Hildur Guðnadóttir / Jóhann Jóhannsson MARY MAGDALENE

The unfortunate and unexpected passing of Jóhann Jóhannsson in early February, sent shockwaves through the film community, and lovers of modernist music at large. Not only was he flourishing and enjoying a fruitful career highlight since the indie world took his scores for mainly Denis Villeneuve-helmed films to the heart, but the death of any person at barely 48 years of age is a sad reminder of how fragile our existence can be. Jóhannsson is leaving behind a stunning body of work, ranging from independent studio albums in his native Iceland, that gained a loyal following due to their experimental sonic blends of traditional orchestration with contemporary electronic elements, to his recent film scores, which exposed so many traditional scoring aficionados to variety of post-modernist styles – all coming from an artist who always managed to encapsulate life from a different, more introverted angle that was singular only to him.

In 2017 Jóhannsson worked on a variety of film projects, including Darren Aronofsky’s controversial Mother and the much anticipated Blade Runner 2049. Both scores were subsequently rejected from their respective films, but apparently due to reasons amicable between him and the film directors. After completing Mary Magdalene in January, he was supposed to commence scoring work on the Marc Forster-directed Christopher Robin, a family friendly live action continuation of the Disney franchise based on A. A. Milne’s book Winnie the Pooh, as well as Johan Renck helmed mini-series about infamous Chernobyl disaster. But fate interfered and thus, Garth Davis’ biographical reimagining of a disciple of Jesus was the final film score Jóhannsson completed before his regrettable passing. We have one more on the way – a Nicolas Cage Sundance favourite, a shocker titled Mandy that will receive a proper, official release sometime later this year – and then, if his unused scores remain kept in the vault, impervious to the general public, the prospect of hearing another Jóhannsson score will be done forever.