12 November 2019

The Mandalorian: Chapter 1 Digital Soundtrack Is Available Now

The Mandalorian cover art
The Mandalorian cover art
Walt Disney Records releases the digital soundtrack from "The Mandalorian," Lucasfilm's first-ever, live-action series, streaming exclusively on Disney+ today. The Mandalorian: Chapter 1 digital album features score by Oscar and Grammy-winning composer Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther, Creed) and is available here

  • The release will be followed by The Mandalorian: Chapter 2 digital album available on November 15, with subsequent weekly releases for each episode of the series.
The Swedish-born composer's approach to "The Mandalorian" score and character themes was to combine organic elements from recorders, pianos and guitars in different ways and infuse tech sounds with a cinematic orchestra. 
Göransson said, "Working on something so fresh and original as 'The Mandalorian,' I knew I had to compose something just as exciting. I wanted the score for each episode to be unique so I had to create a big sound world to draw inspiration from. I started my compositional journey away from the computer in the woods and at my small home studio playing live instruments such as recorders, piano and guitar. I took that material back into the computer and added tech elements to make the organic instruments take new shapes. Lastly, I added the cinematic sweep of an 70-piece orchestra to make my compositions breathe and come to life. Working with Jon and the entire team involved in the making of this series was incredibly humbling and collaborative. I'm so excited to share this soundtrack with fans around the world."

"The Mandalorian" - Trailer

About "The Mandalorian"

After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. "The Mandalorian" is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic. 

"The Mandalorian," is written and executive produced by Jon Favreau, with Dave Filoni ("Star Wars: The Clone Wars," "Star Wars Rebels") directing the first chapter and fifth chapter and serving as executive producer alongside Kathleen Kennedy and Colin Wilson. 

Additional episodic directors include Deborah Chow ("Jessica Jones"), Rick Famuyiwa ("Dope"), Bryce Dallas Howard ("Solemates") and Taika Waititi ("Thor: Ragnarok"). 

"The Mandalorian" stars Pedro Pascal ("Narcos") in the title role as a lone Mandalorian gunfighter, alongside Gina Carano ("Deadpool"), Carl Weathers ("Predator"), Giancarlo Esposito ("Breaking Bad"), Emily Swallow ("Supernatural"), Omid Abtahi ("American Gods"), Werner Herzog ("Grizzly Man"), and Nick Nolte ("Warrior").

Ludwig Göransson
Ludwig Göransson (image via IMDb)

About Ludwig Göransson

In a career spanning only 10 years, Ludwig Göransson has amassed an impressive resume in both the recording and motion picture industries, earning an Academy Award, multiple Grammy Awards and countless other nominations. After working as an assistant to composer Theodore Shapiro (Destroyer, Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Dodgeball), Göransson got his first big break writing music for the NBC television series, Community. This led to a friendship and collaboration with Donald Glover, who performs under the stage name Childish Gambino, on several studio albums including Because the Internet and Awaken, My Love. Göransson has been nominated for six Grammys with Childish Gambino, and won two this year for the Billboard Hot 100 Number One hit song "This Is America," which became a cultural phenomenon and garnered world-wide acclaim.

While pursuing his masters degree in film scoring at USC, Göransson met his other longtime collaborator, director Ryan Coogler, when he scored his short film, Locks. Over the next nine years, Göransson would score all three of Coogler's feature films. Much like iconic filmmaking duos Hitchcock and Herrmann or Spielberg and Williams, Coogler's diverse filmography has allowed Göransson to show his range as a composer, writing understated melodies for Fruitvale Station, hyping up audiences for Creed, and infusing African percussion into his themes for Black Panther. 

Göransson has accumulated success in a variety of other films including the box office smash Venom and Pixar's Inner Workings. In 2018, Göransson earned multiple awards and nominations for his score for Black Panther including a Golden Globe nomination, Grammy Award and Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Göransson is also working on the score for Christopher Nolan's Tenent out July 17, 2020 and co-producing songs for DreamWorks' Trolls World Tour, sequel to the popular animated film Trolls out April 17, 2020, alongside Justin Timberlake.

"The Mandalorian" album titles and episode release dates follow:

  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 1 from #101- November 12 (season premiere)
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 2 from #102- November 15
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 3 from #103- November 22
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 4 from #104- November 29
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 5 from #105- December 6
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 6 from #106- December 13
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 7 from #107- December 18
  • The Mandalorian: Chapter 8 from #108- December 27 (season finale)

SOURCE: Walt Disney Records