O come, O come, Emmanuel “O come, O come, Emmanuel” is a seasonal Christian hymn (and carol). The text was originally written in Latin (Veni, veni, Emmanuel) and the hymn has its origins over 1,200 years ago when monasteries would sing the “O antiphons” in […]

The Apology Song The Apology Song (Si Puedes Perdonar) was composed by Gustavo Santaolalla for the 2014 animated film ‘The Book of Life’. It’s a beautiful ballad about the power of forgiveness and redemption. The song is sung by Diego Luna, who voices the character […]

Simple Harp Variation No. 1 Simple Harp Variation No.1 is a beautiful and minimalist piece of music by British composer, Martin Phipps. This motif is from the Netflix drama-series, ‘The Crown’ which chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1940s to modern times. […]

Into the Unknown Into the Unknown is a quirky Americana piece by multi-instrumentalist composer, Mark Orton. This piece is played at the end of Alexander Payne’s film The Holdovers (starring Paul Giamatti). Mark Orton is most famous for composing ‘Their Pie’ the theme to Payne’s […]

American Sniper Ennio Morricone’s “The Funeral” was used as the closing theme in Clint Eastwood’s 2014 film American Sniper. The song was originally composed for the 1965 spaghetti western, The Return of Ringo. It’s a melancholic piece of music that perfectly captured the final scenes […]

Killers of the Flower Moon Directed by Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon is set in the heart of 1920s Oklahoma, where the Osage Nation, having discovered vast oil reserves beneath their tribal lands, finds themselves thrust into immense wealth. Their newfound prosperity comes […]

Goodbye Brother Ramin Djawadi’s poignant composition “Goodbye Brother” is used throughout the 8 seasons of Game of Thrones. It’s considered the theme of House Stark. The sparse melody mirrors the emotional turmoil of the Stark siblings as they part ways. “Goodbye Brother” serves not only […]

Band of Brothers Band of Brothers is a 2001 American war drama miniseries based on the 1992 book (of the same name) by WW2 historian, Stephen E. Ambrose. The series was created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who had collaborated on the 1998 World […]

Nightcall Drive is a 2011 neo-noir crime film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling. The film follows a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. The song “Nightcall” by Kavinsky is used prominently in the film, and it is […]

Dances With Wolves The author of Dances with Wolves is man by the name of Michael Blake (1945-2015). As a 20 year-old in 1965, Blake was a product of the counterculture revolution of 1960’s America: against the establishment, and the Vietnam War. He was a […]

The Gravel Road The Gravel Road is an incredible piece of music from M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village. The music is by the iconic composer, James Newton Howard. I remember seeing this film at a packed theater in 2004. At that point, M. Night was […]

Dreamscapes Dreamscapes is sparse fingerstyle guitar piece by multi-instrumentalist composer, Gustavo Santaolalla. This motif is from the soundtrack of Dear Child (Liebes Kind) a German thriller series on Netflix. The limited series is about a 13 year-old missing persons case being reopened when a woman […]