Composer Patrick Jonsson’s haunting score for Netflix original documentary short ‘The White Helmets’ is out now Air-Edel Records. Patrick will be donating his share of proceeds from the album sales to the White Helmets organisation. The documentary is produced by the team who brought us ‘Virunga’, and directed by Academy Award®–nominated director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara.
Providing an in depth look into one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, ‘The White Helmets’ follows three members from the unarmed first-responders of Syria’s brutal war. Recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the White Helmets are a group of around 3,000 volunteers who are among the first to arrive after bombs have rained down on the neighbourhoods of Syria. These volunteers have saved over 70,000 lives and this number is growing daily.
Orlando von Einsiedel: “It gives me hope about humanity, and it gives me hope that in the end when Syria finally gets out of the mess that it’s in, there are a good group of guys and heroes that will be there to help rebuild the country.”
Patrick Jonsson: “It was a huge privilege and a very emotional experience to write music for ‘The White Helmets’. There is a lot of heartbreak and darkness in the film, but also a great deal of hope. Hope is what motivates these heroes to carry on in the face of daily chaos and tragedy, and so it was essential for this to form the backbone of the score, bringing relief from the more aggressive musical cues.
The defining moment of hope in the film is the scene in which the White Helmets rescue a baby in a near impossible situation. The joy they describe is awe-inspiring and “The Miracle Baby” theme became the starting point from which the rest of the score was built, and a bookend of sorts for the film.
In terms of instrumentation, we used middle eastern instruments – folk violin, qanun, and duduk – to capture a sense of place, alongside layered cellos and organic sounding synths to convey a sense of depth and warmth.”
The soundtrack is available across a number of digital platforms including Amazon and iTunes.