Viking (Dean Valentine)
Original score from the 2016 action feature film directed by Andrey Kravchuk, starring John DeSantis, Danila Kozlovskiy and Svetlana Khodchenkova, produced by Direktsiya kino and released by Janson Media (USA).
THE STORY: Kievan Rus, late 10th century. After the death of his father, the young Viking prince Vladimir of Novgorod is forced into exile across the frozen sea.
THE SCORE: MovieScore Media raids the vaults of epic film scoring by releasing an album of music from the epic Viking, the top-grossing Russian film of all times. Multi award winning Irish composer, Dean Valentine, was initially hired to score the trailers for the film and later was invited to create and score the main themes of the film as well as the big action set pieces. The powerful orchestral music underscore a story set in a tumultuous period from the 10th century as Prince Vladimir must flee his homeland after the murder of his father – he must reclaim his throne from exile with the aid of Viking mercenaries.
While there has already been a soundtrack release for the film in Russia, that album contains only the contributions of Russian composer Igor Matvienko – this release only features Dean’s music, with three bonus tracks from other works of the composer, including the trailer music for Ridley Scott’s blockbuster 2015 The Martian.
”Scoring Viking was a bit hectic but great fun too, hearing The Orchestra Of Ireland perform your music live is a thrill that just never gets old” explains Dean. ”I also had the privilege of working with some brilliant solo musicians and fell head over heels for the viola d’amore (similar to a Hardanger fiddle). It was great to let loose in some of the big action scenes with soaring strings, growling brass and thunderous percussion but I was really drawn to the characters in particular Varyazhko, Prince Vladimir’s nemesis. His theme has aggressive brass and clashing metal percussion but underneath lies a fragile and flawed man who is his own worst enemy, not Vladimir’s.”
THE COMPOSER: Besides Viking, some of Dean’s other recent credits include the bruising Iraq war drama Tiger Raid (starring Brian Gleeson, Damien Molony and Sofia Boutella), the multi-award winning animated film Violet with Aidan Gillen and the award winning trilogy of features about Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental. Dean’s signature sound can also be heard on some of Hollywood’s biggest movie trailers including; Dunkirk, Captain America: Civil War, Fury, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire for which Dean received the coveted ‘Golden Trailer Award’.
MMS17021 VIKING (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Composed by DEAN VALENTINE
Release date (digital): December 15, 2017