Composed by duo Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli, the 2 tracks premiered on IndieWire.
(Image credit: Netflix)
I’ve played ‘The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt’ countless of times, so much so that the thought of not having composers Marcin Przybylowicz & Mikolai Stroinski working on the soundtrack for the Netflix show seems like a bad move. Both Przybylowicz and Stroinski, together with Polish folk-metal band, Percival, created a sound that was distinctive. Who remembers the mini panic they get as ‘Silver for Monsters’ fades in as soon as you wander near a monster in the game?
However, we should not readily cast aside Belousova and Ostinelli’s interpretation of how the sounds of the world of ‘The Witcher’ should be. We have to remember that again, this is not based on the game but instead on the original short stories. A word of caution – I’m not that very familiar with musical terms so my first reactions will be laid out in layman terms. Just saying.
‘Geralt of Rivia’
Reminiscent of Bear McCreary’s Black Sails theme except instead of the hurdy gurdy, Belousova and Ostinelli used a myriad of instruments that included an erhu! The theme immediately jumps into the action, with strings skillfully plucked that it sounds like you are being brought on a whirlwind adventure (think Queen’s ‘Princes of the Universe’, if you will.)
While obviously not the composers’ intention, the vocals that appear on this track instantly reminded me of Percival’s on the game’s soundtrack and that helped bridge that connection between the show and the game – which I know some will disagree.
Since this is the main protagonist’s theme, I can definitely see it being slowed down for possibly romantic scenes or even made darker for more intense scenes. At the moment, we see this music pop up at the below scene:
‘Toss a Coin to Your Witcher’
This track is not your ordinary bard song – it actually sounds quite modern, especially near the ending. However, it’s not horrible. In fact, I would imagine a scene where this will be played in a tavern and by the end of the song, everyone will be drunkenly singing along and sloshing ale all over.
The lyrics are punny (‘…He can’t be bleat‘, instead of ‘beat‘) and the chorus so infectious that I soon had it stuck in my head for almost half of the day.
Joey Batey, who plays the bard Jaskier in the show, lends his vocals to this track. Jaskier, for those who are not familiar, is the original Polish name for the character most of those who played the games know as Dandelion.
IndieWire will soon have a full interview with Belousova and Ostinelli, so keep your eyes peeled for that! In the meantime, check out the EXCLUSIVE interview they had with the duo.
Netflix’s ‘The Witcher’ premieres 20th December.
Yes, this is Atiqah. 