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French composer Olivier Arson wins his second Goya award with the original soundtrack for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “As bestas”.

French composer Olivier Arson (Paris, 1979) has won the Goya Award for Best Original Music for his score for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s film As bestas. This is Arson’s second Goya award: the first, in 2019, was for the score he composed for another Sorogoyen film, The Realm. In fact, the relationship with the filmmaker has been developing since the soundtrack of Que Dios os perdone, and has continued in other film titles or television series by Sorogoyen, such as Madre or Antidisturbios.

Although not listed as a candidate, Arson has also composed the soundtrack for another film that competed in other categories, Piggy, by Carlota Pereda. Arson – who was part of the Spanish post-rock band McEnroe between 2012 and 2017, with whom he recorded his albums Las orillas and Rugen las flores -, an admirer of the pioneers of mid-20th century concrete music, usually works with electronic instruments, but for As bestas he has composed a 100% acoustic music with an unusual chamber group, made up of two double basses, four cellos, four violoncellos, four violas, two flutes, flute and clarinet. In addition, Arson personally took care of the percussion and played a prepared cello. The aim was to offer a primitive sound result, “that would merge with the darker side of that environment of Galicia […], to portray the muddy side, the earth and all the violence that the film has”, playing with detuning or even offering the sensation of “as if it were ‘badly played'”.

© Photography by Gabriel Pais, downloaded from Olivier Arson’s webpage.