Pilgrimage (Stephen McKeon)
Digital: iTUNES | AMAZON | SPOTIFY
CD (limited edition, 350 copies): QUARTET RECORDS
MovieScore Media goes Medieval with Stephen McKeon’s Pilgrimage, the score that won the 2018 Irish Film and Television Awards for Best Music. Starring Tom Holland (Spiderman) and Jon Bernthal (The Punisher) just before their casting into the world of Marvel movies, the film tells the story of a group of monks who must escort a sacred relic across an Irish landscape fraught with peril. Set in 13th century Ireland, Pilgrimage spans a score as uncompromising and brutal as the Medieval landscape, including powerful choral and solo voice passages that highlight both the dark side of religious fervor as well as the more uplifting side of faith.
“Music composed only of skin, bone and iron” was the brief given to me by the films director” explains composer Stephen McKeon about finding the raw, Medieval tone for the project. “Pilgrimage is set in the 13th century and concerns the evil men do in the name of religion but also the transformative power of love. I decided upon percussion, low male voices and low brass to represent those three elements. There are no female actors in the film and the only female element in the entire film is contained in the score. It’s a solo soprano who represents hope and our more noble possibilities.” The bare-bones orchestral music features the haunting choral work of Paul McGough and Crux Vocal Ensemble for maximum effect.
Pilgrimage has won the Irish Film and Television Awards for Best Music, making it the third win for composer Stephen McKeon who had received the award for two John Boorman films, Queen & Country (2014) and The Tiger’s Tail (2004) – he was also previously nominated for Blind Flight (2003), Savage (2009) and the children’s animated feature Niko 2 – Little Brother, Big Trouble (2012). Besides his credits on over 80 films, McKeon is also known for his music for television, including multiple seasons of The Clinic, Primeval, selected episodes of Agatha Christie’s Poirot starring David Suchet as well as the “Fifteen Million Merits” episodes of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror.
MMS18004 • PILGRIMAGE (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Composed by STEPHEN McKEON
Release date (digital): March 30, 2018
Release date (CD): May, 2018 (Quartet Records)
TRACK LISTING
1 Prologue – The Relic 3:05
2 The Journey Begins 2:08
3 Cappadocia AD50 3:19
4 The Blackest of Their Deeds – The Heretics 2:24
5 Arrival of the Normans – Into the Hollows 3:41
6 Crossfigil 2:12
7 The Poisoned Stream 2:15
8 Severed Heads 1:58
9 Judas 3:35
10 Ua Mordha Attack – Part 1 2:50
11 The Clearing – In Timore Dei 3:08
12 The Lake 3:51
13 The Journey Continues – The Lightning Strikes 2:10
14 Ua Mordha Attack – Part 2 3:03
15 The Cistercian And The Mute 5:07
16 The Rescue Attempt 3:43
17 The Novice 2:09
18 The Torture of Ciaran 2:50
19 Pursuit 2:00
20 The Forest 4:14
21 Escape By River 2:35
22 Sacrifice 4:40
23 Battle On The Beach – Part 1 2:52
24 Battle On The Beach – Part 2 4:50
25 Epilogue – The Novice 3:41
