Jóhann Jóhannsson takes us through his score for Stephen Hawking bio The Theory Of Everything

"I have also always been fascinated by Stephen Hawking, both as a writer and theorist as well as a human being," he explains. "I approached the music very much on emotional terms."

The score for the Eddie Redmayne-starring film, says Johannson, is "derived from very simple elements that are announced in the first frames...a four-note piano ostinato which then slowly expands into more complex forms and appears and re-appears evolved, deconstructed and re-assembled in various renderings throughout..."

Below, the Icelandic composer takes us through the score for the film.

"Cambridge, 1963"

This is the music for the opening sequence of the film and it’s one of the first bits of score that I wrote. The four note looped piano motif which runs through the piece is the source of a lot of the subsequent material in the score. In a sense, these four notes eventually blossom into a tapestry of patterns and melodies that meander and drift throughout the film.

"Rowing"

Although it has little relation at first listen, this is really a kind of variation of the previous track. The four note motif from the opening sequence is morphed into a slower rising pattern which is embroidered with ascending woodwinds figures and piano and string melodies.

"Domestic Pressures" / "Epilogue"

This piece is written for a long and complex sequence which combines a montage with several dialogue scenes. It took a long time to get right, but I’m very happy with how it works in the film as well as on its own. Again, the four note motif from the Intro is the source of the melody, although it is by now a very distant cousin of the original. Epilogue is a slightly more subdued variation of this theme, which appears towards the end of the film.

"Chalkboard"

A scene where we see the symptoms of Hawking’s ALS manifest themselves in a serious way. The harmonies from Domestic Pressures are laid over a soft harp ostinato, which then develops into a rather strident and brooding, slightly Nymanesque passage for string orchestra and piano.

"Cavendish Lab"

We tried to show Hawking’s sense of wonderment for the universe and its marvels in this scene where he enters the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge where they discovered the electron and nuclear fission. It’s largely a scene with no dialogue, so the effect is created with only music and images. There are hints of Debussy there in the harmonies and perhaps some Messiaen as well.

"Collapsing Inwards" / "Coma"

These two pieces are written for the hospital scenes. We were very careful not to overuse music in these scenes. I feel strongly about not saying with music what is already on the screen and James Marsh and I agreed on keeping the use of music as restrained as possible – in the film in general, but in particular in these scenes.

"A Game of Croquet" / "A Normal Family"

Both pieces relate to Jane’s relationship with Stephen. A Game of Croquet’s piano arpeggio patterns overlaid with a simple string melody are mirrored with A Normal Family’s more spartan string orchestra version.

"The Origins of Time" / "Viva Voce"

The Origins of Time opens with a simple almost Sibelius-like melody which is then developed with variations in Viva Voce. Both themes relate to Hawking discovering the subject of his thesis and the subsequent thesis defense.

"The Wedding"

I have to confess that writing music for a wedding sequence felt quite daunting, but I suppose this comes with the territory of being a film composer. The solution I found was this piece, which is quite lively and effervescent, but also has a slightly melancholic quality to it. I wanted it to sound something like music from an Ennio Morricone score for an Italian melodrama from 1975.

"The Dreams that Stuff is Made of"

Some more montage music, this time a pastoral, quite classical number with Alberti bass and a melody and harmonies that are harmonically related to Jane’s themes, A Game of Croquet and A Normal Family.

"A Spacetime Singularity"

Another “Wonderment” theme, which occurs when Hawking has an epiphany in front of the fireplace. The chords have a quite open, cosmic quality. My good friend Adam Wiltzie from Stars of the Lid plays lap steel on this one. This is one of the more “artificial” tracks in the score - the orchestra is processed and slowed down and there are several sampled and processed sound sources in this piece. Most of the rest of the score is very acoustic and for the most part all played by an orchestra in a studio, with little or no overdubbing.

"The Stairs"

A rather dark piece, where I use a variation of the four note piano motif from the Intro, this time in a minor mode. It contrasts the vigorous young Hawking riding through Cambridge on his bicycle in the beginning of the film with Hawking in an advanced stage of his disease where he is barely capable of hoisting himself up the stairs of his house. The piece combines piano with orchestra and the Cristal Baschet.

"Camping"

A chamber version of the Domestic Pressures theme, with cello, violin, viola, harp, celeste and electric piano. It’s for a scene where Jane and Jonathan go camping together in the middle of their courtship. I wanted to score this scene as a kind of dance, a kind of tango.

"The Spelling Board" / "The Voice Box"

Two short pieces that accompany scenes where Stephen learns to communicate with the outside world after the loss of his speaking voice.

"A Brief History of Time" / "Daisy, Daisy" / "The Whirling Ways of Stars that Pass"

A Brief History of Time and Daisy, Daisy accompany scenes showing Hawking as he begins to write his most famous book. It was both a challenge and a lot of fun to write music around Hawking’s voice synthesizer. I’ve used voice synthesizers in my music before, as a musical element, for example on the Englabörn and IBM 1401 albums, so it seemed like oddly familiar territory. Daisy, Daisy is a variation of the Domestic Pressures music, slowed down and developed further. There is a solo piano coda as well, which is repeated at the end of the credit sequence as a harp solo (The Whirling Ways of Stars that Pass)

"A Model of the Universe"

This is a solo piano piece written for the breakup scene between Stephen and Jane. It’s quite simple but effective. It’s derived from the opening cue (Cambridge, 1963), using the same harmonic sequence, but arranged and executed very differently.

"Forces of Attraction" / "The Theory of Everything"

A cue that appeared early on in the writing process, Forces of Attraction is written for a montage showing Jonathan’s increasing involvement with the Hawking family and hints at the growing attraction between Jane and Jonathan. I wanted to reference British folk music of the 70s, like one of those pastoral songs from Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter. There´s piano and guitar, a Marxophone, which is a kind of autoharp played with hammers, a tack piano and instead of using the full orchestra we had six cellos playing the string part, to get a more intimate, chamber group sound. The Theory of Everything is a variation of the same theme used when Jonathan and Jane are reconciled towards the end of the film.

"London, 1988"

A cue that underscores a scene near the end of the film where Hawking, at the height of his fame in the late 80´s, delivers a triumphant lecture in London. This is another quite radical variation of the Intro theme (Cambridge, 1963). As in The Stairs, the four note piano motif appears in a minor mode, accompanied by some brooding string chords. We then go back to the “Wonderment theme” (Cavendish Lab), before going back again to the Intro theme, this time in a grand arrangement for orchestra, sans piano. This brings the film full circle: the vigorous, joyful and kinetic music from the beginning of the film is now presented in a solemn, more philosophical and contemplative rendition, as he delivers a speech reflecting on his life and the nature of time.

Jóhann Jóhannsson's score for The Theory of Everything is out now via Back Lot Music