me to help them create Matilda The Musical, and I never dreamed that the songs would still be finding new life now. Matilda The Musical has now been performed all over the world, in different accents, different languages, and by performers of all stripes; each of them bringing to the tale their own style, their own experiences, their own passion. This album is another — very, very exciting — chapter in the Matilda story.”
Composer and orchestrator Nightingale added: “The range and breadth of musical opportunity that this classic story offers up is a gift for any composer. The diversity of the songs is gloriously far-reaching, and my first job in writing the original score was to try and build a framework that might bind things together; find, create and extend common ground. I am incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to write a score that has had such intrinsic value in a movie. Matthew Warchus is innately musical himself, and it’s excellent to work with someone who values and understands the role music plays in a story like this.”
The CD edition of the soundtrack is set for release on 9 December 2022. Featuring the core creative team from the stage production including director Matthew Warchus and writer Dennis Kelly, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical was released in UK cinemas on 25 November. Netflix will release the film on in all other markets across the world on Christmas Day.
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